Introduction
Since the tennis ball only has to touch the ground once, but not necessarily, in tennis, it allows players to play the ball directly from the air into the opponent’s field. This is usually done close to the net and is called volleyball. Due to the proximity to the opponent’s field, the ball is played under increased time pressure. For a change of grip between forehand – and backhand volley as well as a backswing is no longer possible due to the proximity to the opponent. The best known variant of a volley game in tennis is the serv & volley, in which the player moves to the net directly after his serve.
Tactics
In tennis, playing at the net allows much greater coverage than playing from the baseline. Due to the absence of the backswing movement, the volley is one of the easier strokes in its stroke structure compared to the forehand and backhand. Why is the volley still not used frequently in practice?
A rally always starts from the baselines. The difficulty of the volley game is to overcome the way to the net. In order to gain space, the ball must be played at optimum, but not maximum speed.
The basis for a successful volley is good positional play. Since the volley is not played from the forward movement, the player must come to a stand. This is done by means of a split step.
In addition, the volleys must be played precisely to avoid a passing shot of the opponent.
- The feet stand shoulder width apart, the knee joints are slightly bent.
- The load of the body weight is on the ball of the foot
- The tennis racket is held with backhand grip
- The non-blow hand is located at the neck of the club
- The view is directed towards the ball.
- The club head is returned to shoulder height. note: no further than shoulder height
- The upper part of the body is turned up to the list side
- The body weight shifts to the right foot
- The elbow joint is angled approx. 90°.
- The ball is hit in a downward movement and receives a backspin (Slize)
- The meeting point of the ball is at the side of the body at shoulder height
- Similar to the baseline strokes (forehand/backhand), the volley accelerates the club towards the point of impact
- The hitting surface is almost parallel to the net at the time of the hit
- At the meeting point, the club must be firmly gripped so that the club and arm are stable
- Since the ball is hit in a forward movement, the body must be brought back into balance after the point of impact. When hitting the ball, the left foot is placed forward in front of the right foot.
- The swing of the club is over the left side.