- Volleying
Improve your first volley with these partner hand toss drills
Watch Abigail Spears perform a series of hand toss drills you can do with a partner to improve your first volley.
What You'll Learn
- Get in the right position for your first volley
- Being tentative is a downfall
- A partner can help get the correct timing down
- Challenge yourself with a progression drill
The Workout Plan
- Drill 1 - First Volley with Partner Hand Toss
- 3 Sets - Forehand and Backhand
- 10 Reps
- 2 Days / Week
- Abi's Pro Tip - "Use your legs and really try to dig the ball out before it bounces."
Get in the right position for your first volley
Hitting a first volley happens when you are attacking the net right after an approach shot, a return of serve, your own serve or if your opponent forces you in to the net on a drop shot.
You should improve your first volley so that you can set yourself up to be in an aggressive position as you close the net.
Being tentative is a downfall
Most people don’t want to move forward fast enough or through the ball
because they’re too tentative so performing these motions will help you exaggerate moving forward and hitting a clean timed first volley.
- Drill 2 - Serve and Volley with Partner Hand Toss
- 3 Sets - Forehand and Backhand
- 10 Reps
- 2 Days / Week
- Abi's Pro Tip - "Stay balanced and use a shortened stroke."
Challenge yourself with a progression drill
So the progression of the hand toss first volley is actually going through the motion of serving and volleying while having your partner toss just a couple of feet behind the service line, running through and ending your first volley while exaggerating moving forward, staying on balance and using a shortened stroke.
A partner can help get the correct timing down
To perform this drill properly start by standing four feet behind the service line having your partner stand to the side of you tossing the ball at the service line so that you then are really focusing on moving forward explosively doing a shortened stroke and using the strength of your legs to run through the ball.
To really get the correct motion down, I recommend performing five to ten tosses on the forehand side and then switch around and do the same on the backhand side.
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