Serve and volley

Serve and volley is a style of play in tennis where the player serving moves quickly towards the net after hitting a serve. The server then attempts to hit a volley (a shot where the ball is struck without allowing it to bounce), as opposed to the baseline style, where the server stays back following the serve and attempts to hit a ground stroke (a shot where the ball is allowed to bounce before contact is made). The serve and volley style of play has diminished in recent years with advances in racquet and string technologies which allow players to generate a great amount of top spin on ground strokes and passing shots. The slowing of court surfaces and deflation of balls, promoting longer rallies for the enjoyment of spectators, has also put a damper on the serve and volley style. Some also claim that a lack of teaching of the serve and volley to juniors, who are too small to effectively employ this method, has caused it to become obsolete in grassroots tennis.