Having great volleys really comes down to making sure you have great movement, because by having great movement, you can control and get to the ball within control. And so in this video, we're going to show you how to make sure that you're moving correctly, both for a static situation and a moving situation. 

So let's get started. One of the first misconceptions I think a lot of players have when they´re at net is they think they have to stomp and by stomping, they're going to get more power and more oomph into the ball, and that's just not correct. Actually stomping causes you to miss a lot of balls because by stomping, you're going to stop the force that's creating a lot of the power, meaning your movement and your body. The moment you stomp, you actually stop, and by stopping, you can't create any more power behind the volley. 

So what we really want to focus on is transitioning and transferring our weight through the ball. And that's what we're going to focus on. In this video, there's two main styles of transitioning weight through the ball, and that's the static volley and a movement volley and you're probably wondering what are static and movement volleys. So let me explain. If you're playing doubles or you're already established at the net, you're going to probably be hitting a static volley. The timing for the static volley is going to be step,step hit, and during this, you're going to transfer your weight forward.

The one we're going to focus on in this video is the movement volley, and the timing for that now is step hit step. Notice how the hit is sandwiched in between the steps and that's done on purpose. 

By sandwiching it in between the steps, we can actually cover more ground, which means we can get some more volleys. If you're trying to stomp, more than likely, you're not going to be able to cover as much ground as you would like. And that's why learning to move correctly is so, so important now when it comes to a movement volley.

 The very first concept I want you to have in your mind is that movement, especially around the net, means that you have to remain and stay balanced even if you're moving at a really high rate to get to a ball. You have to make sure you're staying balance.

 An analogy I like to use is holding a cup of water and when I'm hitting the volley, making sure that I'm not spilling the water on the court. That means that I have to be very smooth as I hit the ball and very fluid as I hit the ball. And this is something I want you to keep in your mind.

And this is also why the timing of a step hit step is used when moving forward. It allows you to be balanced and smooth and fluid as you're covering a lot of ground on the court. And that way you can move and cut off volleys much quicker without dumping them in the net. So now let's break down the timing and then we'll work on exactly what you need to do. So if I was hitting a forehand volley with the timing, I would go step, make contact and then step. Now notice how I'm not covering a lot of ground here. I could do the exact same thing and take a bigger step, step and cover even more ground. So it really depends on how much ground you want to cover. If I'm obviously moving in from no man's land, I want to cover a lot of ground so that in between step hit step, it's going to cover much more ground because my steps are going to get much longer. If I'm, let's say, a little bit closer to net and I don't need to cover as much ground, my steps are just going to get shorter. But either way, as I'm trying to get closer to the net and have more opportunity, I'm going to take the steps required based on my position on the court.

Now it's time to take action on your movement at the net. It's really important to understand that we're gonna only focus on the transitional movement, meaning step hit and then step. And so through this movement, this is the type of movement that you're going to use to move towards the net right now. Even though I'm already at the net, we're going to really focus on the timing of it, which is generally the hardest part for most players to get. 

So the way I want to start off with this is just starting off where you get on your outside foot first and get your racquet ready and then go through the process of going racquet and then step. So you're going to feel the sequence of going outside and prepare and then step, outside and prepare and then step from here, you're going to either use a ball machine or a friend to feed you a ball and all you're going to do is wait on this foot first. Have them feed and time it and then hit. 

Notice the sequence of steps. I'm going step and prepare, and then I'm going to hit and then step. It's really important that we get this sequence right. It may not seem like I'm covering a lot of ground, but I'll show you in a second how you can cover a lot more ground, but it starts with getting the timing correct.

Now this is the incorrect timing for this particular type of footwork. So if I step and prepare and then step and then stop, you saw how I couldn't cover that much ground. That's great. If you're hitting a static volley and you go step by step and then use your weight to transfer for forward. But for this, what we want to do is make sure we cover ground. So how we would cover ground now is when we take this outside step, I'm going to push more through the court as I'm making contact and landing at the end. 

So I'm going to prepare and step. I'm going to push and now you can see how I'm covering more ground. And then when you combine this with moving forward, it makes it so seamless to move forward and hit volleys. So many players have this struggle when they're moving forward. They stop, try to hit and then continue to move. And this is what the solves. Making sure that I'm going to prepare and step, I'm going to hit come through and then I'm going to come back to a ready position to get ready for the next shot. So if you go through these steps, this will help you have seamless, smooth volleys and movement at the net.

In summary. Number one, you've got to make sure you have this concept of being balanced and fluid. The more balanced and fluid you are, the more you can actually control your racquet face because if you want to be consistent at the net, you have to control your racquet face because your racquet face sends the ball in the direction it's going to go. If you're jerking and stomping and doing all this, you're constantly changing your racquet face, which means you can't control where the ball is going to go. Number two, make sure you understand the timing. If you're moving the net, you're going to have the cadence of step hit step. If you're stationary at net, you're going to have the cadence of step step. Hit now in the step, step hip. All you're going to do is really be transferring your weight. It's pretty much scooting from side to side, but we focus mainly on the step hit step in this video. 

So you make sure you're covering the most ground to get close to net because most players struggling moving forward and hitting balls. Number three Finally, when you do the step hit step at the end, you want to get back in the ready position. 

The reason why you want to do this is because it moves you closer to net. If you've ever heard coaches say, Go, go, go, get up to net. The reason being is the closer you are than that, the more access to the court you have provided the balls above the net. And by moving closer to net faster, you're going to have an opportunity to take the ball above the net before it starts dropping. And that's why moving forward and learning to move forward quickly and aggressively will allow you to take time away from your opponent and make sure that as you're moving, you can hit consistent volleys.