Slowly learning how to volley again, still sucking at returning balls at my feet

[SlvrDragon50]

My volleys have been slow to return now that I've played tennis for a little over half a year now. I don't make as many stupid errors when the balls are waist level or higher (still make them though hah). However, I have seen like no improvement when returning balls that are landing at my feet. I feel in a game, they wouldn't be landing there, but we play games in the workout classes where we either start on the service line to return a feed or we feed a ball and approach (and usually by timing are returning near the service line). I usually have two outcomes when I return these balls: 1) they pop up high and are just waiting to be killed, or 2) they go into the net. I did watch a video on volleys where I think I may be gripping my racket too tightly so I'm experimenting a little bit with that. Any other suggestions/videos to watch? Do I just need to move forward and get off the service line? It's weird for me because when I was in high school, my favorite thing to do was volley.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

My volleys have been slow to return now that I've played tennis for a little over half a year now. I don't make as many stupid errors when the balls are waist level or higher (still make them though hah). However, I have seen like no improvement when returning balls that are landing at my feet. I feel in a game, they wouldn't be landing there, but we play games in the workout classes where we either start on the service line to return a feed or we feed a ball and approach (and usually by timing are returning near the service line). I usually have two outcomes when I return these balls: 1) they pop up high and are just waiting to be killed, or 2) they go into the net. I did watch a video on volleys where I think I may be gripping my racket too tightly so I'm experimenting a little bit with that. Any other suggestions/videos to watch? Do I just need to move forward and get off the service line? It's weird for me because when I was in high school, my favorite thing to do was volley.

"pop up high" means the racquet face was too open.
"into the net" means the racquet face was too closed.

Sounds like you still need to find the correct racquet angle. Now, if you do and the ball is always going long, I'd agree that you are either gripping too tightly or swinging too much [or both].

Have someone feed you everything at your feet and experiment with different racquet angles and grip tensions. Don't try to hit winners but just deep [which will give you the most court to work with].

Netting is the worst since the point is over. Pop ups are bad but at least you still have a chance. And a deep pop up might not be easily attackable. But at least it's a place to start: once you can get them in consistently, you can start to adjust to make them more aggressive. And add angle. etc.

Video yourself so you can see what you're actually doing as opposed to what you think you're doing. You might surprise yourself.

Also, make sure you're bending your knees and getting low [which takes a lot of energy] and don't lift your head up prematurely [count at least 1 second after contact before you look up].

 

[SlvrDragon50]

"pop up high" means the racquet face was too open.
"into the net" means the racquet face was too closed.

Sounds like you still need to find the correct racquet angle. Now, if you do and the ball is always going long, I'd agree that you are either gripping too tightly or swinging too much [or both].

Have someone feed you everything at your feet and experiment with different racquet angles and grip tensions. Don't try to hit winners but just deep [which will give you the most court to work with].

Netting is the worst since the point is over. Pop ups are bad but at least you still have a chance. And a deep pop up might not be easily attackable. But at least it's a place to start: once you can get them in consistently, you can start to adjust to make them more aggressive. And add angle. etc.

Video yourself so you can see what you're actually doing as opposed to what you think you're doing. You might surprise yourself.

Also, make sure you're bending your knees and getting low [which takes a lot of energy] and don't lift your head up prematurely [count at least 1 second after contact before you look up].

Yea, I'm not even trying to hit winners, but it feels like when I pop them back up, it's the equivalent of hitting it into the net. When I hit it into the net, I'm overcorrecting. So I guess my question is how do I make the adjustment from popping them up to control the volley and direct it. Should I be more aggressive with the volley and move forward so I don't have to dig the ball off the ground? Or should I be working on finesse/spin? Unfortunately a lot of times when we do these games is it's half court so there's not really much room to hit angles.

 

[LeeD]

Most shoestring volleys are hit from service line.
Get sideways feet, low torso, and stroke thru the short hop with slight backspin aiming to clear net by one foot and aim 6 feet TOO DEEP.
You will misfit 90% of the time and it drops IN, hopefully near the baseline target.

 

[Rosstour]

I have the opposite problem, I blow all my high volleys.

 

[SlvrDragon50]

I have the opposite problem, I blow all my high volleys.

