Hey everyone, Simon here with Top Tennis Training and in this video I want to show
you how to cover the net like a pro in tennis. Now attacking the net and putting pressure
on your opponent to pass you is one of the most effective ways of winning tennis points
yet many players are scared of coming forward get a short ball they know they should be approaching
but they hit that ball and retrieve back to the baseline they're worried about where they
should position they're worried about being lobbed and they're worried about being passed
now before we get any deeper into the lesson if you're serious about improving your game
then make sure you subscribe to the channel and you turn on that notification bell
so in this video we're going to hopefully help you improve that approach game know where you should
aim your approaches where you should be standing and how to cover the net in just two simple steps
so the first step in winning more points at the net is where to aim your approach
and which type of approach to use so here we have three zones and each zone will be used depending
on the approach shot that I actually hit now if I hit my forehand cross call, for instance,
to cover the down the line pass I would have to reach this cone so by hitting cross court I now
have to cover more ground in order to cover that down the line pass the down the line pass is the
one that you have to be most aware of and it's the one that you have the least amount of time
to cover and the ball never crosses your line so it's very hard for you to reach those wide
down the line passes and that's why it's important to always cover your line when you approach
the net so if you keep that image in your mind always covering your line you'll know why it's
important to now start to approach mainly down the line so if I hit my forehand down the line
into the blue cone now I have to just reach this position here
in my forehand cross-court, I would have to get to
here in order to cover that down the line pass so I'm already increasing the distance that
I have to move between my shot and the opponent's shot if I hit it cross-court
so this is why you should approach down the line around 80 to 90 percent of the time
now there's a time and a place to approach cross court and we'll cover that later on in the video
now the type of shot that you actually hit will also have a massive effect
on the outcome of the point if i approach down the line and i kind of push the ball so i don't
actually hit it with real spin or with any slice the ball will sit up and it'll be very
easy for the opponent to actually pass me on or get the ball to dip into my feet because
the ball's just sitting there it's very little on that ball to make it hard for my opponent
so when i'm approaching i want to either use aggressive topspin
so i really want to be aggressive with my racket head speed creating a lot of power but
with that top spin so when the ball bounces on the opponent's side it kicks up into them which makes
it a much harder shot for them to deal with or if i have a lower ball i can slice my approach shot
this will help me to keep that ball really low if you think about
playing against someone who slices a lot you're always picking the ball up
and if you're approaching off a slice for the opponent down there to deal with that shot now
they have to firstly pick the ball up so they have to lift it and then they have
to get the ball to dip into your feet so it becomes a very hard task for them to pass you
so the aggressive topspin approach or that slice approach now when you have a slightly higher
ball and you have time you can also flatten it out and really go for that approach shot
so start being more aggressive but that's mainly on the shoulder or head level balls
now on the backhand side it's the exact same thing if i hit my backhand cross court i have
to go from this position to here in order to cover that down the line shot but if i hit down the line
i only have to now reach this position so i have much less steps to cover that down the line pass
however on the backhand side this is where you can start to approach cross-court sometimes
if the opponent has a weaker backhand so if you know that this player down there
has a weak backhand they can pass you with their backhand by all means start to approach with your
backhand cross court even though you're giving away space even though you have more ground to
cover you're forcing your opponent to use their weaker side to try to pass you on so firstly
you're applying pressure by coming forward and secondly you're applying even more pressure by
approaching into their weaker weight so when exactly should you get into the middle of
the court around this red cone so if you've hit your approach shot into the middle of the court
this is a great tactic because you're reducing the angles that your opponent has to work with
then you would move into that zone so if i hit my forehand on my back and approach
into the middle of the court then i would move into this zone here
so once again if i hit my forehand approach cross court or my back and approach down the line
into that green target i'm going to be moving into this line
if i hit my 400 back and approach into the middle of the court i'm now here
and if i hit my forehand down the line or my backhand cross court i move into this zone
now these three zones ensure that i'm in the best possible position to cover my opponent's best shot
which is that down the line but being in the right spot is half the battle when you approach the net
by being in the right position you'll make the court look smaller to your opponent because now
it looks like they have nothing to work with if you're in the middle of their two best possible
shots especially if you're covering that down the line pass the core all of a sudden will look much
smaller and they'll have much more hesitation on where to hit so you've hit your approach shot
you've moved into the right zone what's next now the next step is being ready to deal with
the opponent's passing shot this means when the opponent is making contact with their shot you're
split stepping so it doesn't have to be one split step it can be a couple of split steps on the
spot
they can be quite low they can be just slight bounces on the balls of your feet
so you want to be on the balls of your feet because this will allow you to push off
in any direction at high speeds if i'm on my heels now for me to push off i have to firstly lift the
heels off the ground and then i'm standing on the balls of my feet now i can push off
but if i'm already on the balls of my feet i'm in this position
now i can push off to the left to the right or backwards for that lob so getting into the right
zone but then being alert and being on the balls of my feet in a wide athletic stance allowing me
to cover anything that my opponent throws at me so now i'm ready to deal with my opponent's passing
shot and if they hit the ball close to me all i have to do is use that one step volley so simply
starting on my outside legs so the backhand side my left leg and then going on to the right leg
and on the forehand right leg onto the left leg
so that step across with either leg will allow me to transfer my body weight through that volley
be more stable and also generate some power with that bodyweight transfer now if my opponent hits
it wider away from me this is where i can now start to use that two-step footwork combination
so if he hits it wide on my forehand side i'm firstly stepping out with my right leg
so right leg and then my left leg
this will allow me to reach that tram line in two steps so once again split step right leg
left leg the same thing on the backhand side if they hit it wide i can go left leg
then right leg so split step left right and you can see how wide i can cover with just two steps
which means i have the ability to step forward and cut off their passing shot now what happens if
they throw up a lob so from this ready position i should be balanced enough that i'm not just moving
forward i also have the ability to move backwards so as soon as you recognize the ball is coming
as a lob your first step is to pivot around this front foot so i'm in that ready position
i'm ready for a forehand volley i'm ready for a backhand volley but i'm
also ready for the lob i see the lobs coming i firstly take this right leg
and step back so at the same time i'm stepping back with this right leg
my left shoulder starts to turn now this is for the right hand is out there it's the opposite
for the left-handers so this position here i see the lob coming step back coil the shoulders
by coiling the upper body it will help me to prepare the racket head get it into that back
position and i'll have the space to accelerate to create some power on that smash but it all
starts with that pivot step so split step pivot step and now i'm ready to move back from this
position being side on if the ball is very deep i can use crossover steps to reach that deeper lobe
if the lob isn't that great if it's just going to be landing around that service line or slightly
behind i can use the side shuffle so here side shuffle and i'm ready to hit it if it's very
deep i can go here pivot cross cross and hit that smash so no more excuses for not approaching the
net and finishing off points with your volley now you know where and how to approach you know where
to position yourself in that transition phase and you know how to cover the net in two simple steps
either direction but also the lob now if you've enjoyed the video make sure that you click on
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suggestions from the comment section signing off simon from ttt all the best and see you soon guys