The Tennis Half Volley – The Feet Are The Key

Being Consistent with The Tennis Half Volley

Lots of players absolutely cringe at the thought of having to deal with the 1/2 volley.

And their perception is usually that the half volley is all about how ell you stroke the ball.  And to me, the half volley requires very little stroke mechanics and much more timing and commitment to when you’re going to move through the shot.

Use Your Feet to Insure Shot Accuracy & Good Court Position

Think of the half volley as simply a footwork pattern.  Your racket just goes along for the ride as your footwork moves your body against and through the shot.  Your body weight moving through the ball gives the shot enough power with plenty of control IF you don’t add a lot of unnecessary swing to it.

If you combine moving your body weight forward along with a swing, you typically get uncontrolled power and then you lose consistency.

Look, another way to think about the purpose of the approach shot is that it’s all about where you want to end up on the court after you play that 1/2 volley.

And don’t ever forget that consistently good court position where you’re forcing your opponent to have to hit perfect passing shots all day long is normally going to win the match.

So, the 1/2 volley is a means to an end, meaning, where do you want to end up on the court when your opponent is forced to hit that big passing shot.

I’ll give up trying to hit a winner for good court position any time.  Check out this video from chapter 5 of my lesson on the half volley.

The Tennis Half Volley – How to Practice

Get a practice partner to feed you some slow underhand fed balls that you have to to take on the rise and feel how your racket sort of preps to cover the eventual contact point and then move your feet through the shot with very little to now swing.

Keep your head down through contact and don’t allow your eyes to “peek” at your shot until you feel your feet have truly moved through the shot.

This Tip’s Related Tennis Lesson

Brent’s DVD & Downloadable Forehand & Backhand 1/2 Volley Lesson

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