Know all about the different strokes and hands you can use when it comes to playing tennis. A tennis volley is one of them. Visit us to learn more on it.
Let’s start this off by explaining what is a volley in tennis? A volley is an offensive play in which you hit the ball back to the opposing player before the ball bounces on the tennis court. Once a player hits the ball before it hits the ground that will be considered as a volley, it is that simple.
A volley can be eliminated in many different ways, below we will explain the methods you would practice if you wish you wish to execute your volley.s like a pro-tennis player. I can personally tell you that when you watching a tennis match and we see our favorite tennis player executing those plays it may seem easy but it is very much not, the simple off can cause points for your opponent.
Best Tennis Volley
If you are at a beginner’s level or intermediate level in the sport then and you wish to perfect your volley,s then you are are in the right place. After fulling reading the steps and drills we are about to implement I am sure you will feel much more confident the next time you hit the tennis court as long as you follow the correct ways on how to play the volley shots you will be hitting like a pro.
1. How To Land The Valley
Players tend to approach it wrong by adding too much push to the ball or too little, landing a perfect valley requires a balance or redirecting the ball with a little bit more power if needed. It’s common to see players punch the ball to generate more power but if you are a beginner its best to stay on the safe side and do less punching.
Most of the tennis players that punches the ball are well-experienced tennis players that have been practicing and playing the game for years and would normally perfect the amount of push to add to the ball. For you to get at that stage you must perfect-a few things first, I will get straight into those below now.
2. How To Grip The Tennis Racquet For Volley
Your first step on executing the perfect volley is going to be to perfect your hand grip on the tennis racquet. Its advice by most veterans of the sport to practice the continental forearm grip the reason being is that it creates a better window for both forehand and backhand volleys plays without the need to switch-ups.
3. Footworks For Volley
The footwork is obviously the key factor to tennis it maintains the balance of your plays or I should say the plays you make in the game. A perfect stance for the volley plays are the split steps, the split step puts you in a position to easily play your forehand or backhand volleys.
A split-shot is when you toss the ball in the air and hit the ball with your leg widely opened generating more power transfer from the tennis racquet to the ball. A split-step is when your legs are wide open and you are taking small steps on to tennis court as well.
Also when moving do remember that if you are planning on playing the volley with your left forehand, you’ll need to step across with your right foot and it’s repeated vice-versa. Here are some other things you can take into consideration when moving forward with the split step
- You must be prepared for a shot coming in the direction of you your backhand.
- Stepping forward adds power to your volley.
- You must always use the opposite foot to proceed forwards.
- Try to make your footwork and your shots be one move, don’t be all over the place with it.
- Know the importance of timing volley is mostly about the timing.
For you to be perfect at all the above mention things you will need many practices, it will not happen overnight. It requires loads of time when training the body to perform all the above, you need to perfect your stance, your grip and footwork those are the true keys and thing you should spend most of you time practicing.
4. Forehand Volley Technique
It’s common to see tennis players today prefer to play with their forehand, most say that it is more comfortable than the backhand, however, this will be judged on which of your hands are the most dominant one. This technique is used mostly when one is attacking the net or I should say playing close to the net.
When executing a good volley your hand should be extended fully out while you slightly tile your wrist if you are the hitting forehand volley your opposite hand should be toward your body as well. Please keep in mind that the slightest movement of the wrist will affect your volley plays on a high scale.
Straight volley, this is when you hit the volley directly straight ahead of you, this is done by locking up your split stance while giving your wrist a free flow with the head of the racquet while playing with your wrist slightly backward than usual.
To eliminate a crosscourt volley you just simply need to simply place your racquet in front of your wrist.
5. Backhand Volley Technique
The backhand volley is definitely not the most favored play in tennis, a backhand volley is mostly used by the less dominant hand. To execute this you will your feet and hit should be closes while you watch closely on your opponent to see where the shot will be targeted at.
Remember when attempting the backhand volley you should not place your racquet too hight that will off your balance and your directed play, your racquet should be at chest level. As mentioned above when executing the shot your legs will be closes but on that while hitting the shot your legs should be opened while you prepare to get the best hits you can get from your backhand.
6. Tennis Racquet Placements
Learning to grip the tennis racquet and knowing how to use it for your volley players are two different things. When playing a volley shot you can either hold the tennis racquet stiff and just redirect the hit or you can apply power to ensure that the ball doesn’t fall short.
If you choose to apply power do not apply a lot of power, it will unbalance the ball play when adding power to the ball you should add the slightest amount possible little to none.
7. Volley Drills
Here are some drills you should practice on all the free tie you get, the repeating practicing of these plays will most definitely improve your volley plays in the game of tennis.
The volley wall practice, I know to some this technique may sound sill but it’s proven to be very accurate over the years by professional tennis players. On doing this you will play a game with you and the wall, you will make sure to always hit the ball before it bounces on the ground. You going to start off playing close to the wall and the more comforting you get the farther away you will go.
- Do sets of 25 forehand volleys
- Do sets of 25 Backhand volleys
- do a complete 50 sets mixed as well
- Be sure to practice your footwork techniques as well
Volley with a friend or sparring partner its more over the same thing as the wall drill however it’s with a person instead and yu get try and predict where the other persons playing the ball. The practice should last at least an hour or two the minimal if you wish to play like a professional tennis player.
And just to hype you up you can watch a numerous amount of volley plays on the Youtube platform so your body gets hyped up for the activity. Everything can be done that was listed in the above article to perfect your volley plays in the game it’s just going to take a lot of practice but once you have the hang of it it will be like count to five, yes that easy.
Types of Volleys
There are 6 types of volleys in tennis that you can hit depending on the height, pace and positioning of the ball coming at you:
- Punch volley: This is a standard volley for netplay. When hitting a punch volley, the player at the net punches their racket forward, slightly downwards, adding underspin to the ball. Punch volleys do not require a backswing and are best used when facing medium-paced balls that have enough height over the net.
- Drop volley: This is a low key volley that requires a light touch. The player must try to softly place the ball on the other side as close to the net as possible in order to increase the distance your opponent must cover to reach it. When executed properly, the ball would bounce twice before your opponent could return it.
- Block volley: A block volley requires even less movement than the punch volley. For this type of volley, the player simply holds their racket up to block the ball where there is no punch or swing necessary.
- Lob volley: At times when two players approach the net simultaneously, it becomes difficult to execute a passing shot. You can perform a lob volley in this case, which involves opening up the racket face and giving the ball a high arc over your opponent’s head – that is far enough to pass them, but not that far to pass the baseline.
- Swinging volley: A swinging volley is when the payer uses a full groundstroke swing to smack the incoming call out of the air. This is performed when a player is caught in a no man’s land – the space between the service line and baseline.
- Half volley: A half volley is when a player hits the ball off the ground right as it bounces on the ground.
Conclusion
Thanks for reading and reaching the end in our blog, we do hope you have enjoyed reading with us and that you have learned many new things that you didn’t know before clicking this article. I am confident that once you have read and follow the steps above on how to perfect your volley plays you will be playing like a professional player in no time.
For some it’s hard but as I always say, everything can be perfected with the right amount of training and the proper teaching. Volleys are are a very essential part of tennis you cannot go pro without mastering your volleys in the game of tennis.
They are different ways to execute the different volley plays in the game so be sure to read everything listed above I know it may seem long but knowledge is power. And saying that please remember to go check out some of the other related articles that we have on here like for example, The best footwork drills of all time.
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