While there are plenty of tennis volley technique videos in slow motion on Youtube recorded from side or front view, there are almost none recorded from the top down view.
That's why I decided to record my forehand and backhand volleys using a drone and recorded them in 4K with 60 frames per second to give you a new perspective on how the volley technique looks like from the top down view.
Analyzing volley technique from top down view gives us a new perspective.
The video above demonstrates the forehand and backhand volley techniques slowed down to 25% and 10% speed, allowing you to observe all the technical details in slow motion.
And in this article we'll focus on some of the keys of the volley technique that are the most obvious from a top-down perspective.
Forehand Volley Technique From Top Down View
So what can we best observe on the forehand volley looking at the technique from the above? Let's focus on 4 keys of the forehand volley that stand out.
1. Preparation
I use my non-dominant hand to push my racket back, and to create a bit of racket lag / a wrist bend.
This helps me control the racket head well (so that's not flailing around) and it helps me immediately feel a stable wrist which will allow me to control the volleys well.
Use your non-dominant hand to push the racket and wrist back into a stable position.
2. Weight Transfer To The Outside Foot
I did not immediately use my left foot to go to the right. Instead, while my non-dominant hand pushes my racket out, I also transfer my body weight to my outside foot.
I approach the ball in a controlled manner with this motion rather than "falling" into it.
Note how my weight is above the outside leg. I want to feel very stable before "stepping into" the ball.
If the ball is not travelling too fast, you may have time to move the foot further from the racket and step in before playing a volley.
3. Controlled Backswing
Is there a backswing on the forehand volley or not? Well, yes and no.
In order to answer that question, we need to define clearly what we mean by the word "backswing".
Most tennis coaches tell players not to do any backswing on the volley, but either the coach is not really knowledgeable enough to know what really happens on the volley or the player misinterprets the instruction.
Note how my arm is still in front of the body while the racket head is behind my body.
So what we don't want is to move our arm back behind the body, as that will make it really difficult to time the ball well. In most cases, you will hit the ball late and miss the volley.
But what we do want is that the racket head moves back, which means that we lay back the wrist fully, which allows us to still punch forward and generate power with the racket even though we had no "arm backswing".
4. Controlled Follow Through
I ensured a good follow-through by controlling my racket swing after it contacted the ball.
I tried to make sure I point the racket in a straight line towards the direction I want the ball to go. I did not try to swing the racket or move my arm in a circular motion, bringing it closer to my body.
My usual instruction is to "keep the strings pointing towards the target as long as you can".
Many newer players make mistakes here - instead of pointing the racket face towards the target, they simply allow the racket face to swing around.
Backhand Volley From Top Down View
While there are many technical similarities between the forehand and the backhand volley, we can still observe some elements of the backhand volley technique that stand out from this top down perspective.
1. Preparation
Generally, tennis players don’t make large backswings when playing a backhand volley. This is because many are used to holding the throat of the racket with their non-dominant hand, and that helps them control the backswing better.
Note the right amount of the backswing: arm in front while racket head behind the body.
To prepare for a controlled backhand volley, I use my non-dominant hand to pull the racket back. Notice how I actually pulled the racket head behind my head while the arm again stayed in front of my body.
2. Arm Extension
As I move the racket to get into contact with the ball, notice how little the arm moves. Instead of swinging the racket in, I extend my arm somewhat forward to hit the volley.
The racket head moved a lot (circle to circle) while the arm moved just a bit (line to line).
Because the racket head was behind my body it actually moved quite a lot towards the ball generating power while my initial arm-in-front position allowed me not to be late on the ball.
3. Controlled Follow Through
The concept here is similar to the forehand volley. After contact with the ball, I continue to point the racket face towards my target, instead of swinging it round my body.
Visualize volleys as very linear strokes that move the racket head towards the target without changing its angle.
The only way you will hit very accurate volleys is to keep the strings pointing to the target as long as you can.
So one way to achieve that is try and keep the strings pointed long time towards the target and the other one is explained below...
4. Shoulder Alignment
The other way to control the path of the racket through the ball on the backhand volley is to stop the shoulder rotation.
If your shoulders keep rotating through the shot, you will keep moving the racket in a circular manner through space, which makes it very difficult to control the ball's direction.
Control your body and head (don't rotate!) until you reach the end of your follow-through.
And what tends to rotate shoulders is your head turning to the target first usually because you are too eager to see where your volley went.
So work on controlling your head orientation towards the contact point and hold your head and your body oriented to the contact point while you are extending the arm towards the target.
Once you feel you have reached the end of your follow-through you can now turn your head and the body and prepare for the next shot.
Final Thoughts
Observing the volley technique from the top-down view in slow motion or through images in this article gives us a new perspective on the technical nuances of the forehand and backhand volleys.
I pointed out some of the keys of the volley technique that are the most obvious from this top-down perspective, but now my question goes to you: what do you find the most interesting and perhaps eye-opening when observing volleys from the top-down view?
Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Love seeing the volley motion from the aerial view ! Very helpful to understand swing path . One question on bh volley : when your racket angle changes from setup position to ball contact position is this just supination of forearm or is there any other independent wrist joint movement?
Would love to see more drone volley videos such as down the line and responding to hard fast ball . Thanks for your incredible and innovative teaching videos !!!
Yes, Kathleen, it’s mostly just supination and a bit of wrist adduction because in the set up / preparation the wrist is in the abduction position, so fully “up and back” in order to stabilize it.
But of course it depends on the situation. I am demostrating just a typical volley with enough time to execute it well. If there is less time, then all movements will be shorter.
None of that is really achieved consciously, it’s more through drills like volley to volley drills, like these from Bryan brothers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIxI-y8pI0w