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The ball is at your feet at the net. What now?
A ball below the net cannot be attacked. Block it deep and wait for one above the tape.
You are two metres from the net and the ball arrives below net height, right at your shoelaces. What do you do?
A ball below the net cannot be attacked. Block it deep and wait for one above the tape.
Why
Height decides the shot for you. Anything below net level has to travel upwards to get over, and every upward ball gives the other pair time and an angle.
The rest of the reasoning
The block volley is the fix: open the face, no backswing, absorb the pace, and send it deep and cross so their next ball is also awkward. You have not won anything. You have refused to lose.
What this means at your level
Beginner
No backswing. Think of catching the ball on the strings, not hitting it. Bend your knees instead of dropping the racket head.
Intermediate
Aim deep and cross, and get your racket head above your wrist. Balls hit with a dropped head go up; balls hit with a firm high wrist go through.
Advanced
This is where the counter-chiquita lives. If their feet are already inside the service line, a soft block into the gap at their feet is more dangerous than any drive you could hit from that height.
Common questions
You are two metres from the net and the ball arrives below net height, right at your shoelaces. What do you do?
Soft block, deep and cross. A ball below the net cannot be attacked. Block it deep and wait for one above the tape. Height decides the shot for you. Anything below net level has to travel upwards to get over, and every upward ball gives the other pair time and an angle. The block volley is the fix: open the face, no backswing, absorb the pace, and send it deep and cross so their next ball is also awkward. You have not won anything. You have refused to lose.
Why not lob from there?
A lob off a ball at your feet at the net floats short almost every time, and short lobs are free smashes.
What should a beginner do here?
No backswing. Think of catching the ball on the strings, not hitting it. Bend your knees instead of dropping the racket head.
How does this change for an advanced player?
This is where the counter-chiquita lives. If their feet are already inside the service line, a soft block into the gap at their feet is more dangerous than any drive you could hit from that height.