The receiver's options are lines from the hand to the wall. A still body shuts some, squeezes others and leaves the rest alone. Where you stand decides which.
Read this by court
The drawings on this page use a one-wall court, where a still body is a legal block. On three-wall, four-wall and 60×30 the same lines show what you have to clear, not a position to keep: see how the courts differ.
A return is a line
Take a receiver at the back of the court, off to one side. On one-wall there are six returns worth naming: a straight drive, a pass down the near side, a cross-court to the far back corner, a kill to each corner, and a lob. Side walls add a pinch each way, and a ceiling adds the ceiling ball. Each return is one line from the hand to the wall, and your body only matters where it crosses that line.
Kills and pinches are drawn struck low, 1.5 feet off the floor, and the rest at about waist height. That is why a body hits some lanes and not others.
Where you stand decides what closes
Figure 8. Geometry, one-wall, seen from above: the same receiver and the same 6 return lanes, with the hitter on three spots.
Figure 8 has one receiver and three spots for the hitter. Out to the left the hitter is out of every lane. In the middle, the left-corner kill is tight and the rest are clear. In the way, near the line between the receiver and the far corner, the cross-court is shut and the straight and the left-corner kill are tight.
Notice that a tight lane is not a closed one. The receiver can still play it, but the ball has to thread past you. A ball that hits you on the way to the wall is usually a replay, so a shut lane does not lose the rally for the receiver. It takes the winner away.
Figure 9. Geometry, one-wall, seen from above: how many of the receiver's 6 lanes a still, upright hitter on each square would shut or leave tight. The receiver is the ring. Squares behind the receiver are left out: a player there has to get out of the way.
Figure 9 runs the same sum for every spot on the court. The count climbs as you get in front of the receiver and nearer to them: the lanes all start from one hand, so they are bunched together there, and one body crosses many. Up by the wall they have spread apart and a body crosses few.
There is a price. The closer you are to the receiver, the farther you are from the lanes left open. With the hitter in the way in Figure 8, the best return left lands about 18 feet from the hitter; from the middle it is about 14 feet. A block near the receiver closes more and covers less.
What a wide stance is for
Figure 10. Geometry, one-wall, seen from above: the bar is how wide the hitter stands, feet included. The solid line is the shortest run that keeps the receiver's body clear of it, and the dashed line is the run with nobody there. A lean tips the body over the feet and does not widen the bar.
On one-wall the main reason to stand wide is that the receiver has farther to go to get round you. In Figure 10 the receiver is behind the hitter and the ball is on the far side. Upright, the run round you is about 0.5 feet longer than a straight run. In a wide stance it is about 1.3 feet longer, and that is on top of having to choose a side. You have not moved your feet after the shot: you took the stance to make it. Add a lean on top of the wide stance and the run is the same, about 1.3 feet: the feet set how wide you are at the floor, and a lean tips the body over them without widening them.
Figure 11. Geometry, one-wall, seen from above: the shaded fans are the low shots each leg would stop, for a ball struck 1.5 ft up and aimed 1 ft up the wall. Shots between the fans go through.
Each leg is also its own blocker. Upright, your legs stand so close together that they work as one post, stopping one stretch of low wall about 7.0 feet across (Figure 11). Spread them and each closes its own low lanes, and the two stretches reach about 12.4 feet across. The price is the gap between them, about 4.8 feet of low wall the receiver can still hit through your legs, and the height you lose: you get lower, so the shoulders hide less and a lob clears you sooner. A lean on top of a wide stance leaves the legs as they were, with the same two stretches and the same gap.
What each stance adds
One-wall: what each shape does to the lanes, for a still hitter. Geometry, not measured play.
Stance
What it closes
What it gives up
Upright (Figure 12)
The drives and the lob, at waist height and above. From 8 feet straight behind: 3 open, 2 tight, 1 shut.
Little. It is the tallest shape, and the narrowest at the knees.
