The Secret to a Solid Tennis Volley

Roger Federer looks practically casual when acing a volley.

If you want to build a solid foundation on your tennis volley, you must learn to catch. The benefits of learning to catch on your volley will improve your success immediately. Why? Because when you catch, you simply open up your hand and let the ball come right to it. There is no snap of the wrist, no punching motion, no backswing and no follow-through. Just a simple catch.

Try this: Have a partner throw a ball to your right or left hand, depending on what hand you use. Catch the ball and freeze. If you were successful in catching the ball, you’ll notice that your hand opened up, and you just allowed the ball to enter in. There was absolutely no swinging motion. You would have just made the perfect forehand volley.

Now remember that the racquet is merely an extension of your hand. Have a partner throw you a ball and see if you can catch the ball in the strings. If you do this correctly, the racquet face should be open (with the bottom racket edge leading the top racket edge) and the racket should have remained perfectly still.

If you want to improve your volley significantly, learn to catch the volley — you will be well on your way to mastering the net game.