My Top 7 Tennis Volley Tips For Improved Power, Control & Accuracy

I've put together my top 7 most effective tennis volley tips that improve your timing, power, and accuracy in the shortest amount of time.

These seven volley tips are based on over 30 years of coaching and knowledge gained from tennis seminars, conferences, and certifications.

And they are the go-to instructions that have consistently delivered the fastest and most noticeable results for players looking to improve their net game.

The tips are divided into three sections with three separate videos; the first one related to timing is embedded above, and the next two related to power and accuracy are embedded below in the article.

Volley Tips For Improved Timing

One of the most common mistakes players make when they are volleying is taking a backswing, which leads to being late on the ball. 

Your arm is used to going back when the ball is approaching you, trained through hundreds and thousands of forehands and backhands where a backswing is obviously necessary.

However, if you take any kind of backswing, then you will likely hit the ball late. It is important to reprogram this behavior, and here are two exercises that can help with this.

Tip #1 - Catching The Ball

The best way to reprogram your brain away from taking a backswing is to do a little bit of catching beforehand.

When a ball is thrown to you, it is very intuitive to go forwards with your arm; you don’t need any special instruction to move like this when you’re catching.

Even if the ball comes slightly to the side of you, you’ll still find yourself moving forward to catch.

So, it’s as simple as that; have your partner throw you 20 or 30 balls over the net, and all you need to do is catch them., just observe the way your arms moves towards the ball so that later one you can be more aware of that when you actually have to volley.

The next progression is to hold the racket at the throat (choke up on the racket) and imagine that you are still catching the ball, except that this time you just gently bump it over the net.

And finally, repeat this with the full grip and imagine that you are attempting to "catch" the ball on the strings, but you need bounce it off the racket and control the finish of your volley.

This is one of the best methods that helps you override the usual backswing programming that you might have in your mind from forehands and backhands, just keep in mind this drill will have to be repeated quite often before the new programming takes over.

Tip #2 - Elbow Restriction

Another practical way of getting used to having your arm in front when volleying is to place your non-dominant hand under your elbow.

Make sure to push the elbow forward and exert a little bit of force with your non-dominant arm otherwise your elbow might still go back too much.

However, you should still lay back your wrist for good stability and that you are able to punch the ball or slice it if needed.

While you can play both the forehand and the backhand volleys with this elbow restriction, tennis players tend to struggle more with the forehand volley and this drill proves to be very effective in correcting the forehand volley technique.

Volley Tips For Extra Power

Without a back swing, where does the power come from in a volley?

The answer is actually quite counterintuitive, as the most powerful volleys come from your movement, rather than a fast racket head. 

Here’s a look at two key tips for hitting powerful volleys in tennis...

Tip #3 - Early Split Step

If you want to get more power on the volley, you need to use your legs to direct the momentum of your body mass into the ball.

One of the main reasons why players are unable to do this well at the net is because they are used to a split step executed at the baseline. (or no split step at all ;( )

When you are on the baseline, you are waiting for the ball to be hit by your opponent.

Your split step is performed in a "neutral" way which means you're not going forward or backward when split stepping.

You are ready to move in any direction and in fact you expect that in most cases you will have to move paralel to baseline left or right and not really forward that often.

But when you're at the net you have way less time to react and you also cannot really play "neutral volleys" with your opponent and "rally". 

You are now in offense, your goal is to hit a winner or to force an error therefore your movement at the net needs to reflect that.

That’s why when we are at the net, we have to start moving forward before we see where the ball is going! 

That might sound a bit strange, but it’s how we have to move.

We need to create some forward momentum before the split step and keep moving forward through split step until we recognize the direction of the incoming ball and then we change direction towards it.

Tip #4 - Body Mass Into The Ball

The next volley tip that is going to help you with power is a little counter-intuitive, which is why many players don’t find it on their own.

What most players do when they want power is they try to move in the direction of where they’re volleying. This seems intuitive, but actually, it doesn’t work well. 

Instead, what works much better is actually moving through the ball. This means that you will have a 90-degree angle between where you want to play the ball, and where you’re moving.

If you do this, you will have a much cleaner contact, and much more power on the volley. It’s hard to reason in your mind, but trust me: it works.

Move your body mass right into the ball, then your racket angle will send it in the correct direction. This way, you have power and send the ball the right way.