Wide stance (Figure 13)
Width at the floor: the receiver has farther to go round you, and each leg closes its own low lanes. Struck 1.5 feet up, a corner kill is shut from a strip of receiver spots about 2.5 feet wide, against 2.3 feet upright. From 8 feet straight behind: 1 open, 4 tight, 1 shut.
Height. The head comes down, so a lob from close behind gets over you sooner. The gap between the legs is about 2.4 feet of low wall.
Lean (Figure 14)
The lane on that side, above the waist. It moves the top of the body about 0.7 feet farther across. From 8 feet straight behind: 3 open, 1 tight, 2 shut. Drawn leaning right; leaning left is the mirror image.
Your balance, and the other side. You cannot recover quickly. The open side has about 7.3 feet of wall in plain view.
Follow-through (Figure 15)
Whatever crosses your arm, at chest height, about 1.8 feet out to one side. From 8 feet straight behind: 3 open, 2 tight, 1 shut. Drawn to the right; to the left is the mirror image.
Nothing, if it is your natural finish. It lasts only as long as the arm is out.
Wide lean left (Figure 16)
The width and the two legs of a wide stance, with the body tipped to the left over them, so the shadow goes that way. From 8 feet straight behind: 1 open, 3 tight, 2 shut.
The lowest head of any shape, about 5.3 feet, and the open side away from the lean: about 8.0 feet of wall in plain view, where the cross-court clears by 0.8 feet against 0.2 upright.
Wide lean right (Figure 17)
The width and the two legs of a wide stance, with the body tipped to the right over them, so the shadow goes that way. From 8 feet straight behind: 1 open, 3 tight, 2 shut.
The lowest head of any shape, about 5.3 feet, and the open side away from the lean: about 8.0 feet of wall in plain view, where the pass clears by 0.8 feet against 0.2 upright.
Each row of the table is drawn below, twice in one picture: on the left from above, with the receiver's return lanes, and on the right as the receiver sees the hitter against the front wall and the floor. The lanes are the same in both. In every picture the hitter is on the short line and the receiver is 8 feet straight behind.
Upright
In Figure 12 the hitter is upright. With the receiver 8 feet behind, the body shuts the straight, squeezes the pass and the cross-court and leaves the left-corner kill, the right-corner kill and the lob open. It is the tallest shape: it hides about 10% of the wall, up to about 8 feet up, and 11% of the floor. It gives up little. The legs stand so close that they work as one post, stopping one stretch of low wall.
Figure 12. Geometry, one-wall: upright, drawn twice for the same two players. Left, seen from above: the receiver's 6 return lanes, with the bar across the hitter showing how wide the body reaches. Right, the receiver's view of the front wall and the floor, with the same lanes running to the wall. The right-hand picture is drawn from the geometry, not taken from play.
Wide stance
In Figure 13 the feet are 3.5 feet apart. With the receiver 8 feet behind, the body shuts the straight, squeezes the pass, the cross-court, the left-corner kill and the right-corner kill and leaves the lob open. Spreading the feet lowers the head to 5.5 feet, so it hides about 8% of the wall against 10% upright, and 11% of the floor against 11%. The price shows in the right-hand picture: there is clear wall between the knees, about 2.4 feet of low wall that a low shot goes through.
Figure 13. Geometry, one-wall: wide stance, drawn twice for the same two players. Left, seen from above: the receiver's 6 return lanes, with the bar across the hitter showing how wide the body reaches. Right, the receiver's view of the front wall and the floor, with the same lanes running to the wall. The right-hand picture is drawn from the geometry, not taken from play. The solid bar above the wall is the gap between the legs.
Lean
In Figure 14 the hitter leans to the right. The body tips over the feet and the shadow goes with it: it reaches about 5.0 feet to that side of centre, where upright reaches 2.8. With the receiver 8 feet behind, the body shuts the straight and the cross-court, squeezes the pass and leaves the left-corner kill, the right-corner kill and the lob open. The price is the open side: about 7.3 feet of wall in plain view away from the lean, against 5.0 feet on the side it leans to, and the pass on that side clears by 0.6 feet where upright clears by 0.2. A lean to the other side is the same picture the other way round, with the pass and the cross-court swapped.