Hah, that was me a few months ago. Now I just return the high volleys and keep the ball in play rather than going for winners. Well... I try not to go for winners. It's hard to resist the urge when the points don't matter.

Most shoestring volleys are hit from service line.
Get sideways feet, low torso, and stroke thru the short hop with slight backspin aiming to clear net by one foot and aim 6 feet TOO DEEP.
You will misfit 90% of the time and it drops IN, hopefully near the baseline target.

Okay well I'm definitely not getting sideways feet. My feet are still facing the net when I hit the volley. So it does sound like a defensive shot is generally the right play. That'll definitely change up how I approach these shots.

 

[LeeD]

Only John MacEnroe can half and low volley with both feet angled towards the incoming ball.
He played one grip net tennis, pistol grip, and had extraordinary hand/eye.

 

[golden chicken]

I used to be much more aggressive going towards the ball in my younger heyday. Now I have to break the new habit of letting it short-hop at my feet and trying to hit a half-volley. I kick myself every time I duff one like that because I didn't get after it.

 

[LeeD]

Fact of life.
When moving forwards against peers or betters, you WILL HIT at least 40% of your 1st volleys from shin to 1/2 volleys.
So learn to push them deep.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

Yea, I'm not even trying to hit winners, but it feels like when I pop them back up, it's the equivalent of hitting it into the net. When I hit it into the net, I'm overcorrecting. So I guess my question is how do I make the adjustment from popping them up to control the volley and direct it. Should I be more aggressive with the volley and move forward so I don't have to dig the ball off the ground? Or should I be working on finesse/spin? Unfortunately a lot of times when we do these games is it's half court so there's not really much room to hit angles.

You'll have to experiment to see what works for you. Try the drill I suggested.

 

[E46luver]

 

[E46luver]

this breakthru when taking volley lessons
is not to try to "stick" or chop low balls below the net
above net, stick it
below net, defensive pop "lob" volley

remember you're on defeense on low volley, NOT offense
key mindset for below net volley
Wrong = try to winner volley and close out point (bc win at net !)
Right = get ball into play and make him hit one more ball

 

[user92626]

Wrong = try to winner volley and close out point (bc win at net !)
Right = get ball into play and make him hit one more ball

So, never ever try to "winner" any volley shot. Always make opponent hit one more ball and wait for his error? Is this a net version of pusher?

 

[SlvrDragon50]

Awesome.

I was in the mindset that popping the shots up was incorrect. I'll hopefully get to experiment with it some more on Thursday.

 

[Injured Again]

A couple of things. First, you should try to NOT hit volleys at the service line if at all possible. Second is that volleys are all about footwork and getting into position. I've gotten that drilled into my head from both a guy who played #1 at a D1 school, and from another guy who was a long time teaching pro. I used to reach out to the side and keep my feet relatively immobile. I'm learning that instead, I need to keep my racquet hand centered in between my shoulders as much as possible, and move my feet along with turning my shoulders so I can get to those volleys off to the side.

Lastly, the way most people practice volleys is not how it is done in match play. When you typically see volley practice, one guy is standing at the net and the other is hitting groundstrokes. In a match situation, you're almost always on the move, so practicing volleys should be the same way. When I practice with the teaching pro, we start at the service line and take a step in with each volley, trying to keep them below the level of the net. That means that when we are within a few feet of the net, we're hitting them pretty softly. Then, we back up with every volley until we're at the service line again, hitting each volley increasingly harder as we back up, and repeat. This is the **best** volley practice routine I've ever done and has helped me tremendously.

 

[Bender]

So, never ever try to "winner" any volley shot. Always make opponent hit one more ball and wait for his error? Is this a net version of pusher?

It really should be:

Right = get ball into play and place it as well as you can so the opponent sets you up with a ball that you can put away. If placed really well then the opponent will hit an error (but a forced one, so not an unforced error).

If you are hitting volleys and waiting for unforced errors you're not only doing it wrong, you're missing the point of net play.

