3 Ball Volley Drill

Bolle's sunglasses designed especially for tennis make the ball literally leap out of the background. On sale now! Click here to Purchase

Lots of players talk about wanting to go to the net more, but often they do more talking than volleying. The biggest problem in changing your game is developing the confidence to actually try the changes in matches. 

Last month I showed you how to gain added confidence in the volley using the ball machine and the two ball volley drill. Why the ball machine? Because what you need are clean, high percentage, multiple repetitions - hundreds and hundreds of them - and the ball machine is the best way to get them!  

Adding the Approach Shot

The 3 ball drill takes last month's 2 ball sequence one step further by adding the approach shot. This will make the first volley tougher, but more real, since it more closely simulates a game situation. You’ll have to move forward, split step, and get balanced for the first ball. This is key for developing full confidence and trying it regularly in matches. 

On the Playmate ball machine, leave the first hole open, plug the second hole, and leave the third and fourth holes open (Most ball machines can be set to throw the same pattern as the Playmate). 

Start on the baseline. Set the machine to throw a medium pace, medium depth ball that bounces a little deeper than the service line. Hit your approach on the first ball, move forward and split step. You’ll now set up for the same 2 ball sequence as in the previous drill - a low first volley at about knee level and a second ball, which will automatically come at about shoulder level. 

The only tricky technical part with the machine - have a partner or your teaching pro use the remote to stop the machine after each 3 ball sequence so you have time to recover. If you don’t have a partner, you’ll have to let the next 3 ball sequence go while you return to the baseline, but that works too.

Again, start with all three balls as forehands: approach, first volley, second volley. Then switch and hit the sequence on the backhand side. As you work you’ll be amazed at how satisfying it is to actually come in and get makeable volleys time after time. That’s key to gaining confidence. In a half hour, you can easily practice 100 clean sequences—something that it would take dozens and dozens of matches to replicate.

As with the 2 ball drill, next add the oscillation factor—have the machine throw the approach to one side, and the volleys to the other, and then reverse. Practice the various ball placement patterns concentrating at first on going down the line with the approach and the first volley. Work up to 10 perfect sequences on the machine on all the combinations. Master the 2 ball volley drill first then tackle this one. At this point, you’ll barely be able to wait to try it out in matches!!

Last Updated 9/1/98. To contact us, please email to: webmaster@tennisone.com

TennisONE is a registered trademark of TennisONE and SportsWeb ONE; Copyright 1995. All rights reserved.