Comments

1. David says:

   Excellent video.

   Reply
2. dkangan says:

   A commenter remarked on the tendency of some players to watch what their partner is doing with the ball. I was taught that if you want to watch your partner you should have bought a ticket (although sometimes you need to help your partner call a line). When you are up and your partner back, you see the flight of the ball to tell you direction and depth. Otherwise the footwork of your opponents tells you all you need to know. And if they do not move, either you partner is whiffing on a lot of shorts or you are going to have an easy match.
   On another personal note, i have been yelled at for crossing over the center line in that situation on occasion. But when you are there to make the play, all is good.

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3. young says:

   This is a really great video Ian! I `ve heard about shading but played by myself. It`s going to be very helpful. Thanks million Ian!

   Reply
   • Ian Westermann says:

     You’re welcome!

     Reply
4. James says:

   1) A related issue is where the net player on the return team should be looking. I have a hard time convincing team mates they need to look at the opponent across the net when their partner is returning serve or (perhaps?) in some situations during up-and-back tennis, rather than looking for what their partner is doing with the ball.
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   2) I look forward to your video on shifting up-and-back. in my experience most week-end hackers understand the idea in this video (whether they do it or not), but the ideas behind coordinating while moving forward are, let’s say euphemistically, often in debate with 3.5-4.5 level players. Part of that is a legitimate concern about being less able to handle lobs reliably.
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   3) As Dan alluded to, diagonal movement is important (and a personal failing — sigh!). I found a YouTube video of Daniel Nestor practicing volleys and all he did endlessly was to step forward on both sides to bounce easy volleys away. He had two partners; one fed the feeder a soft forehand, ala a slow service return drill, then the feeder gave Nestor an easy volley (a weak return), which Nestor hit after moving forward diagonally to be right on top of the net. Looks easy in the drill, less so in reality.
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   Good job on the presentation, Ian. Appreciate the way you edit your video tutorials.

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   • Ian W says:

     1) You’re absolutely right, looking back and forth is a bad idea, the opposite net player is a great place to keep your focus when the ball is back behind you!
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     2) Hopefully I can get to it soon.
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     Thanks for the feedback, glad to hear you’re enjoying the videos!

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5. Ian Westermann says:

   Bill: Glad you enjoyed it!

   Dan: Good eye, I agree with you. The returners partner should be over more to his right to cover down the middle initially. Once the returner hits a cross court return that gets past the net man he should be sliding over to his left to cover the alley.

   Kelvin: You’re absolutely right, good doubles players not only shift right and left with the ball but up and back as well. This is something that I’ll talk about in future videos.

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6. Kelvin says:

   This is a great video Ian! This is probably one of the most common or least practiced idea at the lower levels of play (adults and Jrs). What would u say about adding the idea of diagonal shifting as in addition to just shifting left and right?

   Br

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7. Dan says:

   Sorry, hit enter key when typing email address.

   Very nice video. At the beginning of the point I noticed the returner’s partner did not move over to cover the hole on the wide serve as well. The same player that you pointed out didn’t shift quite enough later in the point.

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8. Dan says:

   Very nice video. At the beginning of the point I notices the returner’s partner did not

   Reply
9. Bill says:

   well done Ian! maybe i have reading something about shading but this video really is worth a thousand words. thanks again.

   Reply