In this 4th blog in our series of 12, I will share a few important fundamental tips and drills for players to develop their forehand volleys. Let’s start with addressing the volley grip.
The Grip:Â
One of the basic errors I have seen in many players involves the wrong grip on the forehand volley. See below a demonstration of the incorrect grip where the right index finger knuckle is too far over to the right of the racquet. This grip has several weaknesses including how it closes the racquet face and leads players to incorrectly use their wrist to impart spin and height on their volleys.
The change as I have demonstrated below is to move the right index finger knuckle to the left to achieve the correct volley grip. See how this opens up the racquet-face angle, which is the desired angle we want to achieve while keeping our wrist locked on the forehand volley.
Point of Contact With The Ball:Â
A key aspect to successful execution of the forehand volley is to contact or meet the ball in front of your body. Below are a few drills to develop the right point of contact on your volley.
Drills To Practice:
Toss & Catch: This is an excellent foundation drill to develop feel for the point of contact. Have a partner or coach toss you a ball and practice catching it in front of your body at the correct point of contact (see picture below).
Toss & Tap: Similar to the toss and catch drill, now have a coach or partner feed you the ball from across the net. Instead of catching the ball, use your racquet as an extension of your palm and tap the ball back whilst developing feel for the point of contact (see demonstration below).
Toss & Tap With Control: In this final progression, define an area of the court that you would like to place your volley to and work on your contact point and shot control.
Isolate The Forehand Volley Practice: A great way to develop the forehand volley is to isolate the shot and practice many repetitions. The diagram below defines the volleyer’s position (X) and the targets to aim to (red circles) for right-handed players (volley from the Ad-court box if left-handed). The targets will help you develop depth and accuracy on your volleys.
Summary:
In summary, the right grip and point of contact in front of your body will help you develop the right fundamentals on the forehand volley. In addition, the drills shared will create a systematic progression for your forehand volley practices. Check out the Forehand Volley video on our YouTube channel to learn more.
All the best,
Harsh
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