Tennis Low Volley Guide Technique, Footwork & Smart Tactics

Hey, Tomas from Field Tennis. If you want to hit an effective low volley in tennis, you first need to know which mistakes to avoid, and secondly, how to practice the low volleys with various drills. That's exactly what I have prepared for you today. We're going to take a look at five most common mistakes when hitting low volleys, and how to correct them so that you have high chances of winning the point at the net. And in part two, Kaia and I will demonstrate my favorite three drills for improving low volleys that help you keep the ball low, which is super important, by the way, in doubles, as well as how to best cover the net to maintain pressure on your opponent. So let's first take a look at all the things that can go wrong when hitting a low volley, and how to do them right. So what's the first thing you hear from every coach when it comes to low volleys? It's that you have to get down to the ball. So let me show you a volley where I don't get down to the ball. Kaia is going to feed me a low volley. I will not get down to the ball. I'll show you how a typical volley where you don't get down looks like, and I'll show you three problems that happen when you do that. Yeah, something like this. So there are three problems here. The first one is that your eyes that are judging the ball are very far from the contact point, and you will not have good precision in hitting the ball. You will have poor hand-eye coordination. The distance is not very good, and I'll show you how to do it differently. And the second problem is that you're going to lose wrist stability, because you're going to have to drop your hand down like this, and now you don't have a very stable volley. And the third one is that you cannot really put any backspin or slice on the ball, which in most cases you need when you have a low volley, because you need to float the ball a little bit. In most cases you want to volley deep, and you need a bit of backspin. So when you drop the racket like this down, you're not going to hit with any backspin, and your ball is going to be short. So when you get down to the ball, you lower yourself, your head to the ball. That also allows you to correctly execute the volley with your wrist. You will still have a stable wrist, and yes, the racket head goes below the wrist, but it's still stable. So if I demonstrate again, I'm going to have good control of the volley. When I get down to the ball, I also control my racket head much better. And the third topic that I mentioned is that I can volley with a bit of slice. You will see better from the back view. When I volley, I want to give the ball a bit of slice, because I need this ball to go deep. And when it goes deep, so this one was just a foot inside the line, when I give the ball some backspin, this one is also a foot inside the baseline, then I get some depth. But when I don't get down to the ball, and I volley something like this, I don't give the ball any backspin, and likely it's going to end up short. Yeah, that was a good example of the backhand volley where I didn't get down to the ball. I just dropped my hand, I lose the stability of the wrist, I don't see the ball. Well, I did manage to hit the ball over, but it's short. So, these are the three things we need to correct. We need to get down to the ball, so that I can judge the ball better. I will have more precise hand-eye coordination, I will have a more stable wrist, and I can put some slice on the ball so that I can volley it deep. So, here's how it should look like. See? Very nice, deep ball with a bit of slice. And I see it better, I come down, I slice the ball. This one just before the line. Okay, so that's how a low backhand volley should look like. So, the next most common mistake when you're hitting low volleys is your footwork. Players tend to do one of two things incorrectly. Either they stop completely when they volley, or they just run through instead of slowing down. So, I will try to demonstrate both. So, Kai is going to feed me the ball and I will try to kind of stop and go. Let me try and get a bit lower ball. Stop and go. So, that will be one approach that players do incorrectly. Or they are just running through and they lose, they're just running through and they lose control of the volley because the ball is coming pretty fast, maybe pretty fast or low, it's difficult. And if they're just running through, they don't have time to really work the ball. So, neither is good. Your main objective is that you speed up to the ball when you see that it's slow so that you're not hitting a half volley. Slow down, control the ball and then speed up again for the next volley if it's necessary. So, I'll try and demonstrate. I'm coming to the low ball, I slow down and then I accelerate again. So, if I go from a bit further, I'm approaching, I slow down and I speed up again. So, that is the right approach. So, keep that in mind. Try to visualize, replay the footage. I'm going to play it in slow motion from both angles of the cameras that you can create the right mental image when you're approaching slow ball. Slow down, you can slide if you're on clay. You can slide, make a long slide and then accelerate again. So, the next common mistake that players do when they're dealing with the low ball is that they're treating it as an offensive volley. So, when you're approaching the net, you obviously want to make things happen. You're looking for a winner or a forcing error with your overhead volley and so on. So, you're pushing forward