Most probably do it as a kind of reflex; kind-of "in the heat of the moment." They may not have actually trained intensively for such a situation because it does not occur often in a match. But it may also depend on the player's style: if he is a touch player and dominates the net, he will train for this because he knows the opposite player will try to attack. Take a look at these 2 cases, in the same match (SS Finals, round 2); they tell the story of how a player prepare for the net-kill. I notice that Taufik almost always steps back to the service line, giving himself the option to lunge for a weak net return, or to counter a weak net-kill. He has done this time and again in many, many matches. Obviously he has trained for this, as an extension of his net-play. [video=youtube;FeJtraQfIdE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeJtraQfIdE&feature=youtu.be[/video] [video=youtube;QVf55q7Xuk8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVf55q7Xuk8&feature=youtu.be[/video]
I hope one of these days an umpire will surprise us with a different decision in favour of a situation like SN's so that players will not conclude that it is an automatic fault. Visor has given us a credible reason that SN should not be faulted had she stood about a foot further away. It helps the umpire to see the whole incident better.
lol.. as for me, I will just squad down and let my opponent to kill it. Haha... Just hoping my opponent kill it under the net. lol So, now everything is clear. eh?
Got influenced by volleyball players Or, they have been watching much volleyball games (where such blocking is permitted), and have got influenced by volleyball players. .
. Only if SN is more than 2 feet away from the net. Loh, the next time when I meet you I shall show you how easily a racket-head can go 2 feet horizontally over the net into the opponent's space. In a match, if the umpire doesn't fault my opponent holding up his racket near the net (trying to block my stroke as described in previous posts), I would request for the umpire to see a demonstration of my follow-through; to convince him that my racket will clash with my opponent's racket. Note: In the post before this, I mentioned that it's permitted to block in the game of volleyball (like SN and LD did); This is because a follow-through of the hand of a volleyball striker hardly get to follow-through more than 3 inches over the high volleyball net-tape. .
