The Volley – All 10 of Them

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SIMPLE THOUGHTS FOR A SIMPLE STROKE

  • Establish the ready position “home base”. Elbows out, wrist firm.
  • Make a unit turn to the ball with a Continental/Australian grip.
  • Keeping the non-dominate hand on the racket as long as possible will force you to attack the ball with your feet not reach with your hands.
  • Step into and drive through the target with the correct spin

THE VOLLEY

  1. HIGH VOLLEY: Start high, finish high and keep the weight moving forward. Flatten the racket face, and keep the contact point out front.
  2. TOPSPIN VOLLEY: Early preparation quick feet and an aggressive swing. Don’t be tentative, it’ll float on you. DON’T LET THE BALL DROP LOW.
  3. STOP VOLLEY: At contact the racket face is square and the racket moves downward and slightly backward. SOFTEN YOUR HAND AT CONTACT.
  4. REFLEX VOLLEY: Generally hit at the body as a backhand volley. Keep the wrist and elbow firm and extend out and ACROSS YOUR BODY.
  5. WIDE VOLLEY: The backswing is eliminated.”DON’T DROP THE RACKET HEAD”.
  6. LOB VOLLEY: A surprise tactic shot. The racket face is open. The swing path is upward and the swing is short. Make sure you FINISH HIGH.
  7. DROP VOLLEY: Use a slower moving ball and good position. Soften your hands, open the racket face (parallel to the ground) and SLIDE YOUR RACKET HEAD UNDER THE BALL.
  8. LOW VOLLEY: Bend your knees to KEEP YOUR HEAD CLOSELY ALIGNED TO THE CONTACT POINT. No backswing. Stay still throughout the stroke with a slightly upward path.
  9. HALF VOLLEY: Stay down throughout the shot, take a short backswing, CATCH THE BALL AND EXTEND THROUGH and up for depth. Try not to slice it it’s a tough shot when the balls low and your trying to challenge the top of the net.
  10. DRIVE VOLLEY: A flatter harder swing with a slight downward trend. FINISH ACROSS THE BODY with a firm wrist and step through the shot.