Have you ever wondered how the greats of tennis like Roger Federer, Pete Sampras,  John McEnroe and countless other pro tennis players of their time learned to hit exceptional volleys time and time again?

The irony is that most club, recreational and weekend warrior players struggle with the volley, because of poor tennis volley technique and lack of knowledge of the correct arm positions required for the volley. Many times, players are even afraid to approach the net because

Tennis Volley Techniques – Role of the Wrist

A common mistake made by club players is using the “wrist” to hit the volley, and done in this manner will always result in poor or weak depth and power on the volley. On contact, the wrist should be firm (but not possessing a death grip) at any point during the stroke. Often times, you will hear players referring to a player’s volley as “too wristy” because the wrist is either droopy or being manipulated at contact.

Watch Roger Federer’s volley, and you could see his wrist is firm while still staying relaxed at contact. There is no abrupt or jerky movement of the wrist or forearm. In fact, Federer keeps the arm and wrist “quiet” throughout with minimal superfluous movement.

Keeping the volley movement compact allows a player to hit driving volleys with good depth and penetration through the court. Often times, club players make the mistake of using too much racket movement in the volley – causing them to hit either late or weak volleys that allows their opponents to easily penetrate through them at net.

Less is More in Volley Techniques

Something to keep in mind with tennis volley techniques is that less is often more. Keeping the tennis volley compact is key. One thing players can practice is what is called “tucking in” the elbow. Here, a player ensures that the elbow stays tucked in and close to the body throughout the volley motion. A common mistake many players make is allowing the arm to “flail” away and the racket to swing wildly into the ball causing an elongated motion – whereas the pro tennis volley technique is often remarkable in it’s crisp appearance with almost no extraneous motion.

L-shaped hitting arm position – Key Tennis Volley Technique

The “L shaped” hitting arm, or double-bend is a super key hitting arm position, characterized by a bend at the elbow and a slight bend at the wrist – this position allows pros like Federer and Sampras to achieve maximum leverage and control on the ball without sacrificing accuracy. Think of a construction crane lifting a heavy object – the crane utilizes leverage to pick up the object. Here, the slight bend at the elbow and L shaped angle between elbow and forearm allow for the torque and leverage to occur.

Most club players lack this key position on their volley, which results in a weak volley. Or worse, they posses a straight-arm which will result in a player getting tennis elbow over time as there is no leverage and there will be excessive force on the grip.

Whether a player is hitting a forehand or backhand volley, the correct tennis volley technique involves the characteristic “L” shaped hitting arm position for leverage.

Pivot Sideways and Turn

Similar to the unit turn in tennis, the world class pro volley involves a player pivoting their foot sideways – which turns their body, shoulders and racket as one unit together. A common mistake is that some players will take their racket back for the volley, without turning their shoulders sideways – so essentially their torso is still facing the net, which will often cause a player to feel “jammed”

Racket Face in Front – Critical Tennis Volley Techniques

The other key position of note is the strings of the racket should always face the fence. The tennis volley technique involves a very simple, elegant and fluid motion. There is very little excess, virtually no “backswing” on the volley as short and sweet is the motto here.

A common mistake here is players hit either their forehand or backhand volley by taking their racket back way too far which results in them hitting “late” or getting “jammed” by the incoming ball on the tennis volley. Here, it will make it difficult for players to time the incoming shot accurately.

Keeping the strings of the racket facing the net at all times and minimizing any swing will allow a player to hit a compact but firm volley that has deep penetration in the court.

Watch Federer here for an example. 

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The main objective of a tennis volley is to surprise your opponent since this shot limits your opponent’s reaction time. Thus it is considered as an offensive shot. A tennis volley shot also minimizes the bad bounce effect especially on grass and clay courts. In addition, playing a volley (especially if you stand near the net) gives you a wide array of angled shot choices which can be very difficult for your opponent to return. If your opponent does return the ball, normally it is a weak one.

To be a successful volleyer you need to have quick reflexes and you need to have perfect hand-eye coordination. Below are some tennis volley tips for players seeking to improve the forehand and backhand volley.

Tennis Volley Grip Tips

The Continental grip is the most commonly used grip by professional tennis players. This grip can be used both in a forehand volley and in a backhand volley. This means that you don’t have to change your grip if you use a forehand and a backhand volley alternately. This makes this grip more popular than the other grips.

Some players use the Eastern forehand grip to hit a forehand volley, but the disadvantage of this tennis volley grip is the fact that if you want to hit a backhand volley stroke in your next shot, you need to change your grip to a continental grip. This can be very confusing and time consuming especially for beginners.

