Volley ready position - elbows forward?

[eah123]

What is the best position to be ready to hit a volley when waiting at net in singles and doubles?

Some of the internet coaches like 2minutetennis and intuitive tennis say you should stand with your elbows forward and away from your body.

But if you watch analysis of professional volley ready positions, almost none of them do this. Coco and Fed:

Brian brothers:

I can see that elbows out cuts down on the time to position the racquet for a backhand or forehand volley. But it's also an unnatural/unrelaxed position which I would assume makes a player less maneuverable, and less able to move quickly to wider balls.

 

[johnmccabe]

My entire tennis learning process is almost always about making the habit of unnatural counterintuitive moves one after another

 

[esgee48]

Racquet head up and elbows away from body. That’s the way I was taught.

 

[Funbun]

I can see that elbows out cuts down on the time to position the racquet for a backhand or forehand volley. But it's also an unnatural/unrelaxed position which I would assume makes a player less maneuverable, and less able to move quickly to wider balls.

It's not supposed to be a relaxed position though? You're blocking a heavy shot out of the air.

Also I don't understand how the arm position would make yourself less maneuverable; a lot of coaches emphasize very proactive, intense footwork up at the net compared to other positions for maneuverability. In fact, a lot of high level players do multiple split steps in the volley position, including the Bryan bros in the very video you posted.

 

[ballmachineguy]

Sounds like some sort of trick to get absolute beginners to not completely screw up volleys. Standing with elbows away, is not relaxed and shoulder muscles will tense up standing like that. If your elbows are far forward, they have to come back to be able to punch through the shot. Whether you turn your shoulders or just pull the racquet back for a reflex shot, it is more difficult with the elbows forward.

 

[Slicerman]

I think a lot of instructors teach beginners to have the centered and forward volley ready position because it gives the player equal distance to covering both the forehand and backhand sides, while keeping their contact point always in front.
However there's a huge flaw in this style because it makes the player extremely vulnerable to body shots. That's why most pros will have the racquet closer to the body and at a slight downward facing angle, in order to guard the body volley.
There was actually one time in a doubles match where I noticed that both opponents used the centered and forward volley position, I quickly picked up on this as a weakness and continuously hit at their body and there was nothing they could do.. my partner and I won the match easily because of this weakness.

 

[Curious]

Don’t try uncomfortable weird positions.
What's the position of his elbows?

 

[Traffic]

Don’t try uncomfortable weird positions.
What's the position of his elbows?

I'm in relaxed arms and racquet up camp. Easier to drop racquet than to raise. Having any "extended" arm position doesn't seem to support quick movement.

Might be a good strategy to help develop good habits of firm wrist and elbows to volley.

 

[user92626]

Don’t try uncomfortable weird positions.

For newcomers or low level players, even a correct position may feel uncomfortable and weird though.

I used to hit w this one woman who claimed to be 3.5 in usta tournament.

She couldn't hit the ball w continental grip. Serve, volley were done w her Eastern fh grip.

Naturally for bh volley she turned her arm around like steering a wheel, n hit with same fh side.

 

[Curious]

For newcomers or low level players, even a correct position may feel uncomfortable and weird though.

I used to hit w this one woman who claimed to be 3.5 in usta tournament.

She couldn't hit the ball w continental grip. Serve, volley were done w her Eastern fh grip.

Naturally for bh volley she turned her arm around like steering a wheel, n hit with same fh side.

I guess there are a few things in tennis that are outright wrong. Not using a continental grip for serves and volleys is one of them.

 

[user92626]

I guess there are a few things in tennis that are outright wrong. Not using a continental grip for serves and volleys is one of them.

Correct. Being a perfectionish, I asked her why she didn't wanna learn the correct way. She said it felt weird.

Right now Im playing w one man who seems intelligent thru the way he talks who strictly plays only traditional ground strokes. Zero volley or anything else.

Again, he said net game is too uncomfortable.

I dunno. Even if I suck I still wanna learn things the right way despite being uncomfortable.

 

[Friedman Whip]

Correct. Being a perfectionish, I asked her why she didn't wanna learn the correct way. She said it felt weird.

