Poaches Need a Forcing Drive: Chest-High Body Balls Won’t Open the Net
Summary
Briones film study shows a poach that looks aggressive but sits on a drive that never forced a reach. Amateurs copy the sprint without the setup.
If the drive is chest-high into the body, the net player isn’t stretched — wait for a lower or wider ball that creates the opening, then poach.
Key takeaways
- Poach percentage follows the quality of the drive
- Chest-high body drives rarely create a poach window
- Force a reach or low contact first
Action items
- In practice doubles, only allow a poach after a drive that makes the opponent reach
- Call “no window” when the feed is too friendly