Tennis Volley Preparation Tips

Tennis Volleys are normally played on the net, thus its shot preparation is basically shorter compared to other shots such as groundstrokes. This makes an appropriate tennis volley preparation crucial. Late preparation can lead to a rushed shot resulting to poor executions. One of the most important tennis volley tips is to be well prepared by anticipating your opponent’s shots. Another tennis volley preparation tip is to limit your opponent’s shot choices or options so that you can react to the ball quickly. Instead of giving your opponent 5-6 shot options, limits it to 2-3 options.

There are some ways and means for you to be able to anticipate your opponent’s shots. The first thing your can do is look into and analyze your opponent’s tendencies and patterns. You can also study hints from your opponents through his or her shots or strokes.

Another tennis volley tip to anticipate your opponent’s shot is for you to develop or improve your correct perception of the ball’s path and spin. And lastly is to anticipate your opponent’s shot based on his or her court position.

Anticipation in a Tennis Volley

Aside from anticipating your opponent’s shots, a quick response time span is also vital for a tennis volley. Developing this skill gives you a big advantage at the net considering how quick and fast tennis volley exchanges are. This skill is more vital in tennis doubles matches considering the frequency of tennis volleys in a doubles tennis match. But it is also of equal importance in a singles match especially if your opponent is a good net player.

A quick and fast response time involves your reaction time and your execution time. Your reaction can be explained as the time spend by your brain to process your opponent actions or shots made and channel that massage to your motor for the type of shots to prepare. On one hand, your execution time means the time you spend to execute the appropriate return of your opponent’s shot.

Most skilled players’ average reaction time (from the point the ball is released to the start of racket movement) is between 226 milliseconds for forehand volley and 205 ms for backhand volley. One way to improve your reaction and execution time is to do a split step. Some tennis volley tips on how to properly time your split step is explained below.

Tennis Volley Footwork Preparation Tips

There are several ways to practice the proper tennis volley footwork preparation. Another essential tennis volley tip is to perform a timely split step and focus your balance as early as possible. For best results, you have to execute the split step as soon as your opponent makes contact with the ball. This is for you to establish your base of support.

In fact, most professional players are able to execute their split step in such a way that the execution is perfectly timed just after the opponent’s ball contact. The split step is also important for you to be able to move quickly and react to your opponents return flawlessly. A timely split step also gives you the proper balance your need to execute your return properly. In this type of footwork preparation, timing is essential.

Dynamic Tennis Volley Footwork Practice

Regular practice on tennis volley tips is necessary for beginners and amateur players to achieve the perfect split step timing. Being able to execute a well timed split step allows you to move to the net quickly and at the same time hit the proper return. The split step is the most important footwork preparation in tennis volley shots.

Tennis Volley Technique

These tennis volley tips show the importance of proper technique on your tennis volley. Most tennis volleys are hit with the use of a short racket swing. This abbreviated racket swing can be done by just bringing the racket back without taking a backswing. This technique is best to use when you are on the service line while executing your tennis volleys.

The second tennis volley tip is to keep your tennis volleys compact. The racket arm should not go past your shoulder point. To be able to produce enough power on your tennis volley, a perfect weight transfer should also be accomplished.

Proper weight transfer also varies between a low volley and a high tennis volley shot. In a low volley shot, the weight transfer should happen before contact while in a high volley shot, weight transfer should happen during contact. This weight transfer signifies your timely weight transfer from your back foot to your front foot.

Tennis Volley Contact Tips

These volley tennis tips put more emphasis on the position of your racket head during the contact. At contact, the racket face must be in a slightly open position. This means that the racket face that comes in contact with the ball must be slightly facing upwards or towards the sky. This racket face position at contact can be used either in a forehand or in a backhand volley. This position is a commonality amongst all world class volleys.

A common problem among club players is late reaction time. This causes their racket face to be positioned is a “dish” manner (racket face facing upwards fully).

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Behind their domination of the world’s doubles tennis game, they are known to be constantly using tennis volley exercises in practice to hone their forehand and backhand volley technique.

Although the modern professional game has become dominated by powerful baseliners, the volley remains an important part of the game. The best players in the world all have the ability to come in to the net and finish points with easy volleys. They can set themselves up because of the power of their ground strokes.

They may not do it as often as players in the past did but having this ability still makes them more dangerous than other players. In doubles, the serve and volley game is still the best strategy to use. So if you really want to become a more complete player, learning to volley is an important part of this process.

