If you’re an intermediate pickleball player who tends to slap or chop your forehand volleys, learning to add topspin can give you more power, control, and versatility.
In this private lesson, I work with Denise on developing her **forehand topspin volley** from the ground up. We break down the low-to-high swing path, how to generate power from the legs instead of taking a huge backswing, and then put the shot into action through transition and at the kitchen.
This is a great shot to develop if you’re trying to make the jump from the 3.0–3.5 level toward 4.0+ pickleball.
**CHAPTERS** 0:00 Why You Need a Topspin Volley 1:09 Fixing the Chop 2:17 Building the Topspin Technique 4:31 Creating Power + Control 6:59 Using It Through Transition 9:38 Key Takeaways
Coach Jess provides a private lesson for an intermediate pickleball player, Denise, focusing on the forehand topspin roll volley. The session emphasizes transitioning from a \"slap shot\" to a controlled, low-to-high motion to generate topspin, which allows the ball to dip at the opponent's feet and increases overall versatility and control during transitions.
In today's private lesson, we're going to take my student from this to this.
So good, right in the gut. If you're an intermediate level player and you've been
trying to develop topspin on your forehand volley, that's really what we're focused on
in today's lesson. This is one of those shots that I see as an important rite of passage from
that 3035 up to that 40 plus level. Topspin is such a valuable asset to your game, but it's
something that's sometimes a little bit tricky to add, but today we're going to take some steps
with Denise to help her get to that place. Topspin volleys are incredibly versatile,
and you can use them in a variety of different situations, including attacking through
transition, countering at the kitchen, or when your opponents are back, using that topspin to
keep them deep or just roll the ball at their feet. New to my channel, I'm Coach Jess with
Athena Pickleball. I'm a pro player and coach. My mission is to make players more dangerous on the
court, and today we're going to do that with Denise by helping her develop a forehand topspin
roll volley. When you're on your way into the kitchen, a common thing that happens is this
elbow comes forward and the paddle tip goes back, and then we go like this, okay? We're leading with
the elbow, okay? What we're going to learn today is we're going to learn how to lead with the paddle
and still get power by using that lower half of the body, and instead of that high to low thing
that happens, we're going to work on low to high, and it's going to give you topspin, which makes
that ball spin down and helps get balls at your opponent's feet, okay? There's a little bit of
topspin on some of those, okay? But they're a little bit like kind of unpredictable. The time
and a place for a slap shot. Sometimes we come in and that ball's here, and if I can keep that elbow
in and really like come forward but high to low, that can be like a really good penetrating shot.
There's nothing wrong with that, but the problem is a lot of times we come in and we slap it down,
right? Sometimes it goes in the net. Yeah, it goes right in the net, goes in the tape, or
we catch it late and it sends it. So this shot gives us more control. I want to just kind of
work through it stepwise. We're going to self-feed to start, all right? So I want you to take a ball.
So we're going to start with our paddle up and the ball on the paddle, okay? And then when we're
hitting this shot, there's a unit turn, okay? So this is not a shot that's just our arm, which
sometimes is what happens when we come in like wildly like chest forward and we go like this.
This is a shot where we're turning. So I want you to take the paddle from here, and I want you to
just shift your weight into that right leg, and now my paddle's facing forward a little bit, okay?
Now, to get topspin, this is a low to high, okay? It's not high to low, all right? We have to be really
conscious of that, which means we got to dip the paddle tip below the ball. When I turn here,
I'm almost below it, but when I actually toss the ball, I'm going to let that paddle
come down a little bit, okay? So from here, we're going to go out to the side. I'm going to toss it,
and then I'm just going to work on that low to high. Turn. Yeah, good. Take another one. So I
want you to just give a little toss. Yeah, turn, and then you make sure that there's a little bit
of like load into that right leg, and then we kind of accelerate out of it. Beautiful.
They're going out though. Yeah, it's a little bit of a big backswing, okay? So we don't need to bring
the paddle back here for these shots. Like if we look from the side, I'm really trying to keep that
paddle almost even with my body. As soon as I take a big old swing, I'm giving maybe a little too much.
Turn. Yeah, use that right leg for power. Beautiful. Yeah. What's the difference between
that shot? So I don't know if I'm saying this right, like a swing volley when you're doing this.
