To drop, or to drive, that is the question. I actually played around with naming this website something to do with drop/drive because it is such an important decision and turning point in each rally. This decision also fundamentally changes what style of play is predominately happening on court. Drops aim to methodically gain equality in the point, while drives aim to overwhelm and create win points while transitioning forward.
The other reason I was drawn to the name is because my favorite drill in squash is called drop/drive, one person hits straight drives from the front to the back, the other person hits soft straight drops from the back to the front; it is similar to practicing 3rd shot drops with your partner hitting deep from the kitchen line.
Execution and quality of the 3rd shot is the deciding factor in a large % of rallies. Missing a serve or serve return is essentially an unforced error and a free point for you opponents. But the 3rd shot in contrast is a pressure filled and difficult approach shot. Even at the highest level, many rallies are decided in 4 shots or less.
3rd shot drop is the classic and likely “safer” option. With my squash background, chipping that ball in with backspin from deep in the court comes naturally, and was a skill that translated from squash quickly. Obviously it takes practice to become consistent with the execution, but the technique and feel is there.
Driving the ball is a whole other thing. I’m a decent tennis player, so forehand topspin isn’t totally foreign, but it’s not ingrained in my muscle memory and I don’t have mastery of it like some players. I’m not terrible, but players with a strong tennis background definitely have an advantage here, and this is likely one of the weaker areas of my game. I’m operating under the assumption that I am going to get more and more consistent with this aspect, and so the thought process here is assuming I become average for my level at driving the ball.
In thinking about this, let’s group our 3rd shot opportunities into three categories:
- Should never drive
- Could drive or drop
- Should always drive
You should never drive when you’re behind the baseline in my opinion (I still find myself doing this at least a couple times a day). If you’re pushed that deep by a serve return, you’re not going to beat them with a drive, and you have to give yourself time.
Situations that are toss ups in my mind are somewhat weak returns, returns that are floated and don’t stay low or have much backspin. Distance away from the net seems to me to be the most important factor. You’re driving the ball with the aim to force a difficult volley, and looking for either a racket error, or something popped up high for your partner to step onto and finish, and having less time for your opponents to react is the single most important factor in that.
Is there a situation where you should always drive? To be honest, I don’t know. If you got a high return that landed pretty short and bounced relatively high, driving is probably the better % play, and by playing a drop, you’re letting them off the hook to some degree. But in that scenario, your opponent having hit a high/slow response has made it fully to the kitchen line and planted themselves, whereas if they hit as slightly harder return, they likely are still moving forward towards that line when you hit your drive, making their life more difficult.
In windy conditions, all of this goes out the window. I’ll plan on writing a future post about my first tournament experience playing in high wind (cliff notes – it didn’t go well!), and as my engineering background doubles partner put it best at the end of the day, “the wind caused us to malfunction slightly”.