A multitude of sticky note to-do's later, I have gotten to updating this blog. So, I'll keep the intro short and sweet; volleys are another shot that a lot of juniors (and college tennis players) have trouble with, so here are a few pointers.
Common sense question for you: if you’re at the net and
someone is hitting a forehand at you, say, at 100 mph, would you want to think
about changing your grip from your forehand volley to your backhand volley? I
think not. I think, that you’d probably rather not get smacked in the face with
the ball, and maybe even be able to get it back over the net. So, I win the
argument on whether you should change your grip from your forehand volley to
your backhand volley.
Just to reiterate my point, DON’T change your grip from
volley to volley. Not only could this be hazardous to your overall health (i.e.
getting hit in the stomach, face, groin, ect.) but it also is not part of the
overall philosophy of volleys in general: KISS. No, not kiss the volley,
although that would be entertaining to watch, but Keep It Simple, Stupid. The
more movement you have at the net with your flailing arms/hands, the worse the
outcome. So, flip flop your racquet face instead- volleys are instinctively
played on instinct (Yes, you read that right- I’m trying to keep you on your
toes here!). In other words, because the ball is coming at you fast (assuming)
and you have less time to react to it (since you’re at the net, not at the
baseline), the volley game is mostly stationed on how you instinctively react
to the ball.
On those terms, remember that the more you do at the net,
the worse it is. AKA, less is more. Less swing is better than big swing- the
general rule is that you don’t want to let your racquet get behind your
shoulders other than on higher volleys. The difference of how you hit a lower
volley compared to a higher volley is again less is more- simply scoop/slice
the ball a bit more on the lower volley (pretend that you want to scoop a bit
of ice cream out of the carton with your hands- that’s what your wrist should
be doing sort of on the low volley). On a high volley, you should be hitting a
bit flatter, with no scooping of the ice cream at all (Whack a mole coming into
mind, but more like a sideways whack a mole).
Now that we know what to do with our hands, let’s talk about
legs. Remember to keep the center of gravity of your body (belly button) lower
to the ground on volleys- bend your knees. Unless you’re reacting to a ball hit
straight at you, your legs should follow the ball on contact- if you’re hitting
a forehand volley, your left leg should come towards the ball (a tad bit
diagonally), while on a backhand volley you’re right leg should come towards
the ball a tad bit diagonally.
Now that you’re
an expert on volleys, go against a wall (yes, wall) and hit volleys against it.
This is a good training routine to not only to train good volleys but also work
on your reaction time and keeping your wrist firm, as well as keeping your grip
the same. Watch Cara Black as she does this work out, and then tell me if you
could possibly do that switching grips on the volley (yes, I’m assuming your
still not quite sold on that point yet- until you watch the video and agree
with me).
Now check out the Brian brothers doing a “Romanian Volley
Drill;” notice how their feet move and how simple their volley stroke is.
Now go out there and try it yourself- don’t forget to keep
it simple!
