Success at Eye Level

Over many years of teaching the volley, I have often asked the player "will you hold the racquet at your favorite point of contact when hitting a volley?" Around 95% of the responses have been the same. They hold the racquet on the forehand side with the racquet head at a height which places the sweet spot exactly at the level of their eyes. This is no coincidence.

The succ

ess of the volley, like every shot, is dependent upon the connection of the ball and the eyes to facilitate solid, sweet contact. You can have the technique of some of the best volleys in history ( Rafter, Edberg, King, Navratilova, McEnroe, Fed, etc) but without that visual connection the results will be the same- off center strikes make bad quality results.

Try this: whenever possible when volleying, get your eyes, the ball, and the racquet at the same height before contact. Obviously this will only work from your eye level when standing fully erect, down to about your waist height. Getting your eyes lower than that will probably prove counter- productive, but bend your knees and get your eyes as close as practical to the height of the ball. I think you'll be surprised how many volleys arrive in this range.

Start taking your eyes to the level of the ball when hitting your volleys. You will see the ball better at the moment of contact, and you will begin to see more winning volleys.

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