How to Hit an Effective Volley

A good volley game can turn a match on it's head. If your a serve and volleyer your volleys need to be rock solid. Even if you're not a server and volleyer your more than likely going to have to hit a few volleys from time to time to finish a point off. So how do we hit an effective volley?

The best part of a volley is being able to knock off the shot quickly, taking time away from your opponent because of your position in the court. The best thing you can do is open the court up by serving wide and following it in, volleying into the open court. Your opponent will usually be on the stretch giving you an easy put away volley.

To get the most power out of your volley, you must leverage the power of your big muscles groups. These are your legs, hips and chest. Your arm swing should be as minimal as possible, all the power comes from your stance and movement into the ball. Always bend your legs as low as possible or else you will end up having to hit down on the volley which will throw off your accuracy. The swing should be a straight punch through the ball.

For a backhand volley your right foot should be in front of your left foot and vice versa for a forehand volley, this side stance gets the big muscles in your back involved.

When approaching the net you should always do a move called the split step. The split step should occur right as your opponent is about to hit the ball. It is basically where you stop running forward and enter a stance where you are facing front on to the net, with your knees bent and ready to jump to either side.

The split step stops you from running through the volley and getting out of position and gives you the opportunity to easily change direction depending on where your opponent hits the ball.