Right now Im playing w one man who seems intelligent thru the way he talks who strictly plays only traditional ground strokes. Zero volley or anything else.

Again, he said net game is too uncomfortable.

I dunno. Even if I suck I still wanna learn things the right way despite being uncomfortable.

Righto. I played many years with incorrect technique and then finally many years with correct technique. I found that the game was a helluva lot more fun when it's played right.

 

[mcs1970]

Don’t try uncomfortable weird positions.
What's the position of his elbows?

TT forums do help sometimes

I have terrible net instincts though I have got better over the last year playing more doubles but it is still an adventure for me. Always thinking arms forward, step out and then in, grip it tighter at the moment of impact….etc.

Today I just took the above video as a guide, arms relaxed, racquet up, keep moving the feet and low and behold I had the best volleys in a long long time. Of course I missed a couple of sitters because I can’t help myself, but overall this was the most fun I had in doubles in a long time. Shows how keeping it simple is often the best advice.

Thank You @Curious

 

[chic]

When I am practicing or teaching arms up the issue usually isn't that the racquet needs to be truly in the middle.
Usually the people I'm coaching (I'm only a 4.0, just a local hs coach) or playing with that I want starting up and middle don't have good basic volleys in that they either:
-swing/take back too much on the volley
-catch the volley too far back
-pin the elbows to the side in the rest position and waste too much time going up then forward.

This seems to be the focus of the 2mtennis video. Notice how he's talking about elbow position, or racquet position.

Roger has a bit of swing because of the type of volley hit but his elbows are off the body and contact point well out front.

I don't think these are really contradictory advice even if the pros have a slightly different ready position. That is not the point of the first video nor is it the larger mistake being made by mid level and lower club players

 

[Curious]

TT forums do help sometimes

I have terrible net instincts though I have got better over the last year playing more doubles but it is still an adventure for me. Always thinking arms forward, step out and then in, grip it tighter at the moment of impact….etc.

Today I just took the above video as a guide, arms relaxed, racquet up, keep moving the feet and low and behold I had the best volleys in a long long time. Of course I missed a couple of sitters because I can’t help myself, but overall this was the most fun I had in doubles in a long time. Shows how keeping it simple is often the best advice.

Thank You @Curious

Nice. Thanks.
Did you also notice how low his right hand is? At /below his waist!

 

[user92626]

Nice. Thanks.
Did you also notice how low his right hand is? At /below his waist!

Is that advisable? Keep the hitting hand low?

 

[Curious]

Is that advisable? Keep the hitting hand low?

Keeps the racket head up. That’s why it’s fine maybe.

 

[fuzz nation]

What is the best position to be ready to hit a volley when waiting at net in singles and doubles?

Some of the internet coaches like 2minutetennis and intuitive tennis say you should stand with your elbows forward and away from your body.

But if you watch analysis of professional volley ready positions, almost none of them do this. Coco and Fed:

Brian brothers:

I can see that elbows out cuts down on the time to position the racquet for a backhand or forehand volley. But it's also an unnatural/unrelaxed position which I would assume makes a player less maneuverable, and less able to move quickly to wider balls.

Second video... I appreciate what the narrator is trying to offer in terms of positioning and fundamental mechanics for better volleys, but I'm cringing at the contrasting examples he's using in terms of the clips of Roger's volleys vs Coco's.

Aside from Roger's racquet tilting toward backhand at his ready position compared with Coco's racquet being more vertical at ready, the shots they're hitting are almost completely different. Roger is extending to the ball that's laterally a couple feet off to either side so he can hit a more offensive volley. Coco is getting jammed by a feed coming straight into her body and forcing her into diagonal to get away from the ball to hit a defensive volley on both sides.

Roger's volleys could easily look like Coco's - bent racquet arm 'n all - if the feeds were jamming him as much as Coco.

Terrible comparison!!

...and full disclosure - you can mark me down as both a Fed fan forever, but not in a hurry to jump on the Coco bandwagon. Good for her, so far so good, but she still has several more chapters to write.

Best ready position for volleys? I think that having both hands on the racquet is the key to quickness up at the net, but I see no need to put the elbows in an unnatural orientation. No need to stretch the arms too far forward with elbows too straight or that can make a quick and fluid set behind the ball a little awkward. As long as both hands are holding the racquet up in front of your torso - at least waist level - I'd say you're generally good to go.

