For me, it's because I'm swinging. It's been so bad I took a volley lesson this morning, trying to get back to simple.
Is it really a topspin volley or just a flat shot?
I distinguish between hitting slightly underspin and slightly topspin. For me, the slightly underspin drive volley is a more natural stroke to hit with power and accuracy. Like throwing a Mike Tyson punch.
To me it means taking a full topspin forehand stroke at a ball that has not bounced yet. Not really a “volley” at all, other than the fact that the ball has not bounced yet.
I agree. Anyone who is swinging at volleys, probably can't volley well. Only Mac could effectively hit a topspin volley, accelerating the ball off the shoe tops. There is no need to hit a swinging volley at net because the advantage is with angle, placement, and taking away the opponents reaction time. Power isn't necessary. Taking a mid-court ball of out of the air is a different story. Here, the speed of your shot and the act of taking it out of the air reduces your opponents time to recover and is, perhaps, worth the risk of the shot.
The term "swinging volley" does not refer to a regular volley where the player swings too much. In your example, I agree: people tend to overcomplicate volleys and one way is excessive racquet takeback and swing.
Like almost everyone on the WTA tour? I don’t think we are talking about the same thing.
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Tell me something I don't know.Coz you suck
I would say the majority of players on the WTA tour do not volley well. I would say a large number of men on the ATP tour don't volley well. Swing volleys are a product of backcourters in the modern era trying to fill-in an enormous gap in their games with something similar to a groundstroke. Most of the players do not come to net with any regularity and that is, ipso facto, because they don't feel comfortable at net and don't volley well. I honestly don't think all that many of them would even argue with me.
Add something to that .. they don't want to be called to actually hit a proper volley. And Edberg, Rafter, etc would punch the ball deep into a corner and close into the net to beat you with the next volley. Once inside the baseline, baseline bots just need to end the point.
Good advice. There are only a rare few players who can crush this shot with consistency. In my day, we just took it out of the air, blocked it into the open court, and came in behind it. Things as they are today, one probably needs to do a little more with it, but I still think the best play is to follow it in.
On the forehand side, treat them like "shoulder level dip drives". I'm not sure if Brett has anything out there for free, but he teaches it on this video:
I just try to connect. But usually my connection is so good, it’s a winner anyway. I always hit it down the middle in doubles and people never react to it in time.
how are you missing?
Usually I miss into the net, especially the BH when on the BL and I'm just hitting it for fun. I need to make a concerted effort to lift the ball.
I started trying this shot last year after watching serena. of all the pros, she's the one i see using it the most. about a year before that, i made a commitment to get into net quicker and more frequently (when playing singles). what naturally started happening is i would get floaters that i was meeting mid-court, but they would almost surprise me since i was still moving in...i'd get jammed, bunt something back, or have to let it pass me, run back, and re-set with a defensive lob. watching serena helped me to start anticipating and looking for the shot -- and i dont have to blast it, just a steady/easy stroke that no one expects... and of course, the more i started trying it, the success % goes up, and overall more comfortable with the shot. in the 3.5/4.0 circles i play in, i rarely see anyone using this shot. now i almost always get a handful of easy winners per match with it...(and a few oohs/aahs, which is nice).
Even at 4.5 it's rare. And almost no one attacks the net as Plan A anyway so the opportunity does not come up much.
even when i'm deciding to s&v or c&c, i almost never get swinging volley opportunites...
My experience is the same. Opponents at my level just don't choose to hit passers that I can swing volley.
This seems strange to me. In my experience, highish levels of rec tennis is where S&V is most common. Lower levels, people don’t have the necessary skills. Top echelon, the passing strokes get too tough.
We're talking singles, right? I don't know anyone, from 3.5 up through 5.0, who S&Vs as a primary strategy [except me, of course].
I've never played on anything but hardcourt.
I served and volleyed both first and second serve for years - until my serve couldn’t reliably overwhelm anyone anymore. Had to reinvent my style after that.
We differ then: my serve has *never* reliably overpowered anyone. S&V/C&C works for me because my net game is better than their passing game...up to a certain level, of course. And I'm discovering where that level is.
