Home › Puzzle › You are stuck deep in the corner. What do you hit?
You are stuck deep in the corner. What do you hit?
Bad position, simple shot. High, deep, cross: buy time and get your feet back.
They have pushed you into the back corner and you are hitting from behind the service line, off balance. What now?
Bad position, simple shot. High, deep, cross: buy time and get your feet back.
Why
The corner is where points are lost by players trying to be clever. Off balance and behind the service line you cannot generate the precision a winner needs, so the job changes: survive this ball and get back into position. High and cross gives you the longest flight time and the largest landing area, which means the maximum number of seconds for you and your partner to recover. It is a boring shot that keeps you in a point you were losing.
What this means at your level
Beginner
When in doubt, up and deep. There is no shame in it, and it wins more points than any winner you were considering.
Intermediate
Recover while the ball is travelling, not after it lands. The whole value of a high ball is the time it buys, and you only get that if you use it.
Advanced
Vary the height rather than the direction. A flatter, faster lob from the corner is harder to attack than a floater and does not advertise that you are in trouble.
Common questions
They have pushed you into the back corner and you are hitting from behind the service line, off balance. What now?
High and deep, cross-court. Bad position, simple shot. High, deep, cross: buy time and get your feet back. The corner is where points are lost by players trying to be clever. Off balance and behind the service line you cannot generate the precision a winner needs, so the job changes: survive this ball and get back into position. High and cross gives you the longest flight time and the largest landing area, which means the maximum number of seconds for you and your partner to recover. It is a boring shot that keeps you in a point you were losing.
Why not a sharp angle down the line?
From an off-balance position in the corner the line is the narrowest target on the court. Miss it and the point is over; make it and they volley into the space you left.
What should a beginner do here?
When in doubt, up and deep. There is no shame in it, and it wins more points than any winner you were considering.
How does this change for an advanced player?
Vary the height rather than the direction. A flatter, faster lob from the corner is harder to attack than a floater and does not advertise that you are in trouble.
Puzzles like this one
The ball is at your feet at the net. What now?
A ball below the net cannot be attacked. Block it deep and wait for one above the tape.
beginnerBoth of them are at the net. What is the highest-percentage ball?
Only the lob moves a net pair backwards. Everything else invites them forward.
beginnerThe ball is coming off the back glass. When do you hit it?
Move back with the ball, let it pass you, hit it in front of your body.