The goal of this exercise is to practice hitting the ball early with an “aggressive play” perspective.

 Why hit the ball early?

Hitting the ball early allows you to break the rhythm and suddenly speed up the rally.
This surprises the opponent because the ball returns more quickly and he is forced to react more quickly, he often finds himself in more difficulty and sometimes even on the defensive.
Hitting the ball early may allow us to get an easy ball/ball to finish the point. Sometimes even just taking the ball early gives us the winning shot.

When to take the ball early?

Sometimes we are taken by surprise and forced to hit the ball early, but that is not the case that interests us.
Here, we want to act intentionally, so there is this notion of intention in the game that comes into account.
We intend to attack, we want to play an aggressive game and we intend to put the opponent in difficulty and therefore we are attentive, we look for the right moment, the ball that lends itself to it: We seize the opportunity to hit the ball early.

Also often, we must first build the point, accepting the exchange, place the first ball well in order to obtain this favorable ball which will allow us to hit early and be aggressive.

Here is a drill we implemented with the ball machine to practice hit the ball early.

  1- First hit : Construction

The ball machine sends a ball with a slightly bell-shaped trajectory which will bounce a little after the line of the service squares. (It's a relatively favorable ball for catching the ball early)
On the first strike I stay on the font line and I psychologically put myself in a construction phase.
I return the ball trying to find length and I try to place it.

  2: Charge and attack

This is the key moment of the exercise: The situation is as follows: I have built the point on the first  strikes and I obtain a ball favorable to an early catch: I clearly spot this favorable moment and “Come on !! I attack"
Psychologically we must have since been in “attack intention” mode: On the lookout for the moment when... and gooooo...

A) I hit the ball
B) I cut its trajectory and hit it early: Depending on the case I can stop, take my small adjustment steps and hit the ball early, but the ideal is to synchronize my forward movement and hit the ball in my momentum... (Not easy but so satisfying)
C) I continue my run and I go to the net following the trajectory of the ball: If all goes well the opponent is in difficulty and if necessary I will be able to finish the point on the fly.

(D) I let out a big “Vamos!!”)

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