Back to the keys to quickness and having both hands on the racquet. I love to stress the importance of the non-dominant hand when trying to be quick up around the net. Let that hand that's up on the throat of the racquet be in charge of quickly and deliberately positioning the racquet head to set up for an incoming ball. Doing this will position the racquet in a hurry without much effort, but it will also force a shoulder turn to the proper side and promote better mechanics.

 

[naturalexponent]

One of the reasons rec players are told to hold their arms out in front of them to prepare for a volley is because the tendency is to wait too long for the ball to get to the volleyer, usually resulting in the ball being hit when it is already at or past the player's body. Keeping the arms in front cues the rec player to hit it out in front of their body, earlier. One thing to remember about rec tennis is that it's often less about perfect technique and form and more about getting a person with limited time and training the ability to hit minimally competent shots and play points.

 

[Bagumbawalla]

It is easier, quicker, to turn your body and bring the racket around if the racket
is closer rather than held away from you. Simple physics. Since you may need to react quickly,
I would suggest not holding the racket as in that first video.

 

[chic]

It is easier, quicker, to turn your body and bring the racket around if the racket
is closer rather than held away from you. Simple physics. Since you may need to react quickly,
I would suggest not holding the racket as in that first video.

But having the arms up as in the first video puts the racquet in the proper position. So that turning the torso is all that is needed. If the arms are down they have to come up then forward in order to properly hit the volley out front.

 

[Bagumbawalla]

But having the arms up as in the first video puts the racquet in the proper position. So that turning the torso is all that is needed. If the arms are down they have to come up then forward in order to properly hit the volley out front.

Not down, just closer to the chest.

 

[Bagumbawalla]

double click

 

[user92626]

Volley is a great and fun stroke.

How do I make myself obsessed with volley stroke like I am with FH?

Do you guys think we have to be faster, much faster with volley than we are with ground strokes?

 

[Bagumbawalla]

Volley is a great and fun stroke.

How do I make myself obsessed with volley stroke like I am with FH?

Do you guys think we have to be faster, much faster with volley than we are with ground strokes?

A ground stroke from your opponent will be traveling faster over the net than when it
lands near the baseline. Also, it will have traveled less distance. For those reasons
you have less time to prepare for and execute your response at the net. That is why the volley
is a simple, quick motion.

 

[Curious]

 

[user92626]

A ground stroke from your opponent will be traveling faster over the net than when it
lands near the baseline. Also, it will have traveled less distance. For those reasons
you have less time to prepare for and execute your response at the net. That is why the volley
is a simple, quick motion.

I see. I think that's where most of my problem lie.

I'm sort of a lazy, delayed moving player. Always wait for last second to start actions.

 

[mcs1970]

Admittedly I am still l learning how to control volleys. One of the drills I am practicing now is just gently angling the volleys on the wall while seeing how many I can make before the ball hits the ground. It’s not a drill about speed or reflex but more about controlling where I want the ball to go.

What I notice with speed and reflex drills is that the focus is just to get the ball in play. Then in matches my mind is just rigidly frozen on that while missing opportunities to place it into the open court. Meanwhile the better volley guys are not just making it but seem to have all the time in the world to know where exactly to place it as well.

True there are a few hard shots where you have no choice but to instinctively stick out the racquet and keep it in play but most of the mistakes I see are where there is a bit of time and the volley guy is so focused on just keeping it in play that they miss opportunities to move their feet and racquet face, to place the ball. To make it worse that tense approach to just keep it in play results in mistakes as well.

 

[Curious]

Don’t let the racket collapse.

 

[LeeD]

Ready position.

 

[Curious]

Contrary to Navratilova tip above, Federer “collapses” the racket on almost every volley lol.

Btw what do you think about his elbows in ready position? Sticking out in front as shown in the thumbnail image of the first OP video?

 

[Power Player]

Worrying about elbows is ridiculous. Look at his shoulders and feet instead.

 

[Curious]

Biggest tip for me: don’t allow any movement of the wrist. If you can master it like Federer you can do whatever you want.