Volley
When
a ball is hit in the air prior to bouncing, the shot is called a volley. A volley is a very different shot from the ground
stroke.
A
classic volley is punched, with a crisp short movement of the racket with little back swing.
The
player hitting a classic volley keeps the racket in front of the body and punches directly toward the spot on the opponent's
court that the ball will hit.
Volleys
are usually made near the net.
A
good rule to follow is that the amount of back swing for a classic volley should be directly related to the player's distance
from the net: close to the net there is little back swing; at mid-court there is slightly more back swing, and at the baseline
there is moderate back swing.
Recently,
some players have been hitting swinging volleys.
These
are usually tournament-level players who prefer to hit ground strokes near the base line.
As
its name suggests, the swinging volley has much more back swing than a classic volley -- and the additional swing and increased
racket speed results in a volley hit with more pace.
For
most players, a swinging volley is extremely difficult to execute, and, thus, it is a low-percentage shot.
Since
a well-placed crisply punched volley is almost always an outright winner, the only reason to attempt a low-percentage swinging
volley is to try to overwhelm the opponent.
Volleying
is an important skill in both doubles and singles.
In
doubles, one player on each team almost always starts the point standing near the net, and thus that player will hit few shots
except volleys.
In
singles, it is possible to learn to play a style of tennis that requires you to make few volleys in a match.
Nevertheless,
volleying must be mastered, since if opponents suspect that you are unable to volley, they will hit short shots that pull
you to the net where you must volley.