Tennis Volley Exercises to Perfect your Forehand and Backhand Volley

Tommy Haas Demonstrates a perfect forehand volley: Excellent initial foot pivot allowing the body to be sideways while maintaining forward momentum

Many players do not volley as much because they have insufficient physical strength in their arms and wrists. There are a few tennis volley exercises that you can do in the gym or at home to gain more strength in these areas. The wrist can be strengthened with grips and ball squeezing exercises. There are also weight training exercises for the wrist and forearm that are useful for developing better volleys. These are the following:

• Wrist curls – holding a light dumbbell, place your forearm on a stable surface with the wrist hanging off the edge and the palm facing up. Curl the dumbbell up and back down.
• Wrist extensions – this is similar to the wrist curl, except that the palm if facing down. Lift the dumbbell by extending the wrist up and lower it back down.
• Wrist abduction and adduction – hold the dumbbell with your thumb on the upper side and perform a motion as if you were hammering a nail.
• Forearm pronation and supination – hold a dumbbell bar without weights or only a light weight attached at one end. Twist your forearm back and forth, pronating and supinating. Use the full range of motion.
• Arm exercises like bicep curls and tricep extensions are also useful to provide stability and protect against tennis elbow.
• Shoulder exercises, especially those targeting the rotator cuff can help you hit high volleys better. These include internal rotations and external rotations.

Tennis Volley Exercises #1: Flexibility for the arm

Tennis volley exercises should also include stretches for the wrist, arm and shoulder. Flexibility is just as important as strength in the development of proper technique and for the prevention of injuries like tennis elbow, rotator cuff tears and tendonitis of the wrist. Shoulder and wrist injuries have wrecked many a tennis player’s career.

There are also drills to improve your volleying ability. Hitting against a wall is one of the best tennis volley exercises. You can do this in your garage or even inside your own home.

Tennis Volley Exercises #2: Wall Drills

Stand anywhere from 3 to 6 feet away from the wall and simply volley the ball back and forth. You can keep the ball on your forehand side, backhand side or do alternating sides. You can also do patterns like 3 forehands then 3 backhands.

You are free to be creative with this aspect. The main thing is to hit the ball as many times as you can. This is a great exercise that develops your feel for the shot, quickens your reaction time and improves your hand-eye coordination.

Tennis Volley Exercises #3: Consistency Drills

Keeping a sustained rally of forehand and backhand volleys with your partner at the baseline allows you to ingrain the correct technique and feel for the tennis volley shot.

To develop consistency and get used to the feel of taking the ball out of the air, you can simply rally using volleys instead of ground strokes. You can rally from halfway between the service line and the net or further back. Try to set a goal of how many shots you can keep in play. Just as in hitting against the wall, you can create patterns too, like forehand-forehand, forehand-backhand-backhand-forehand, etc.

However, volleys are not rally shots. As much as possible, volleys are offensive shots and some tennis volley exercises should help you apply more force on this shot. You should be looking to end the point with the shot or set up your next volley for a winner.

Uou should not be coming in to the net to defend. As such, the best and most effective volleys are hit when a player is moving forward. However, position play is even more critical than on ground strokes. When you are at the baseline, you have generally have more time and you can even run around one side to hit the ball with the other wing on certain occasions.

You do not have this option up at net. Any small opening will leave you stranded as you get passed by your opponent. Therefore, aside from moving forward on the volley, you should quickly recover to a position that bisects the possible angles of your opponent’s reply. A good drill for this is the V drill.

Tennis Volley Exercises #4: The V Drill

You are fed the ball to either your forehand or your backhand that you have to volley. You move diagonally forward to intercept the ball but recover quickly to the centre service line after every shot.

Tennis Volley Exercises #4: The Romanian Volley Drill

The Romanian drill is another one of the tennis volley exercises that also trains a player to move properly. In this drill, the players stand just inside the service line and volley the ball back and volley the ball back and forth while side skipping back and forth from one side line to another. It is for more advanced players but a more basic version can be done for lower level players. Instead of rallying, a coach can feed the ball to a player while progressively moving him over from one side line to the other and back.

Volleys also need much finer racket head control. Whether you are trying to hit the ball hard or soft, controlling the racket head is vital for effective net play. Tennis volley exercises can also help you develop this. One technique is to practice hitting volleys with the non-dominant hand tucked behind your back. This emphasizes concentration and forearm strength to stabilize the racket head.

Tennis Volley Exercises #5: The T Volley Drill

Perfect Forehand Volley Set-up By Novak Djkovic

Another control-oriented tennis volley exercise is the T drill. Players start out at the service line and keep the ball in play by volleying back and forth. With each shot, they should take a step forward to the net.

