Imagine this, you send your daughter down to the local baseball club to try out for their team. The first thing the coach asks her is, “can you catch”? Of course this talented youngster can catch, especially with a big mitt on her hand. In any case, to impress the coach and so as not to drop the catch, your daughter immediately employs great footwork to get to the ball and nice steady hands to secure the catch in the mitt and has her eyes very close to the action….and this my friends is a perfect volley!
In order to learn any stroke in tennis, a player must firstly understand the mechanics of the shot and secondly, be able to ‘visualize’ and ‘shadow’ the shot perfectly without a ball. In the case of a volley, the player must also understand that it’s the complete opposite of a groundstroke in every sense, the court position, the time available, the grip, the technique, no backswing and no follow through.
To ensure learning a perfect volley a player needs a few to tick a few boxes.
1. Practice the shot over and over again. Firstly, get it right technically from the net and gradually get it right from just behind the service line and moving forward for the next volley.
2. Work on transitioning from baseline to the net. This is where the service line volley will come into play. Learn not to panic with this volley. It’s only a placement volley most of the time unless it’s high.
3. Play as much doubles as possible to help improve your attitude of having to volley and actually wanting to volley.
4. Employ transitioning and volleying into as many practice sessions and practice matches as possible.
5. My experience tells me that to volley well you need to want to be at the net and this is gained through confidence from the above mentioned points.
Players should have the attitude that it’s very easy to volley well because ‘less is better’ (less with the hands). My motto on the volley is “HAPPY FEET, SMOOTH HANDS”.
Volley With Your Feet
