The strategy is named the “Shake and Bake”…

This is as aggressive of a strategy that there is. The player hitting the third shot hits a strong drive to one of the designated players up at their NVZ line. The partner is advancing forward before the ball is being hit to get in front of the player hitting the volley. It is one thing for the advancing partner to play their side of the court and poach volleys that are hit more down the middle of the court. It is a much more aggressive strategy for the advancing player to basically play singles and get in front of the opponent hitting the volley and to play all balls that are being volleyed. The drive must be hit forcefully to get the opponent to defensively block the ball back into play giving the advancing partner an easier ball to deal with. The player advancing prior to the drive being hit must have outstanding reflexes and great volleys.

A defense against this strategy is to hit a drop volley so the ball lands in the kitchen to force the advancing player to hit up on the ball. The shake and bake is designed to hit the ball to the player with the weaker volley and weaker players rarely have developed a drop volley.

The other option for the player hitting the volley is to hit the volley hard in hopes that the advancing player makes a mistake.

This is a very advanced and aggressive strategy. Players at this level are watching closely to see how well you volley. If your volley is defensive and blocked back rather high, that is the type of return that the shake and bake is designed for.

The main emphasis is on how aggressive some players are. The “shake and bake” is not used a lot, but you will hear it occasionally.

Since it is predicated on attacking a defensive “pop up” volley, the drive must be hard enough to overpower the opponent. The more conventional strategy is to hit the drive and both partners advance on their side of the court and attack any high ball on their side. The ball in this case would be played more from the middle of the court. In the “shake and bake”, the partner is moving forward as soon as the return of serve is hit to their partner which allows them to get very close to their NVZ line by the time the drive is hit and the opponent is hitting a volley.

• Hit the drive to one player and your partner players their volley with a volley.

• The Drive wants to be accurate to one player’s forehand or backhand.

• The partner moves forward quickly prior to the Drive being hit.

• Hit a Drop Volley in front of the approaching opponent.

• Hit a hard blocking volley and hope for the best.