 

[tonylg]

A couple of things. First, you should try to NOT hit volleys at the service line if at all possible. Second is that volleys are all about footwork and getting into position. I've gotten that drilled into my head from both a guy who played #1 at a D1 school, and from another guy who was a long time teaching pro. I used to reach out to the side and keep my feet relatively immobile. I'm learning that instead, I need to keep my racquet hand centered in between my shoulders as much as possible, and move my feet along with turning my shoulders so I can get to those volleys off to the side.

Lastly, the way most people practice volleys is not how it is done in match play. When you typically see volley practice, one guy is standing at the net and the other is hitting groundstrokes. In a match situation, you're almost always on the move, so practicing volleys should be the same way. When I practice with the teaching pro, we start at the service line and take a step in with each volley, trying to keep them below the level of the net. That means that when we are within a few feet of the net, we're hitting them pretty softly. Then, we back up with every volley until we're at the service line again, hitting each volley increasingly harder as we back up, and repeat. This is the **best** volley practice routine I've ever done and has helped me tremendously.

Hmmm.. I certainly agree with volleying, moving forward and then repeating until you're on the net. As for not volleying from the service line, that's how you get to the net. I've always started one step inside the baseline and volley and push forward, volley again, repeat. Never going backwards. Even when you are being defensive, move back and then come forward again to volley. Weight always moving forward.

 

[Injured Again]

Hmmm.. I certainly agree with volleying, moving forward and then repeating until you're on the net. As for not volleying from the service line, that's how you get to the net. I've always started one step inside the baseline and volley and push forward, volley again, repeat. Never going backwards. Even when you are being defensive, move back and then come forward again to volley. Weight always moving forward.

I said to "try NOT to hit volleys at the service line if at all possible". For me, this means I will sometimes take some pace off an approach shot, or decide to hit a high-bouncing loopy but slower approach shot to get me further into the court.

Second, I play against people who can really hit the ball, and if I'm at net and hit something weak, it's suicidal to try to continuously move forward. I have to back up a bit to give myself some time to react. The other thing is that in age group tournaments, there will be some players very good at lobbing and if I don't hit a forcing enough volley, I have to respect their lob and back up a little bit. They, on the other hand, will take that opportunity sometimes to try to put a ball right at my feet. Again, I'm hitting the volley with my weight either neutral or moving backwards.

It's enough of the game that it needs to be practiced, just like moving backwards for an overhead. And if in a cooperative volley practice like I've described, at some point you can't move forward any more because the net is in the way so unless you just stop to reset back at the service line, you have to volley on your way back there.

 

[LeeD]

Learn, by practice, to hit low-half volleys either deep OR short angle.

 

[E46luver]

So, never ever try to "winner" any volley shot. Always make opponent hit one more ball and wait for his error? Is this a net version of pusher?

No, I said repeatedly this ONLY applies to volleys below the net.

 

[E46luver]

This is the **best** volley practice routine I've ever done and has helped me tremendously.

best volley practice with 2 coaches.
One feeds ..to hit an approach shot DTL
and have 2nd coach hit that ball back and you volley that live ball.

 

[Nellie]

A common problem I see is that people are trying to run through and rush this low volley. By this, I mean that people don't stop their forward momentum with a jump step and try to hit this hard shot while moving forward, which makes timing really hard. This usually happens because people are trying to as close to the net as possible to hit the first volley. Instead, you need stop for a fraction of the second when the opponent is swinging, and turn and bend to prepare the racquet low and with an open face to get some height under the ball when volleying

 

[SlvrDragon50]

A common problem I see is that people are trying to run through and rush this low volley. By this, I mean that people don't stop their forward momentum with a jump step and try to hit this hard shot while moving forward, which makes timing really hard. This usually happens because people are trying to as close to the net as possible to hit the first volley. Instead, you need stop for a fraction of the second when the opponent is swinging, and turn and bend to prepare the racquet low and with an open face to get some height under the ball when volleying

I think this is what I fixed today. Granted I don't think I was hitting against as tough opponents, but I had a bit more time to set up at the service line. My focus today was being more relaxed overall whether it was hitting a groundstroke or volleys, and I noticed a big improvement in ability to keep the ball in. Well, until I got exhausted anyways! I think the problem I notice with the high flying volleys that should be easy putaways, I tense up and then end up mishitting the ball.