When they are both really close to the net, they will be using very delicate strokes to keep the ball in play. The goal is for both players to ultimately trap the ball with their rackets.

In order to get used to hitting volleys in a match, practice games have been designed to simulate match situations. The first is the serve and volley practice game. In this game, the players must always try to come to the net because they can only score points from the forecourt. The server should serve and volley and the returner must return and volley as well.

This can be adapted for both singles and doubles. You can actually play a no-bounce game. There are also drills (not necessarily games) that can be done to suit this purpose.

Tennis Volley Exercises #6: The Passing Shot Drill

The passing shot drill requires two players, one at the net and another at the baseline. The baseliner feeds the net player a reasonably difficult shot, which the net player has to try to put away. Meanwhile, the baseliner tries to run down every ball and pass the net player with any shot including the lob.

There is also a version of this drill where the players both start out at the baseline. The player who will be practicing volleys is fed a midcourt ball. He or she hits an approach shot and tries to volley a winner on the next ball. The baseliner will also try to hit passing shots in this drill.

The best tennis volley exercise is not really an exercise anymore, but it is the only way that a player can really develop his or her net game. Try to execute in an actual match what you have been practicing. The more you do this, the more you will learn and be confident in your volleying ability.

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Perfect Serve and Volley drill

This tennis volley drill involves hitting a serve, followed by an approach volley to the open court. You have to be very accurate as to where to hit the ball when you serve. In tennis, you are allowed to have two service tries. In the first service, it is your time to hit the ball as hard as you can but be careful not to make too many service faults. In this tennis volley drill, the goal is to get as many first serves in and be able to execute the approach volley to the open court, setting yourself up for a put away volley.

Try the service drill as many times as you can until you accurately hit the place in the court where you want the ball to land. This volley drill will help you perform the serve and volley successfully in a real match.

“V” Tennis Volley Drill

The “V” tennis volley drill can be performed by having the first player in the service line (line between the net and the baseline) and the second player in the opposite court feeding the ball in such a way that the first player does the V tennis volley drill. The purpose of this tennis volley drill is to practice moving forwards to the net and at the same time execute the volley. After you return the ball, immediately return to your original position which is the service line. As usual the two players has to exchange position. This time it will be the first player who feeds the ball while the second player does the “V” tennis volley drill.

Romanian Tennis Volley drill

In this tennis volley drill, players should rally to each other exchanging forehand and backhand volleys with each other from the service line. At the same time each player is exchanging volleys, they must shuffle from side to side while remaining near the boundaries of the service boxes. This drill runs from each doubles sideline.

This tennis volley drill is of course performed by two players who are positioned near the net. This tennis volley drill help you develop your forearm strength to keep your racket head steady and be able to accurately return volleys in the net. This is not an easy task to master but if you do it diligently, at the end of the day you will just notice that you are doing well. Professional tennis players such as the Bryan Brothers do this tennis volley drill all the time which is why they are experts at the net game.

Tennis Volley Run drill

The Tennis Volley Run drill is a type of tennis volley drill that can be performed by two players. The first player is the only one having a racket while the second player will just throw the ball to the first player. Again the second player is the feeder while the first player is the one who performs the volley. This tennis volley drill can be started on either of the far side of the court. The second player feeds the ball to the first player and the first player volleys the ball straight back to the second player.

If the second player catches the ball, the drill continues with the players moving sideways to cover the whole net. After covering the whole area of the net (from one side of the net to the other side of the net), both players can exchange position. This time, it is the first player who is the feeder and the second player is the one to perform the tennis volley drill.

Cover Tennis Volley drill

This tennis volley drill is performed better if there are more than two players involved. The first player stands on the other side of the court, while the rest of the players are positioned in the other side of the court. The players opposite the first player should position themselves in a straight vertical line. Then the first player feed the ball to the forehand side of the first player in queue, and then this player moves out allowing the send player in queue to return the second ball fed by the feeder.

This time the feeder feeds the ball to the backhand side of the player. Again the second player (in queue) moves out allowing the third player to perform the cover volley tennis volley drill. The drill continues until the last player has performed the drill or the first player in queue can go back again and continue the process.

“V” Tennis Volley Drill

This is another drill to be performed if you are doing tennis volley drills. This drill is done by two players wherein the first player is the feeder while the second player is the tennis volley drill performer. The first player (feeder) feeds the ball and hit the ball in the center of the court and the second player have to do a low forehand volley to hit the ball. Second player then returns to the line or his original position.