Of course, a natural objection to this approach is that if you move too much, you will lose your positioning at the net. The answer is yes you will, and you have to recover quickly.

But, if you hit a good volley, many times you will not need to recover much because you will finish the point with one shot or force a very weak reply that you can then put away.

Yes, you sacrifice one step of the space, but you gain in crispness, clean-hitting and good ball control, and in most cases that’s going to win you the point.

Volley Tips For Accuracy

Now that you have timing and power to your volleys, the next step is to ensure accurate and controlled volleys.

The next two tennis volley tips are a little bit counter-intuitive as well, and involve the movement of your racket head both before and after making contact with the ball.

Tip #5 - Long Follow-Through Towards The Target

The key to a precise volley is having a long, linear follow through in the direction of your target.

Often, when players volley, they relax their arm too quickly. They hit the ball and then just stand and swing through.

This can lead to the arm moving too much across, with the racket following a diagonal, circular path, and they wonder why they struggle to hit their intended spot.

To hit a target area with your volley, extend your arm and the racket as far as you can in the direction of that target. 

The tip #4 above still applies - move your body mass into the ball while you extend fully in a long, linear movement in the direction of the target.

Your strings should remain pointing towards your target area once the shot is finished.

This might feel counterintuitive because you might think you can punch the ball with your wrist instead for more power.

However, this often means you lack good directional control, so it's important to control your wrist at the end of the volley so that the strings point towards the target. 

It’s the same for volleys down the line; keep the racket head oriented towards the target as much as possible.

Above is the example of the backhand volley down the line where I try to extend towards the target and control my wrist and racket face so that strings still point towards the target.

Tip #6 - Start Slow, Then Accelerate

The final tennis volley tip for improving your precision with the volley has to do with how we accelerate the racket head into the ball.

When the ball is approaching, and you’ve prepared for your volley, begin moving gently towards the ball with your racket.

Then, just as you’re about to hit the ball, accelerate and apply power.

What players often do incorrectly is that they prepare, and then from the start they immediately swing hard at the ball.

This makes it very difficult to hit the ball cleanly on the racket, because if you go very tight from the beginning you restrict your positioning and remove the ability to make small adjustments based on the ball’s flight.

Instead, approach the ball slowly, then accelerate towards the end. This will provide you with more precision with the racket head.

When you’re approaching the ball in a more gentle way, you’re still moving forward, but you’re not going full speed yet. This means that you’re going to find the ball better in space.

Then when you feel you have the ball in space, you apply power. Check the video below where Roger Federer explains that concept too (more towards the end of the video).

Tip #7 - Watch The Ball!

This last volley tip is one you will have heard before, but it’s worth repeating. It is very, very important.

You must watch the ball!

You’re not going to progress very far with your net game if you're volleying without looking.

The game of tennis is very challenging; do your best, but try and track the ball to your strings or as far as you can. Then, you move your head away.

Summary

So let's summarize this lengthy article into a more readable short section so that you can easily remember all the key tennis volley tips shared above.

a) Volley Tips For Better Timing

• Avoid a Backswing: Reprogram your instinct to take a backswing by practicing catching the ball and then mimicking the motion with your racket, focusing on moving forward to meet the ball.
• Elbow Restriction: Practice rallying with your non-dominant hand under your elbow to encourage keeping your arm forward during the volley.

b) Volley Tips For More Power

• Move Forward Early: Initiate your forward movement towards the net as your opponent strikes the ball, before knowing the ball's direction, to transfer body mass into the shot.
• Move Through the Ball: Instead of moving directly towards your target, move at a 90-degree angle to it, hitting through the ball for a crisper and more powerful volley.

c) Volley Tips For Better Precision:

• Move Racket in Direction of Target: Follow through with a long, linear motion of your racket directly towards your intended target, ensuring your strings point that way at the end of the shot.
• Start Slow, Then Accelerate: Approach the ball gently with your racket initially, then accelerate just before contact for cleaner and more precise contact.

Bonus Tip: Watch the Ball! - Focus intently on the ball, tracking it to your strings for improved timing, power, and precision.

The ball is in your court now - apply these tennis volley tips in your practice sessions and give them a few weeks to start reprograming your volley skills and then let us know how it went!