Tennis Volley Tip #4

Avoid this uber-bad habit when volleying.

Volleying is one of the toughest things to do. Your racquet is moving toward a ball which is also moving quite fast and usually dipping downward. At the same time, you are trying to change the direction of the ball by adjusting the angle of your racquet face. At the same time, you are trying to impart underspin spin on the ball. This is tough enough as it is when you have perfect vision.

Yet, I often see people hitting volleys where their eyes are off the ball well before contact is made. By the time the ball touches their strings, they are looking down court or at their opponents. This makes it incredibly difficulty to make solid contact and almost impossible to place them accurately. Unless you you're a Jedi master, don't plan on "using the force" when hitting volleys.

You've really got to keep your eyes on the ball all the way through the point of contact. A good way to do this is to imagine you are hitting through a little 2 ft by 2 ft window floating right above the net. Now imagine a line drawn from your racquet through this window into the court. Use your peripheral vision to aim the ball through this window while your eyes remain focused on making sure the ball meets the center of your racquet.

Don't worry about what your opponent is doing; just watch the ball and make sure you punch it cleanly. Keep your eyes on the ball through the point of contact. If you can do this right, your opponent will have much bigger problems.