Crosscourt and Down the Line Volley drill

This volley drill is performed with the purpose of improving the players’ endurance, stamina and anticipation of the ball and his footwork. This drill is done by two players in each side of the court. The first player will serve in such a manner that the ball hit the opposite side of the court where the second player is positioned. As a result the second player has to run to the other side of the court to return the ball

Overhead and Volley drill

This tennis volley drill is very important for the player to master overhead shots, footwork movement and volleys. This tennis volley drill will also help the player to improve his speed, agility and reaction quickness. Reaction quickness means the ability of the players to react quickly as to where the ball hit especially when the opponent hit the ball hard and quick. To execute this tennis volley drill, the first player is positioned in the mid-court while the second player is positioned in the normal place where a player should stand when hitting a serve (service box).

Continuous Tennis Volley drill

This tennis volley drill is done with more than two players. The first players stands on one side of the court while the rest of the players stand on the other side of the court. The rest of the players should form two vertical lines. The first player (the feeder) feeds the ball to the players in line alternating between forehand and backhand volleys.

Half Court Tennis Volley drill

The Half court tennis volley drill helps you develop your speed, agility and footwork that will allow you to execute the tennis volley perfectly. In executing the tennis volley approach, you need to be very quick to react as to where the ball is because the distance between you and your opponent are very close requiring quick reactions. This tennis volley drill can be done by sprinting to the net as quickly as you can.

Tennis Volley Drill with left arm at the back

In this tennis volley drill, you start by putting you left hand at your back (for a right handed player) and allowing only your right hand to hit the volley. However. you can also do the other way ( if your are left handed) wherein it the right hand that is put at you back while the left hand does the work of this tennis volley drill. This tennis volley drill is a drill to help you improve your concentration on your racket head and the arm you use to hit the ball. By putting your non dominant hand behind your back, you are forcing your racket hand to prepare earlier without any interference from the non dominant hand. This tennis volley drill will also help develop the strength of you arm to be able to withstand the harder hit vollies in the game of tennis.

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Many top world class tennis players such as Roger Federer and Pete Sampras have flawless tennis volley technique. With proper technique and timing, the tennis volley can be executed without any trouble. However, players must master the technique and develop the proper timing to execute the forehand and backhand volley.

Key components for an effective tennis volley

Initial step

The initial step that a player takes to start the tennis volley is of equal importance as the other executions or movements in volley. The split step is considered as the proper initial step in executing the forehand and backhand volley. The split step also allows the player to be always ready to return any passing shot by the opponent. Furthermore, the split step also gives the players a good balance for him to be able to accurately hit the volley for a particular shot of the opponent.

Agility

The ability to react quickly is important in tennis in general but it is much more needed when the player is executing the tennis volley. The player should be able to move his hand, feet and body into the proper posture to return the ball.

Mental alertness

The players should also be quick and alert mentally to react to the very fast ball movements in a volley. Unlike the other rally like cross-court, the ball in a tennis volley travels very fast at a very short distance. So, the player should be very alert mentally to react to the balls’ quick movements. A very good net player is able to finish the tennis volley and win a point with only 2-3 shots in the net.

Footwork

Same as in other tennis techniques, footwork is also an essential component to execute the perfect tennis volley. Proper footwork should be executed as forehand and backhand volleys are executed. Series of small sprinting steps are needed for the tennis volley to be executed perfectly.

Body movement

The body movement plays a very important factor in volley technique. The tennis volley does not only involve wrist or arm movement, but the body as well. The player needs to move his body quickly in reaction to the ball direction. The player’s body should be able to move down quick if the ball is low and should be able to move up if the ball is high.

Forehand Volley

The forehand volley is as important as the other techniques in tennis game. It is an essential technique to master if a player wants to excel in the game of tennis. It is very simple to execute once the players is comfortable playing in the net. One very important technique in executing the forehand volley is to keep it simple but effective.

There are several key aspects for a player to be able to execute the forehand volley perfectly and accurately. The first key is the use of continental grip. Another key is the preparation of the players in terms of his body and hands positions. The player should keep his hands between his chest and waist. The chest should be angled at around 45 degree to the net. At the same time, the hand with the racket (right hand for right handed player and left hand for left handed player) should be positioned in such a way that it is not behind the right shoulder (left shoulder for left handed player).

The steps can also be a very big factor to execute the forehand volley. When a player executes the forehand volley, he needs to step forwards using his left foot (right foot for left handed player) with his arms extended for the contact of the ball.

Backhand Volley

The continental grip is normally used in executing the backhand volley. This grip usually results to a better backhand volley compared to the other tennis racket grips. The body stance or posture also plays a very significant factor on how attain the proper backhand volley. In a ready position, the player should position himself in such a way that the weight of his body is on the balls of his feet.

