Volleying in Doubles Part 1
Andy Dowsett
Successful doubles at club level entails 4 elements
Knowing …
How to flow with the ball
Know how to attack the space with the time available and
Know what is and what is not happening on the court
Having confidence at the net
When Volleying at the Net
Defensive Neutral Aggressive Volleys
Many club players tend to stand at the net in one place and ball watch the exchange between the baseline opponent
and their partner without any tendency to even try to volley unless it is upon them. In this simple drill we need the
players to move up assertively or back defending whilst ensuring they are ‘mirroring’ where the ball lands.
Players move up and back
dependant on the shot they have
sent to their opponent
Fast balls (fast hands) and Slow balls (fast feet)
Players need to understand whilst defending or being aggressive how to use our hands when volleying.
There are 3 types tension on the grip when we play…
Firm for a solid block on fast or early hit balls
Pulse (grip moments prior to contact) to enable a more effective punch on the slower balls
Touch (a more relaxed grip) when angling the ball, drop shots or hitting lob volleys
If we are in a neutral or defensive position then we are looking to move the feet faster on the slower balls in order to
hit the earlier before it drops. The above drill helps with this aspect
Moving the body and feet when volleying
Once we have the ability to defend and attack, the next step is to teach our adults to mirror where the ball lands on
the opposite side and gain great positioning at the net. There is no reason why the net player is not covering more of
the court in doubles than the baseline player!
When we are in the neutral or defensive positions we need to ensure that we can keep a ‘power position’ whilst
volleying. This means our elbows are in front of our body as much as possible and not behind. This ensures that we
are always hitting in front with full body support.
On a backhand volley it is important that our club players do not collapse this position by taking the racket back too
early.
On the wider and medium paced balls we can step out and turn to cover more court as shown in the photo below…
By moving more often as a net player we become not only responsible for our side of the net but also fulfil the role
of become a nuisance to the opponents rather than an innocent bystander watching the array of balls whizz by!
In the next series we will cover how the baseline player can complement his net player partner more and how the
net player will flow with the ball.