What's the Best Way to Handle Volleys?

The stroke in the game of tennis that is able to go through any form of defenses is net hit, whether it is struck in a form of a smash or volley.

When you are playing from the net, you should get your racquet squarely down at the tennis ball. All the applicable laws with regards to footwork and related with the drive can also be used with equal ease for the volley too, in theory; however, in actual game, it is very often that you will have time to put your feet in that proper detail. So, if there is not much time for proper footwork, minimum that you could do is that shift the weight on your foot which is nearest to the ball exactly at the time of hitting it.

Normally, volleys are of two types: (a) high volley which is hit from a height between the waist of the player and the head; and (b) low volley which is hit through a flat plane beneath the waistline. But, ironically, the names of these volleys (a) stop volley; and (b) deep volley are totally opposite when you actually consider their characteristics.

High volleys can either be blocked or struck depending on the situation; however, all the low volleys should be blocked. But, the crucial thing to keep in mind is that you should never "stroke" all kinds of volleys. You can have a slight follow through on high volleys but do remember that you should not have any follow through for low volleys.

Sometimes you must have also heard about chop volleys. In this stroke, the racquet starts from a position that is higher from the flight direction of ball, and then racquet comes down and lastly through the ball. At this moment, the racquet angle made from behind would normally be more than 45 degrees and may go up to 90 degrees. As while using chop volleys people have inclination to pop the ball upwards in the air, not to chop volleys can be a good policy to follow. You will not lose much by slicing a volley or hitting it flat as in these two cases, the strokes are carried out with the racquet which proceeds from almost from a similar path that of the flight of the ball thereby making a very small angle (if any) with flight path of ball.

You should not use your wrist at all while playing the volleys, irrespective of the fact that whether they are low or high. Always wait for the ball and its impact with the racquet by holding the racquet handle tightly such that your wrist should be under the head of the racquet. When you are playing the ball back, always put in your mass on to the force of the ball that is coming without using any extra power of wrist whatsoever; since the additional deflection that the ball requires will be provided by the slanting racquet face as you glance the ball off its strings.

Because of the obstruction of the net, it will be very difficult for someone to hard hit a low volley, as the stroke might needed to be ward off sharply too so as to achieve the required height to clear the tennis court net.Any ball that comes from a higher plane from above the net need to be give a more pronounced treatment. Try to make your shot as crisp, snappy, and decisive as you can; but provide only a very small follow through movement do not get into a big follow through.

In tennis, "stop volley" can be properly explained as a stroke stopped before the normal length. No major force is applied in stopping ball apart from just blocking it gently and letting it fall by its own weight after the rebound from the racquet. By a lull racquet hold when the ball hits racquet you can minimize the ball rebound by allowing the racquet to absorb whatever little force the ball had still in it. This shot helps in imparting a slight backspin to the ball.

Volley in general is linked with Johnston's name. Johnston did made straight volleys a prominent and effective weapon for player on the net to make the opposition reel. His strategy was to thump in hard volleys by him straight on the opening of the court of other party. The volley is derived from the geometry's popular axiom that the straight line will always be the least possible distance between two points. From this axiom comes the logic the person who is volleying should always cover it passing straight stroke since it represents the least possible distance shot that could go by through him. Moreover, the person should straight volley at his opening, because the smallest amount of delay from him in trying to return the volley as some unusual angle would give the side line an advantage by providing him breathing space to recover and get ready for the next onslaught.

Becoming a net player not allows you to ignore the necessity to perfect the ground shots. When you face top quality tennis players as your opponents you will very soon understand that you cannot compete against them just on the basis on service and volleys without having a thorough control over the ground shots that you play.

Always remember to kill the volley at the first available chance; however, if your shot does not give the desired result, try and follow the ball completely covering once more the straight shot. If you're rival is trying hard to pass so that to make you try and put the ball in for play, hit him back and force him to play stroke that is difficult to play.

Go on and hit the volleys. You should not think about defense when you are standing at the net apart from certain cases where volley just drops on your feet as you move towards it. When you are volleying, put emphasis on placing the ball and not on speed. However, exception to this case is a high volley which can be returned better with speed that with placement.

Discover more tips about using the tennis drive effectively as well as why you should never change a winning game when you visit http://www.bettertennisplayer.com.

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