At the same time, the racket should be held out in front of the body. The backhand volley is initiated by turning left from the waist. After the player’s initial move, the player should prepare the racket for the volley by moving it backward, but it should not go beyond the shoulder. In this case, the player puts the weight of the racket mainly in his left hand. While the player is positioning the racket, he has to step across and forwards with his right foot.

To be ready to hit a backhand volley approach, the players should see to it that his wrist is slightly laid back. The player’s elbow should be comfortably distanced in front (not too close or not too far) so that the players will be able to hit the ball accurately and on time. If the player’s elbow is to near or too far, he might be late in hitting the ball. A late return in a volley gives your opponent time to return the ball to his advantage.

Another aspect that a player should remember is to bend the knees when returning a low ball. The player should bend his knees instead of the back or body.

Another important consideration is the position of the racket head. The player should avoid taking too big of a backswing. If the player does this, it will affect his speed and accuracy.

Things to avoid in a tennis volley

1. Avoid performing the volley if your preparatory hit (the hit before you start your volley) is not accurately executed.

2. Avoid excessive forward swinging of your racket when you are performing the tennis volley because this will result to excessive forward motion.

3. Avoid hitting the ball using a chopping motion, but rather hit the ball in a smooth manner. A high to low swing angle can be used in easy put away volleys. Whereas low-high volleys are more effective especially when the ball is played below waist level.

4. Avoid the excessive bent-wrist stroke by maintaining a firm wrist when the ball touches the racket head.

5. Avoid hitting the ball too close to your body.

6. Avoid hitting the forehand and backhand volley from an unbalanced position.

7. Avoid a very easy volley that enables your opponent to return the ball easily. Try to hit the ball in a corner or target the feet of your opponent. Targeting your opponent’s feet forces him to hit a high ball which will make it easy for you to return.

8. Avoid using two hands when you hit a backhand volley. The backhand volley is most effective when you use only one hand for the backhand and forehand volleys.

How to achieve world class tennis volley

Players do not need to hit a complicated tennis volley in order to achieve a world class volley, because the volley is accomplished in a very simple way. You need to have finesse and soft touch. Players does not always need to be explosive and powerful on the tennis volley, but it requires perfect and accurate execution to hit the ball in the best point in the court that leaves his opponent off guard forcing him to lose the point.

One of the best shots in the tennis volley is to hit a deep ball rather than a short ball to force your opponent to execute a passing shot. Another important shot in the volley is a sharp angled shot. This puts the opponent off the court, giving the player hitting the volley a great advantage.

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The post Tennis Volley – The Forehand and Backhand Volley appeared first on Tennis Instruction.

This is often a follow-up shot after an initial approach shot has been hit. Typically, players use the forehand volley when the ball comes to their dominant side. Depending on the point situation and court position, the forehand volley can either be a finesse shot or a finishing shot. Some examples of top professional players that have exquisite tennis volley technique is Pete Sampras and Roger Federer. For these professional players, the forehand volley is a creative shot.

Forehand Volley Grip

The forehand volley can be an easy and simple shot, but it needs a lot of practice and drills to master. The hardest part of this tennis volley shot is to choose the appropriate grip that you are most comfortable with. The forehand volley shot does not vary on the type of grip you use. Thus, it is very important to use the grip that are you are comfortable with.

The most common forehand volley grip used by tennis players is the continental grip. The good thing about this grip is that you don’t have to change your grip if you execute a backhand volley after a forehand volley shot.

Tennis volley shots can be hit using the Eastern forehand grip as well. However, this grip is not that popular because of the fact that you have to change your grip to a modified Eastern backhand or full Eastern backhand for backhand volleys. To change one grip from one shot to another can be very difficult especially for beginners.

Forehand Volley Ready Position

The ready position for a forehand volley begins with the initial recognition of the ball. An ideal ready positions is to stand with your body and feet facing the net and with your eyes glued to your opponent’s movements anticipating his/her shot.

You have to stand with your feet spread at a shoulder width. The racket position depends on the players themselves. Some would prefer to have their racket directly in front of them with their left hand or non dominant hand (for right-handed players) slightly supporting the racket’s throat.

At the same time, the elbow is off of your body. Avoid resting your elbow in your stomach because this posture may delay your volley shot. Always keep your elbows more or less parallel to the ground. This posture allows you to quickly react and hit the forehand volley once the ball arrives.

