Bounce it?

Generally speaking, it's better to hit the overhead on the fly, rather than let it bounce. Your opponent hit the lob, at least in part, because she needed recovery time. If you let it bounce, you are giving her that recovery time and helping her back in the point. Taking it out of the air shortens her recovery time and gives you an advantage.

But there are reasons to allow the lob to bounce before striking the overhead. Let's review those and take a look at how bouncing it should help you. There are four situations where the bounce is preferable.

1- Sun- If you can't see the ball clearly because of the sun's position, you are far better off letting it bounce and playing the overhead after the bounce. Then, you can make better contact and hit a more threatening ball.

2- Wind - alot like sun, if the ball is blowing all over the place it makes two parts of overhead preparation nearly impossible; getting into the right position and seeing the ball at contact.

Allow the ball to bounce and you reduce the wind's effect, raising the likelihood of your successful execution of the shot.

3- Need for time- Due to the difficulty of the lob, you may not be able to get into a comfortable, aggressive position on the overhead, and need the time of the bounce to get into a better position. This is particularly valuable on lobs that aren't very high and force you to move wide to either side, or back toward the baseline.

4-Extreme height- if you've ever tried to hit an overhead on a very high, straight-up kind of lob, you'll remember how difficult it is to cleanly strike the ball that is falling straight down at a high rate of speed. Allowing it to bounce will get you the time and space to get into a better position and play a slower moving ball.

In all these cases, make sure you line up well behind the bounce mark, so your final adjustment will be forward under the bouncing ball - lining up just as you would under the falling lob. Take a few of those difficult overheads on the bounce, and you will bounce your opponent right out of the match.