They come all the way across, no? It is a swinging volley. Okay. The thing is, is that the how much we
can swing and give depends on where my opponents are, okay? Oh, okay. So if they're still back,
okay, and I'm here, I could take a little bit bigger swing, a little bigger follow-through
because they're still back at the baseline, right? Okay. But if someone hits a dink that's a little
bit high and I'm reaching in and I'm attacking, I really only kind of want to end it maybe towards
my left ear a little bit. I got it. Because I need to be ready for the next one, okay? So the power
comes from the right leg, okay? So just like when we did the unit turn here, it naturally puts the
weight into that loading leg. Don't rush. Down, up. All right, ready? Yep. Down. Yeah. Don't get
stuck down though, okay? Like come out of it. Yep. Yeah. Down, up. We want to get under it, okay? So
it's coming down. Think about hitting up on the ball, all right? Here we go. Down. Yeah.
Not too tight on this grip. Yeah. Right leg, go. Okay. Down, up. Yes. Very good.
Sometimes you're getting a little stuck there and just doing the arm.
Down. It's kind of like a little squat into the right side just a little bit and then up.
Like if we go to the gym, we were just doing like a one-legged squat. Just come up.
Turn, go. Yeah. Very nice. Yep. Good. I think that was the best one, that one. Yeah, that was
a good one. Yeah. Go after it. Yep. Go after it. Go after it. I want you to hit it. Hit it hard,
okay? Down, up. The top spin comes from hitting the bottom of the ball. Okay. Okay, so that's
why we go low to high and that keeps it in. Okay. And then just make sure you go through it. Okay.
Nice. Yeah, that's a good one. Good. Very good. Ball comes high, okay? We go here,
right? If the ball's high, I don't want to start my swing way down here, right? Okay. I want to go
close to where I think the ball's going to be. Okay. Almost like a clock. Like if the ball's
coming to 10 o'clock, I'm at 10 o'clock. If it's coming to nine, I'm going to be more like nine.
Okay. Eight, tip below the ball. But once I'm up here, I'm still going low to high, okay? The
reason I'm having you go this way is because I want you to feel that shoulder turn and then
keep that left shoulder closed toward that direction. Use that right leg. Nice. Down,
up. Yep. Beautiful. Good. That looks so good. Up the ante. Oh no. Okay. And we're going to put you
in mid-court. The ball's going to bounce. It's going to come over and then we're going to work
on exploding off of that right leg. Okay. So that split is going to balance you. That paddle tip
goes up. Same as before. And we're catching it out in front. Use the leg, hips, core. Okay. I
split. There's a slight weight transfer to that right leg. And then I'm going to push into it.
Okay. Split. Yes. Oh, sorry. Sorry. Sorry. That means you got some good power on it because it's
stung. All right. Split. So good. Split. Yep. Crouching tiger, hidden dragon. You know,
you like crouch and then you explode. Split. Very good. Split. Yes, that's perfect. So good.
Right in the gut. Split. Okay. That last one, you went back to it. Yeah. Did you feel that? Yeah,
I did. Okay. You pulled it in here. Okay. Keep that energy forward. Oh, that was good. Okay.
Split. Nice. Pretty good. Pretty good. Last one. Go. Split. Okay. Nice. All right. Now you're
going to hit the drops. So run. Run and split. And then split right before I hit. Same thing.
In. Not bad. In. Split. Very good. Very good. You got a little stuck down, but not too bad.
In. Split. Yeah. Look at that. Very nice. You're like ready. I'm ready. I'm at the kitchen line.
Make progress. Go. Yes. That had some good topspin on it. You came over it. So for this
last one, they're going to come a little bit harder. Keep it compact. Same rules apply.
Slight turn. Load the leg. Come back at me. Good. Turn. Yep. Nice. One step. Yeah. Here we go. Hit
it. Hit it. There we go. Three more. Yeah. One, two, three. Beautiful. So awesome. Holy cow.
The spoils of your good shots. All right. What are you taking away? What did you learn? I'm
learning to keep my paddle out when I'm moving up. Yeah. How to split step when I see the ball
and then lean on that right leg and then turn. The biggest thing for me, behavioral change,
is keeping that paddle out. Not bringing it behind you. Yeah. Not bringing it behind me.
You made a lot of progress today. So great to see those like wheels spinning and you making
that connection of being able to just turn and then generate so much power and topspin. All
right. Such good work today. High five. Thank you. Thanks for helping. Oh, if this type of content
was useful for you, I'd love to hear in the comments below. It's been a little while since
I did a private lesson, but I love seeing how things unfold in real time with a real person
trying to learn something new. Thanks for being here today. I will see you in the next video.