and your mindset is offensive. You have no other choice. You cannot play neutral at the net like you can play on the baseline. And so, when players are approaching the net, they're in the offensive mindset and that's going to work out well if they, if you get the ball above the net because you can hit an offensive volley. But when you get the ball below the net, you are neutralized and you have to accept that. You are not in offensive position anymore. You are kind of a neutral and you have to treat this low volley like an approach shot. Do not treat it like a volley that you're supposed to finish. You're treating it like an approach shot, closing in on the net and looking for the second volley or for the smash. So, we got this one. That was a perfect example of what we're looking for. I have a low ball. I'm treating it as an approach shot. I close in on the net more and then, if the passing shot is not too good, which in most cases it's not going to be because we're putting pressure on the player on the baseline, then you have another chance to finish the point. So, here's the first drill you can do with a partner when you want to work on low volleys. Kai and I are going to play volley to volley. We're standing just inside the service line, inside the service box and we're trying to keep the ball low. So, there's no other objective than just getting low volleys and trying to keep them low. That is going to be a key skill when you play doubles because you're going to get a low ball and there will often be one player at the net and if you're going to lift this ball too high, they can poach. So, you need to keep it low. So, that's the drill. So, here we go. So, what you want to see when you're doing this drill is that you see your partner on the other side volleying below the height of the net. So, you're trying to yeah, that's right. So, I'm volleying below and Kai is volleying below and we're just trying to good one. Yeah. Watch the ball really carefully to make good contact. Get down to the ball. Your legs need to be burning when you're doing this. If they're not, you're not doing this right. So, another variation of working on the low volley is this drill. I will volley. Kai is going to give me a low ball. I will volley to Kai and I will learn not to stay in the place which happens many times for players. They volley a low volley and then just they just stay there not closing in on the net. So, I'm practicing closing in on the net and expecting a bit higher ball on the second one. So, here we go. I play a low ball. I approach Kai volleys and I volley the ball away. This is also going to happen a lot in doubles. So, it's a very useful drill. I approach, I close in and hopefully I hit this huge court. So, here we go. I'm practicing low volley moving in and volleying again being very ready, very quickly alert for the next ball. You can mix up a little bit. Maybe you can give me a backhand when I give you low and I practice backhand there or you can volley back at the player. Right now, I'm just choosing to volley into the open court. That's right. So, that's the drill. I will not drag it on too long. You just see the idea and you apply it in all four variations. We can do cross court, same approach, the other cross court and the other down the line and you have four variations of a very nice drill and now we jump in to drill number three. So, here's drill number three. Kaia feeds me a deep ball so that I play a low volley. I will start right in the mid court. I'm going to move in the court. As soon as Kaia feeds the ball, she starts moving to the other side. So, right now, it's a not completely open drill. It's a closed drill so she knows I will volley down the line. So, I'm going to volley this ball down the line. I'm going to close in on the net and see if I can win the point. So, I'm starting in the mid court. I play a low volley. One zero. Great shot. So, starting in the mid court, it's first closed drill. I know where the ball is going and Kaia knows where the ball is going and then it's open. Yeah, great shot. So, here we go. One more. Yeah. So, that's the situation you're going to find yourself many times in. You have to practice that you feel that you're in control of this situation. I feel I'm in control of the situation when my opponent is starting from the other side and I volley into the open court. I close in on the net. I have very good chances of winning. I posted the video on that topic before. I will give you a card above and link in the description on when to approach the net that you have 80% of chances of winning the point. So, now we're just going to show this same drill from the other side. So, this is the drill I'm starting in the mid court Kaia gives me a low forehand volley. Okay, this one is half volley. You can still play in practice if it's a half volley. Stay tuned and subscribe. I'm going to make a video on how to half volley in tennis in the near future. Good try. Kaia is testing me. So, many times when your opponent is at the net, don't go for a crazy passing shot. Ask them a question. Give them a difficult ball and see if they can answer it. I was able to answer that question, but there's no such thing as an easy ball. And since you're interested in how to handle low volleys in tennis, then I assume you like to approach the net a lot and win points through winners and forcing errors. If that's the case, then I suggest you watch two videos where I share when and how to approach the net for chances of success. Thanks for watching and I'll see you in the next one.