Figure 14. Geometry, one-wall: leaning right, drawn twice for the same two players. Left, seen from above: the receiver's 6 return lanes, with the bar across the hitter showing how wide the body reaches. Right, the receiver's view of the front wall and the floor, with the same lanes running to the wall. The right-hand picture is drawn from the geometry, not taken from play. The dashed bar above the wall is the open side.
Follow-through
In Figure 15 the hitting arm finishes across the body at chest height, about 1.8 feet out to the right. With the receiver 8 feet behind, the body shuts the straight, squeezes the pass and the cross-court and leaves the left-corner kill, the right-corner kill and the lob open: 3 of 6 lanes closed, against 3 upright. It hides about 10% of the wall. It gives up nothing if it is your natural finish, and it lasts only as long as the arm is out.
Figure 15. Geometry, one-wall: follow-through to the right, drawn twice for the same two players. Left, seen from above: the receiver's 6 return lanes, with the bar across the hitter showing how wide the body reaches. Right, the receiver's view of the front wall and the floor, with the same lanes running to the wall. The right-hand picture is drawn from the geometry, not taken from play.
Wide lean left
In Figure 16 the legs are those of the wide stance, so the same 2.4 feet of low wall is open between them, and the body above them tips to the left. The head is the lowest of any shape, 5.3 feet, and the shadow goes to the side it leans. With the receiver 8 feet behind, the body shuts the straight and the pass, squeezes the cross-court, the left-corner kill and the right-corner kill and leaves the lob open: 5 of 6 lanes closed, against 3 upright, 3 for a plain lean and 5 for a wide stance. Both low kills are tight, where a plain lean leaves them open. The price is the open side: about 8.0 feet of wall in plain view away from the lean, against 5.0 feet on the side it leans to, and the cross-court on that side clears by 0.8 feet where upright clears by 0.2.
Figure 16. Geometry, one-wall: wide stance, leaning left, drawn twice for the same two players. Left, seen from above: the receiver's 6 return lanes, with the bar across the hitter showing how wide the body reaches. Right, the receiver's view of the front wall and the floor, with the same lanes running to the wall. The right-hand picture is drawn from the geometry, not taken from play. The solid bar above the wall is the gap between the legs. The dashed bar above the wall is the open side.
Wide lean right
In Figure 17 the legs are those of the wide stance, so the same 2.4 feet of low wall is open between them, and the body above them tips to the right. The head is the lowest of any shape, 5.3 feet, and the shadow goes to the side it leans. With the receiver 8 feet behind, the body shuts the straight and the cross-court, squeezes the pass, the left-corner kill and the right-corner kill and leaves the lob open: 5 of 6 lanes closed, against 3 upright, 3 for a plain lean and 5 for a wide stance. Both low kills are tight, where a plain lean leaves them open. The price is the open side: about 8.0 feet of wall in plain view away from the lean, against 5.0 feet on the side it leans to, and the pass on that side clears by 0.8 feet where upright clears by 0.2.
Figure 17. Geometry, one-wall: wide stance, leaning right, drawn twice for the same two players. Left, seen from above: the receiver's 6 return lanes, with the bar across the hitter showing how wide the body reaches. Right, the receiver's view of the front wall and the floor, with the same lanes running to the wall. The right-hand picture is drawn from the geometry, not taken from play. The solid bar above the wall is the gap between the legs. The dashed bar above the wall is the open side.
Side by side (Figures 12 to 17), the receiver finds 3 of 6 lanes closed against an upright hitter, 5 against a wide stance, 3 against a lean, 3 against a follow-through, and 5 against a wide lean. The wide lean shuts 2 of them where the wide stance shuts 1.
No shape shuts everything. From anywhere but right on top of you, the lob goes over and the far-side lanes go round. On one-wall, a receiver who cannot see the kill may take the safer ball, and that is a win for the block too: it has changed the shot without touching it.
Next: where the block comes from, which sets out what you are allowed to do about all this on each court.