Other players are not comfortable with the above ready position especially when they don’t have a clear idea of their opponent’s return. They prefer to hold their racket with the racket face just in front of their left shoulder (for right-handed players in edge-first position-the racket edge is facing the body) but with the handle (held by the right hand) directly in front of the body. The racket’s throat is still slightly supported by the non racket hand

Forehand Volley Preparation: Split Step

A split step is one of the most important footwork moves that begins the forehand volley. It is normally done by tennis players in preparation to hit a return, in this case the forehand volley. The split step is completed by a little jump while you are air borne.

Upon landing from the split step, you should separate your feet widely to give you more balance when the feet touch the ground. This step prepares the player to move to any direction to where the ball is. For the split step to be effective, it has to be executed in a timely manner. The ideal time to execute the split step is when your opponent starts to make contact with the ball. This means that when you are up in the air, the ball has just come off from your opponent’s racket.

Forehand Volley Backswing

The backswing for a forehand volley shot is a lot different from tennis groundstrokes backswing. The forehand volley backswing is a lot shorter and less powerful. If you do a full backswing with so much force, your volley shot become unreliable. It should also be noted that not all forehand volley shots is executed with a backswing especially if the ball is hit at a very fast pace and you are near the net. However, if you are positioned farther from the net and the ball speed is not that fast; a longer backswing can be applied.

Contact Point

For your forehand volley to be very effective, meet the ball in front of your head or your body and transfer your weight gently forward. Remember that if you are a right-handed player and you hit a forehand volley shot, you have to step forwards with your left foot. If you are a left-handed player, you have to step forward with your right foot. These actions allow you to put extra pace to your shot. Once you made the contact, keep your eye locked to the point of contact. Also remember that you when make contact with the ball, your racket head should be above your wrist.

Forehand Volley Follow-through

The follow-through of a forehand volley is just a short continuation of your forward motion.

Forehand Volley Techniques and Tactics

Forehand Volley Tip #1

The most common reason why many tennis players hit a long forehand (outside balls) volley shots is because they tend to pivot their elbow or wrist when they hit the ball. If you do this, you have to execute the shot accurately to avoid error. Remember to keep your elbow and wrist firm when you execute your forehand volleys. You also have to punch out from your shoulder when you hit the ball.

Forehand Volley Tip #2

It is ideal to hit the forehand volleys when the ball is at net level or higher. To do this, you have to move forward to meet the ball.

Forehand Volley Tip #3

For better results, you have to keep your racket head above your wrist when you hit the ball.

Forehand Volley Tip #4

Always remember that in a backspin forehand volley, the ball floats farther than in a flat volley. Thus, you have to hit your ball lower and apply lesser power.

Forehand Volley Tip #5

To hit a proper forehand volley, the magnitude of the downward angle in your racket swing must be of equal proportion to the magnitude of the upward angle of your racket swing.

Forehand Volley Tip #6

Always move forward and meet the ball in front of you when you make contact. Avoid hitting the ball back or else it can cause a lot of errors.

Forehand Volley Tip #7

When you are moving forward to hit the ball (as mentioned above at contact), you have to make sure to that you keep moving when you are about to make contact with the ball.

Forehand Volley Tip #8

If you are about to hit a return from your opponent’s heavy topspin shot, you have to remember that the ball has the tendency to jump off from your racket face. Thus, you need to compensate this by hitting the ball a bit lower.

Forehand Volley Tip #9

If you are going to hit a forehand volley below the net, remember that it is ideal to hit hard and deep than on a high ball. Add backspin in your shot and for best results, hit a drop shot or angle forehand volley shot.

Forehand Volley Tip #10

To hit a backspin forehand volley, you have to tilt your racket face upward or do the downward chop.

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The post Forehand Volley – Secrets of the Tennis Forehand Volley appeared first on Tennis Instruction.

Most players also use the backhand slice in a baseline rally when a player wants to distract his or her opponent’s rhythm. A backhand slice that is placed well can force the opponent to return a short ball. It can also be used to return the ball in a baseline rally or when you are in a defensive position. The tennis backhand slice will slow the tennis ball down and allow the player to return to the recovery position. This is also used to counteract low balls.

Backhand Slice Grip

In a tennis backhand slice, the ideal grip to use is the continental grip. However, players do vary their grip in executing backhand slice depending on how comfortable they are. Some players use a eastern backhand grip.

Footwork for the Backhand Slice

The most common footwork to execute in the tennis backhand slice is a series of small steps to perfectly position your body to where the ball is going to land. This should be followed by a large final forward step using your right or front foot (right handed players) when you are about to hit the ball. The weight of your body should be transferred from your back foot to the front foot creating forward momentum.

Neutral Stance

The backhand slice is usually hit with a neutral or closed stance. In a tennis backhand slice, the player has to align the feet in such a way that if you draw a line in between your front foot and you back foot, the line should be parallel to the sideline.

