Poaching and Crossing Including Eye Formation

Key Points

• Right foot slightly behind the left foot
• Once you hear that “pop” off your partner’s serve, take a slight step forward to cut off as many angles as possible and make yourself look bigger to the returner
• When crossing, move diagonally towards the ball
• Communication is key with your partner so you know which serve is coming and can plan your cross
• If the T serve is called, you would usually look to be more aggressive with your cross
• When crossing from a wide serve, hold your cross a little longer so you don’t expose your line
• If the call is made between you and your partner that you will cross, then you should always commit and cross
• Stand in the singles position as the server, close to the center
• The net player should crouch down in the middle of the box, right next to the center line
• The eye formation is used to mask which direction you are going and distract the server
• When the T serve is called, the net player can be very aggressive with covering the middle and not have to move as much
• For the wide serve, the net player has to make a big shuffle over to cover the line when the call is left
• When the call is right on the wide serve, the net player can step up straight away covering the middle and giving up the angle crosscourt
• Communicate with your partner before serving so you both know exactly where you will serve and move
• Try and cover most of the court with your partner, remembering to always give up the shortest angle
• The first step should be forward towards the net so you can create some momentum into the volley and reach as far as possible after the split step
• The volley shouldn’t stop at contact, focusing on a small volley through
• Move forward first and then diagonally
• Keep your head still when volleying and close to your racket
• When using the eye formation, the moves are not that big and it’s the momentum forward that allows you to spread out as wide as you can