THE SHOT AFTER THE BACK-WALL BOAST II.: JAMES WILLSTROP

 Last time we had this shot, it was David Palmer playing it with delay and deception. This time no deception, just a little delay to play the volley-drop from low, so that its bounce on the floor will remain low as well. The deception came one shot earlier, have a second look at that beautiful cross-court flick at 0:29.

THE SHOT AFTER THE BACK-WALL BOAST I.: DAVID PALMER

In general, getting to the the front-wall after a back-wall boast fast and early is essential; you'll have more time to hear (and in some case even to see at some degree) how much your opponent follows up on the court, whilst you hold your shot, to decide if it is better to drop it or go for the drive/kill. Or - as David Palmer, and even more often, James Willstrop like to do it - you just take it immediately on the volley, either to drop it or drive it with second bounce into the side or back-wall nick. In the rally below, the two big men run the diagonal a couple of times in some furious fashion (mainly poor James). At the end Palmer wins the point by faking to take Willstrop's back-wall boast on the volley - and by dropping it then softly after the bounce. The fake volley made Willstrop stop on his track for a split of a second, which made the drop easier and more secure to play for Palmer. Note also how nicely the two tall men clear mutually to allow a direct path to the ball.