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TennisOne Lessons 
The Lost Art of the Drop Volley or Sharp-Angle VolleyDavid W. Smith, Senior Editor TennisOne Watch any 3.0 or 3.5 level match and you commonly will see one or two players at the net and one or two players at the baseline. Given a volley with two opposing players back on the baseline, typically, the 3.0 or 3.5 level player hit will volley the ball deep, either down the line or crosscourt. But, if opponents are standing at the baseline, why would a player choose to volley a ball deep, essentially hitting right to them when a drop volley or sharp angled volley would put the ball furthest from these two opponents? Seems illogical doesn't it?
So, what is the reason for this? Well, there are several tell-tale answers to this question. First, many players at the net like to volley balls that come to them from the baseline as opposed to having to react quickly to shots hit by opponents who are near the net where they are. I’ll talk about why this is in a moment. Secondly, players volley deep to deep players because they are “programmed” to do this, either through their typical practice and warm up procedures or through drills that are often done at club clinics, or both. (I’ll talk more about this later too!) Thirdly and often the most revealing: many players use a technique that simply prohibits their ability to hit sharp angle and drop volleys. Let’s talk about this first! Grip Problems When I watch players hit, I can tell within two shots what level they are. All I have to see is a volley and a second serve. (I’ll save the discussion of the serve for another article!) Generally it is the ability to volley well within a variety of speed, angles, depth, and touch and a player’s ability to hit an effective, reliable second serve that define the playing level of many players. Ironically, many 3.0 or 3.5 level players can rally from the baseline with adequate control, pace, and spin, to play at a higher level. Yet, often, it is their inability to play the net well—or hit second serves with effect—that prohibits them from moving to higher NTRP levels. The primary problem with many of these players—as it applies to the volley—is the grips they use. While very few teaching pros actually recommend and promote the eastern forehand and eastern backhand grips, because these grips are often more comfortable, and provide a sense of control and “firmness” beginning players, if not steered away, will naturally gravitate toward them. That is because the eastern grips put more hand behind the racquet, making it a stronger grip and that is what creates this misguided level of comfort . The problem with the eastern grips for the volley isn’t that you can’t hit the ball deep. The problem lies in the fact that the grips severely limit most players’ abilities to go beyond just hitting balls deep! Angle and Touch Volleys With the eastern grips, the moment the player turns to hit a forehand or backhand volley the racquet is immediately and automatically laid back relative to the forearm or wrist. So, as soon as the player makes a “Unit Turn” the racquet is then taken so far back that the player has to "swing" just to get the racquet facing in the direction the player wants to hit the ball! Consider too, that the eastern forehand and eastern backhand grips are the very grips most players use to hit topspin groundstrokes. So, not only do we now face a volley with the prospect of literally having to swing to get the racquet back square to a given target, but the grips themselves predicate a perception of topspin instead of underspin. (I’ll talk about the advantage of slice or underspin in a moment.) So, in discussing this idea of hitting touch or severe angle volleys to take advantage of a situation where our opponents are far back at their baseline, we must consider the action of swinging a racquet in trying to negotiate the angle or softness of a drop volley. The problem is that the racquet must be considerably decelerated prior to hitting either shot. Yet, the ability to slow a racquet down from any long swing is extremely difficult to do well and with any regularity. Add the fact that the eastern grips promote hitting a ball with topspin or, at best, fairly flat, now you are not only trying to decelerate a moving racquet prior to contact, but you are interacting with a ball with a fairly flat racquet face. The ability for players to open the racquet face with these grips is very difficult. Slice There are two ways to slow a fast moving ball down with a tennis racquet: 1. Absorb the shot by giving with the ball, (often referred to as “Dinking”), or, 2. Change the ball’s velocity to spin. Remember, as players compete against better opponents, shots hit at the net will likely be substantially more effective. Thus, any player coming to the net, or stationed there (as in doubles) will most likely encounter balls hit lower, harder, and with more spin from these better opponents. The eastern grips don’t allow for players to defend lower balls effectively. Consider lower balls hit at the feet must be hit upward, at a trajectory that allows the ball to clear the net. If we hit these low balls flat and firm (which the eastern grips promote)—and at an upward angle that allows the ball to clear the net—the balls will most likely fly long, beyond the baseline. Players who use the more advanced continental grip have the ability to add more underspin on all shots at the net. Thus, they can convert the speed of the incoming ball to spin…allowing them to hit volleys with more authority instead of resorting to dinking to control the ball.
Set Up With the continental grip, players are already set to hit an angle or a touch volley with a simple, subtle turn. The continental grip aligns the racquet parallel to the forearm better without the racquet laying back as with the eastern grips. The continental grip also sets up the player and the racquet to respond with underspin. With few exceptions, all the pros hit most of their volleys with some amount of underspin. Even on high balls, we see pros hit with some slice. Recreational players should also hit with more underspin on higher balls for a couple reasons:
Drop Volleys
Players often have difficulty grasping the concept of hitting volleys on a vertical plane instead of a horizontal plane. What I mean is that most players are accustomed to hitting volleys parallel with the ground. Drop volleys are hit perpendicular. This is hard for many people to comprehend: the idea is to hit a up on the ball to make a ball drop shorter. I recommend a couple of drills to train a player to learn this concept. As I mentioned at the beginning of this lesson, many players are basically preprogrammed so that it is difficult to learn to hit these drop and angle volleys. Here are the reasons for this:
As you can see, there are many contributing factors that prohibit players from being more creative or have more options when faced with volleys at the net. Conclusion If you find you can’t hit effective drop volleys or very sharp angle volleys, chances are you are using eastern grips to volley with. The first thing I recommend ALL players do, is to become intimately familiar with the continental grip. Walk around the house holding a racquet with this grip, do a ton of “down” and “up” bounces every chance you can get; practice softer volley drills like the “Let it drop but not let it bounce” drill described above. Work on rallying volleys at very sharp angles instead of “head to head.” Remember, with the continental grip, you don’t need to turn as much to execute a sharp angle volley. Your comments are welcome. Let us know what you think about Dave Smith's article by emailing us here at TennisOne .
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