TennisOne Lessons

Private Lessons - The Volley:
Are You Really Ready?

by Scott Murphy


The essence of volleying:
moving on balance and controlling the racquet face.

At my junior and adult camps at the Nike Tahoe Tennis Camp, the first thing I do is evaluate all the campers so as to get them into groups of commensurate ability. Time and time again I’m amazed at the number of players, experienced or not, who are basically clueless when it comes to volleying. As they get closer to the net, it’s as if they enter a “twilight zone” and become remarkably less proficient.

Why is that? Well, let’s face it, things tend to happen more quickly at the net, and, for a lot of people, that creates a feeling of uneasiness or outright fear of being hit by the ball. The upshot is they spend the majority of their time at or near the baseline where things are “safer.” Naturally, a player who spends little time at the net is unlikely to become a technically adept volleyer.

But there are many players who spend plenty of time at the net who also struggle with their volleys—doubles players. So practice alone is obviously not the issue.

It’s too bad because any player who lacks the ability to volley confidently, regardless of level or experience, is missing out on an essential and highly enjoyable part of the game. In this series of 3 articles, I hope to shed some light on what makes for better volleying whatever your current proficiency.


If you are truly ready, you’ll become a successful volleyer.

The Essence of Volleying

Let’s start with a definition. "The essence of volleying":

  1. The ability to move to the ball

  2. To be on balance

  3. To take a minimal backswing

  4. To control the racquet face at impact

The first and most important priority in accomplishing all this is readiness. Unfortunately, this is often completely overlooked.

With practice, a player who is truly ready will unquestionably become a successful volleyer. There are several facets involved in being ready to volley.

Let’s start with the grip. In terms of saving time, most pros, including myself, agree volleying is better accomplished using the continental grip because there is little, if any grip change involved. I say little change because some players will slightly shift the heel of the hand to the inside of the handle on the backhand volley.

For a beginner or anyone breaking ground at the net, changing back and forth between the eastern forehand and the eastern backhand grip generally means more control, but as the action gets faster (particularly in close exchanges during doubles), that sense of control will likely dissipate.


Speed, versatility, confidence—the advantages of the continental grip.

If you’re one of those players who somehow manages to change grips without sacrificing speed for control, more power to you. Speed aside however, the continental grip will ultimately provide more versatility in the type of shots you can hit, and the confidence you’ll gain from not having to change grips will encourage you to spend more time at the net.

Note: two handed backhand volleyers shouldn’t have to change grips either, but should be careful not to use western grips that would overly close the racquet face.

The Ready Position

After the grip, your next priorities are your posture, arm position, and racquet position. Keep your shoulders and back relatively straight and your knees slightly flexed. If you crouch way down like an infielder you’ll waste time by having to put yourself upright again. Keep your elbows bent and comfortably in front of your hips. This is very important!


The critical components in being ready: good posture, slight knee flex, elbows in front.

The idea is to keep the racquet in front of you, or within your peripheral vision, but when you wait with your elbows close into the body you’re basically forced to rotate your upper arm outward. This can result in a backswing that can cause you to be late.

There are times, when the ball is coming at you too slowly, a backswing or even a swinging volley will help you add pace. But, otherwise minimize your backswing.

The racquet should be held so that it is below eye level but above wrist level. This will facilitate lining up the racquet face with the incoming ball. The non-hitting hand should support the racquet at the throat.

Additionally, to minimize reaction time, keep the racquet pretty much equidistant between the forehand and backhand side. I always marvel at the number of players who assume (or maybe just pray) that they’re never going to get a backhand volley.

This player will typically wait with the racquet well to the forehand side and sometimes with just one hand on the racquet. When the backhand does come they will try what amounts to a “reverse face” forehand volley, actually turning the racquet upside down as they reach across to volley. It's not a big surprise that this usually results in an error.

The “minimal” backswing on both sides.

Then there’s the player who waits with the racquet well to the backhand side to protect his weak backhand volley, but this only weakens his stronger forehand volley since the reaction time is now increased to that side.


Poor ready position
leads to the “reverse face” volley - not the way to go!

The Ideal Volley Position

Positioning yourself relative to the ball is also part of being ready. Ideal volley position is midway between the net and the service line. If you find that your opponent lobs well and often you can back up a step or two. The idea is not to get so close that you invite the lob, or to stand so far back that you allow the ball to be easily hit at your feet. Always look to move forward.

Unless your opponent is hitting from the center of the court you should shift left or right of center to the extent that you cover his shortest angle (For more on this see Allen Fox's great article,  Winning at the Net). Most of the time, this is no more than one full slide step, unless the ball on the other side is quite wide. Be sure and face your opponent as you shift so as to stay balanced and ready to move comfortably in any direction.

The final two aspects, the use of your eyes and the split step (or ready hop) are of tremendous importance. A player who consistently tries to guess where his opponent will hit the ball is in for trouble. Think about it. How often do you “sort of” see the ball off the racquet in your rush to know where the ball might go? Are you really seeing the ball or is it more of a guess?


A great ready position allows you to handle quick exchanges.

If you’re like most non-pros you probably guess a lot. Instead, do this. Watch the ball through the entire process of your opponent’s hitting motion. Time your split step accordingly. Now flow to the ball. Watching the ball off your opponent’s racquet will heighten your awareness at that critical moment when you pick up the direction of his shot.

The Split Step

The timing of the split step is critical. It should occur just before the ball is hit. This applies to wherever you are prior to volleying. If you’re working your way forward you don’t want to sacrifice balance or the ability to read the ball in an effort to get as close to the net as possible.

The split step shouldn’t be excessive, just enough to slightly lower your center of gravity and set the leg muscles prior to moving to the ball. The intent is to bounce out of the split step the moment the feet touch back down.


The split step: arguably the most important aspect of good footwork.

Before and after the split step, your feet should be approximately shoulder width apart. If it’s done too early, you’ll respond from a static position. If it’s done too late you’ll likely be volleying while in the air, making for poor balance.

I see too many players who virtually never split step either because they didn’t practice it enough to time it correctly, or because they thought it was too much work.

Bad excuses both! Unless you actually have a physical impediment, a split step just isn’t that demanding and arguably, it’s the most important aspect of good footwork.

That’s the volley readiness package. Stay tuned for what to do next!

Want to read more of Scott Murphy's unique incite into learning tennis? Check out his other original articles in the TennisONE Lesson Library.


 
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Scott Murphy is from Marin County, California where he started playing tennis at age 5 in a family of tennis nuts. Both of his parents were major influences in his development. He also took lessons from Marin legend Hal Wagner and former top 10, Harry Roach.

He's a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley where he played baseball and football but continued to work on his tennis game with the renowned coach Chet Murphy.

Scott Murphy directs the Nike Tahoe Junior and Adult Tennis Camps at the Granlibakken Resort in Tahoe City, California.

Last Updated 11/29/02. To contact us, please email to: webmaster@tennisone.com

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