Jorge Capestany - TennisDrills TV

The High Volley

The high floating volley is perhaps the most choked shot in all of tennis. There are several reasons why this is a difficult shot:

1. The incoming ball is typically moving slowly which requires us to create our own power on the shot.

2. It is perceived as an “easy” shot, which adds to the pressure we put on ourselves.

3. Many players never practice the shot until thy experience it in a match situation.

4. The ball is out of our normal strike zone.

5. It is not a very common shot and we don’t see a lot of them.

The best way to succeed on this shot is to think about footwork not swing technique. Many players assume that changing or adjusting their swing technique is the best way to correct errors on these shots. The reality is that most of these errors can be traced back to improper footwork, specifically not enough footwork moving forward.

The best tip for mastering this shot is to “attack the ball with your feet.” This will give you added power and will keep your point of contact from being too far in front of you which will cause you to dump the ball into the net.

We must address the realities of the modern game. Years ago, most teaching pros and coaches would scold a player for playing a high volley as a swinging groundstroke. However, one only has to look at what is happening on the pro tour to realize that this must be accepted as a reasonable and sometimes necessary shot in today’s modern game. In the beginning I was slow to warm up to the idea that swinging at these shots should be something my players should attempt to let alone something that I should teach. Now I realize that it is the best way for some of my players to master this tricky shot.

Players can accelerate their success on this shot if they commit to playing it in a practice environment. I took an informal survey at my club a few months ago asking a group of 36 high school players if they could remember the last time they specifically practiced their high volleys – not a single hand went up.

This really falls back on me as their coach. Coaches and players need to make a plan to address this shot so that players can be reasonably confident in their abilities to handle it. If not, it could make players avoid the net and begin to shut down all kinds of proper tactics that they may be too nervous to implement.

Jorge Capestany - TennisDrills TV

Jorge Capestany has founded www.tennisdrills.tv - a tennis video based website that has more than 700 videos of tennis drills and tips. The website has more tennis drills than any other site in the world. Luke Jensen, French Open doubles champion and ESPN Tennis Analyst is featured along with Jorge in many of the videos.