Some players have a tendency to step back and let the ball bounce before hitting it. This is often seen with tennis players just entering pickleball.
Others who feel more comfortable letting the ball bounce are people coming into the sport without a sport background in general.
Overall, to become more comfortable hitting the ball in the air rather than letting it bounce one should understand why it’s more advantageous, when is the right time to hit a volley, and what the possible outcomes are.
Stay in Front
Volleying is when a person hits the ball in the air (no bounce) and when done correctly, we’re making contact with the ball in front of the body, not beside or behind it.
To volley the ball effectively, we are essentially taking time away from our opponents. To let the ball drop and bounce on the ground, the opponent has more time to reset themselves and prepare for your next shot.
So we’re always aiming to keep the paddle in front of the body and make clean contact with the ball each time. In order to prepare yourself, it’s going to be key to keep your eye on the ball (easier said than done, perhaps?).
This is something I feel players take for granted all too often. We may think we’re keeping our eye on the ball, but are we actually? I’m pretty sure at the point of contact most people will shift their eyes to where they want or hope the ball to go rather than watching the ball make contact with the paddle face.
For players looking to improve their volleys, I highly recommend these drills which are best done in pairs.
Two Tap
Back in 2019 a highly accredited coach showed me this drill. He had me volleying the ball twice and only on the second volley would I send the ball back over to him. What I felt from this drill is that it has the ability to increase overall body control and it made me very aware if I was hitting the ball with my shoulder or my wrist.
The success of this drill is the technical ability to keep the arm quiet and still. On the first volley, the ball should not move away from you and it should only really have a low bounce, which makes it easy for you to hit the second ball back over the net to your partner.
When done correctly, you can catch a rhythm with your partner and essentially volley for a very long time. After doing this for about five minutes, move back to regular volleys where you’re just hitting the ball once.
You will immediately start to realize how calm and in control one can be when hitting a volley. You’ll feel the body “quiet” down and that all too often we’re hitting the ball with too much movement overall.
I really enjoy challenging my students to this drill because it can provide a lot of self-awareness and once they start to gain control, it has a high level of achievement for the person.
Figure Eights
Create a figure eight pattern with your volleys. One person's focus is to volley straight ahead to their partner. The other person will focus on diagonal volleys. It will take 4 shots to complete a figure eight shape.
Do this for about two minutes (or hit a certain number of complete volleys in a row) and then switch “roles”. If you’re unfamiliar with this drill, it’s best to start off with a slower pace, or a pace best for practicing, the goal is to increase consistency and less about power.
However, once you do start seeing improvement then you can start increasing pace and power. This drill will help you build up consistency and confidence with the volleys by getting you more comfortable hitting multiple volleys in a row and switching your paddle from forehand to backhand volleys!
Pro tip: be sure to reset or reload the feet between volleys or as much as possible! If/when the rally ends do a check in with the body - are you standing flat-foot? Did your stance widen out too broadly and you’ve lost the athletic ready position?
Walk the Line
Start with two players standing on one baseline, each person on either side of the net and about one foot inside the kitchen.
One person feeds the ball as a volley to their partner and slowly, walking down the line aim to hit volleys back and forth to one another as you walk across the width of the court.
Once your foot hits the other sideline, walk back to the original sideline, all while still volleying. If you are progressing through this drill, you can always start with the goal of walking/volleying from one sideline to the other.
Once you have achieved that goal (consistently) then you can increase the drill to doing it from one sideline and back to the original spot.
Fire Fight
I have no idea if this is what others call it, but it’s what I’ve come to know it as. Fire fights are when two people are battling it out at the NVL in a series of fast volleys. It can be hard to stay in this kind of rally and it can be hard to get yourself out of it too.
If everyone involved has fast hands, it’s usually a matter of who can start hitting strategically where they can eventually create a winning opportunity (ie. causing the ball to pop up for a winner).
To practice this, grab a partner and like the set up of the previous drill, start one foot inside the kitchen line - maybe even 2 feet. Volley with soft hands, reset the balance of your body as often as you can and start developing a rhythm or series of volleys back and forth to one another.
Always aim to maintain a high level of control, this requires you to keep the hands and body relaxed but solid focus and eye contact on the ball the entire drill. Do this a few times and then take a step back.
By increasing the distance, you might start to feel that the ball moves slower - but what’s actually happening is that that extra distance is allowing you to see the other player make their shot sooner.
Do this drill a few more times at that extra distance before finally stepping outside the NVZ to finish the drill from behind the NVL. Then, you will really feel how far 14 feet is, your volley stroke will broaden and you will really be able to see your opponent making their shots.
There are so many more volley drills out there in the pickleball universe, this is just the tip of the icebergs and drills that I often incorporate into lessons. Have fun exploring the videos on YouTube and other areas for more ideas!
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