I’ve been playing long enough (2 years +) to know that the cool kids are deploying a third-shot drive as or more frequently than a third-shot drop. I use a third-shot drive and it can be effective, but I would like to have more insight into why and when to use it. Specifically:
* what is the primary goal of the third-shot drive? Is it defensive (I think so?) or is it offensive? Sometimes I can catch an opposing player off-guard and they will over hit their return out of bounds. Occasionally I can hit a good hard shot down the sideline. But often it feels like a drive ends up going straight at opposing players who are at or approaching the NVZ.
* when do you (serving team) make the decision to drive or drop? I am trying to be more intentional about where I direct the drive – specifically away from the opponent already at the NVZ and toward the opponent who returned the serve. But if they have moved to the NVQ quickly I can freeze up with indecision about driving it versus trying to drop.
I would be grateful for any insights to help my on my journey from 3.6 to 3.65….