Tennis Backhand Slice: Backswing

The slice backhand should create adequate backspin making it difficult for the opponent to return. The backhand slice can serve as a change of pace throwing your opponent off balance. Backspin tends to decrease the speed of the ball resulting to a sharper curve. The use of the tennis backhand slice with one hand is also a technique used in an approach shot. The slice backhand can also be used to defy your opponent by curving the ball away from him or her.

Top of Backswing

The forehand slice backswing also plays a vital role in executing the perfect and effective slice forehand shot. The forehand slice backswing starts with a shoulder turn. As you swing you racket back, make sure that it is positioned up. This means that your hand holding the racket is positioned a bit behind and above you head. The racket head should also be higher than the path of the ball. See to it that the long axis of your racket is almost horizontal to the ground and that the racket tip points more or less to the back fence. Then if you want to execute the square stance, step your left foot forward (for right-handed player) and be ready for the forward racket swing execution.

Swing before contact

Once the ball bounces, your body weight should be concentrated on your front foot. It is important to lean forwards in preparation to hit the ball. The backhand slice should be executed with a knifing action with your racket from a high to low direction.

A knifing action means you have to hit the ball as if you are slicing something with a knife; this is why it is called the backhand slice technique. This action rasps the face of the racket (racket strings) in the lower part of the ball producing the backspin. Your left hand also plays an important role as a balance and to assist the hitting arm position the racket. Your eyes should be glued to the ball.

Contact Point for the Backhand slice

At the contact point, your racket should be positioned lower to meet the ball. Your racket should be in open position to touch the ball with an upward movement since you are hitting the ball from a high to low manner.

It is ideal to make contact at about 18 inches just in front of you front or right foot. One thing to remember during contact, do not hit the ball too early because the ball tends to move straight up making it an easy shot for your opponent. However, avoid hitting the ball too late also or else a very flat ball will be produced which might result to a long ball.

Maintain your balance by concentrating you body weight in the center. Seconds after you hit the ball, your racket should naturally moves to the right side of your body which means that you produce enough sidespin.

Backhand Slice Follow-through

At this stage your racket continues to move to the right side of your body. Your body should remain low. The racket movement from a high to low direction is a counterbalance which leads to a finish characterized with the racket ending up high close to your right shoulder.

Once the swing is complete, it is important to immediately return to the recovery position to prepare for the next ball. Maintain your balance by extending your left arm.

Two types of backhand slice: High and low ball backhand slice

The high backhand slice is slightly different from the low backhand slice in such a way that the former needs a shorter backswing and the downward hit should be angled. In a low backhand slice, the player needs to bend his knees while keeping a low center of gravity. A low slice backhand requires the same amount of in depth touch and finesse. It also requires the proper usage of the body to stay low throughout the stroke.

In the high backhand slice the player should use a sharp knifing action from high to low before the ball bounces. The tennis backhand slice is an ideal stroke to use when a player wants to execute a drop shot or he wants to hit the ball to the feet of the opponent who is in attacking position.

Generally, a backhand slice is not an offensive shot due to the fact that when you use this technique, you cannot hit the ball hard. This is because the main part of the body that is used here is only the upper body and it does not involve rotation or hip movement, hence no power can be produced. Although it is generally a defensive shot, but it can be used as an offensive stroke if executed perfectly and placed accurately.

If your opponent‘s return is a high ball, the dropping of the racket head will usually be less pronounced than if the ball is low. If you drop the ball too low in this situation, hitting the ball long is possible, resulting to your miss and a point to your opponent.

After contact and follow-through

Right after ball contact, after the ball just left the racket face, you have to maintain the slight bend in the knees. Then, at the farthest forward point of your racket head, the distance between this point and the farthest backswing point should be 7 feet. The racket should have risen 3 feet from the lowest point of the swing (when the racket has to drop before the contact).

In a two handed backhand in tennis, the more you loosen your arms as you swing the racket, the more potential you have to create a fluid and efficient swing. The racket should end up over your left shoulder in the follow through.

Learn to Hit a Forehand Like Roger Federer

If you want to jumpstart your forehand and play like the PROS, check out my 70+ page Tennis Ebook that will immediately show you how you can take your forehand to the next level.

The Modern Forehand Domination Ebook is guaranteed to improve your tennis technique, and increase power, topspin and accuracy of your tennis forehand!

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Learn How to Hit a Forehand Like Federer, Nadal and Djokovic

The post The Tennis Backhand Slice Technique appeared first on Tennis Instruction.