Something I dont understand developed

[Si Si Simona]

This is something that started bothering me in the last half year and its getting worse all the time.
So many girls including girls at the top like Serena, Caro(today), Simona and almost all others...
When they have a drive volley and their rival is at their mercy on one side of the court, and the whole other side is empty... almost all players hit the ball fast and strong straight into the rival's racket directly into the court side where the rival is. It makes no sense and almost all girls have that tendency.
Imo the reasons are that its easy for the brain to hit hard and fast than change direction and hit into the empty court.
All these girls should know that its the wrong choice. They do not need to hit it hard and fast into the empty court which is difficult under the pressure of changing direction.
They just need to place it and it will be enough even if the ball just drops there with no pace. Its a drive volley and the other player is too far off the empty side.

This mistake repeats itself with almost all girls. Caro did it today at least once and I forgot the last time Simona hit it to the empty side with less power and more placement. They are caught like a deer in the flashlights and are always hitting directly towards the other player.
The new mentality of "hit it hard and fast" takes over and those players suffer because of that.
It also shows lack of self control and reduces their level of play. Its the easy option but not the good one.

 

[Kieran]

It might be one of these two things:

They try to wrong foot the opponent, thinking the opponent will dash to cover the empty court.

Or else they get nervous and play conservative - as you say, switching directions can be hardest, even more so on a drive volley...

 

[Si Si Simona]

It might be one of these two things:

They try to wrong foot the opponent, thinking the opponent will dash to cover the empty court.

Or else they get nervous and play conservative - as you say, switching directions can be hardest, even more so on a drive volley...

They dont really try to wrong foot because they see that the other player stays in same place. Sometimes the other player cant even move at all because she hardly got to the ball, but the drive volley still goes to their direction because of some subconscious reason.
What bothers me is that almost all girls dont try to change direction anymore. They just take the easy wrong option, and they get burned with a passing shot!

I think your second reason is the true one. Not daring and too nervous to change. They just need to place it, not to hit it hard. The game is changing from fines and brains into robotic hard hitting.
Simona was so good at changing and daring in 2013, but now the stress is killing her and she doesnt even try anymore.

 

[lomaha]

I think it's because they are trying not to give the opponent any angel for their next shot. If you return the ball hard to the opponent close to the baseline you don't leave much room for angels....

 

[Si Si Simona]

^jamming is risky and fails many times. The best is going to the empty side where the receiver cant get it.
I stopped counting the times Simona got burned with a passing shot in last months. The players know what I am saying but they dont execute that anymore. Caro lost at least a point today with that error. Many others do the same error when they volley.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

In regards to executing the volley,players to me do not execute the right approach shot to play the volley.I have always been of the opinion,playing doubles is a great way to improve your volley skills.
I have also noticed that our junior player's today arent taught the basic's of how to play a volley in the first place.Any player adding variety to the their game is a positive factor.

 

[Front242]

This is something that started bothering me in the last half year and its getting worse all the time.
So many girls including girls at the top like Serena, Caro(today), Simona and almost all others...
When they have a drive volley and their rival is at their mercy on one side of the court, and the whole other side is empty... almost all players hit the ball fast and strong straight into the rival's racket directly into the court side where the rival is. It makes no sense and almost all girls have that tendency.
Imo the reasons are that its easy for the brain to hit hard and fast than change direction and hit into the empty court.
All these girls should know that its the wrong choice. They do not need to hit it hard and fast into the empty court which is difficult under the pressure of changing direction.
They just need to place it and it will be enough even if the ball just drops there with no pace. Its a drive volley and the other player is too far off the empty side.

This mistake repeats itself with almost all girls. Caro did it today at least once and I forgot the last time Simona hit it to the empty side with less power and more placement. They are caught like a deer in the flashlights and are always hitting directly towards the other player.
The new mentality of "hit it hard and fast" takes over and those players suffer because of that.
It also shows lack of self control and reduces their level of play. Its the easy option but not the good one.

Federer has been wrecking my head doing that for years now. At least if he hit it hard back it'd help but he hits a lame volley right back to the opponent multiple times each match when the whole other side of the court is wide open. It's baffling but others do it too as you pointed out.

 

[kskate2]

This is something that started bothering me in the last half year and its getting worse all the time.
So many girls including girls at the top like Serena, Caro(today), Simona and almost all others...
When they have a drive volley and their rival is at their mercy on one side of the court, and the whole other side is empty... almost all players hit the ball fast and strong straight into the rival's racket directly into the court side where the rival is. It makes no sense and almost all girls have that tendency.
Imo the reasons are that its easy for the brain to hit hard and fast than change direction and hit into the empty court.
All these girls should know that its the wrong choice. They do not need to hit it hard and fast into the empty court which is difficult under the pressure of changing direction.
They just need to place it and it will be enough even if the ball just drops there with no pace. Its a drive volley and the other player is too far off the empty side.

This mistake repeats itself with almost all girls. Caro did it today at least once and I forgot the last time Simona hit it to the empty side with less power and more placement. They are caught like a deer in the flashlights and are always hitting directly towards the other player.
The new mentality of "hit it hard and fast" takes over and those players suffer because of that.
It also shows lack of self control and reduces their level of play. Its the easy option but not the good one.

I've been asking this question for years. We actually discussed it during a tournament earlier this year.

http://www.tennisfrontier.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2782&page=13
http://www.tennisfrontier.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2782&page=17
http://www.tennisfrontier.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2783&page=5

 

[Si Si Simona]

Can someone explain to me why a tennis player would hit a ball back to their opponent when the whole court is open? Especially when you've been burned a few times already. I've only been waiting about 40 years for a reasonable explanation.

 

[bajana]

But almost as often, doesn't it happen that the player hits the ball to what seems to be the open court, only to find that it isn't because the opponent has anticipated that's where you're going to hit it? And then, suddenly you're hitting it straight to the opponent.

The other part of that equation is that over the years, players have worked out that you're not going to hit it to the open court, figuring that's what they'll run to cover, so they "stay at home" instead and you've already hit it there only to find they haven't run.

Six of one and half dozen of the other.

 

[Si Si Simona]

But almost as often, doesn't it happen that the player hits the ball to what seems to be the open court, only to find that it isn't because the opponent has anticipated that's where you're going to hit it? And then, suddenly you're hitting it straight to the opponent.

The other part of that equation is that over the years, players have worked out that you're not going to hit it to the open court, figuring that's what they'll run to cover, so they "stay at home" instead and you've already hit it there only to find they haven't run.

Six of one and half dozen of the other.

But thats exactly the point of an open court being an open court. The receiver has no chance to get to the ball even if she started moving towards the open court.
Imo its a mental thing of taking what the brain feels like a safer option to execute.
For some mental reason, its easier for the hitter to hit it straight at the receiver.
I call it a "wrong habit". At world class level wrong habits should be avoided.