VOLLEYS

Many players of the present do not attack the net at all, however most players from the past were very keen to get into net to volley as much as possible and finish off point's up at net.
So what make's a good volleyer?
Well firstly lets take a look at some good volley players in action

In this video we see Radek Stepanek, he is a current top 20 player and has won 5 single's and 13 double's title's on the ATP tour.
He take's very little swings on his volley's.

In the above video we have Robert Lindstedt (currently top 20 doubles player ATP tour) doing perfect split steps. He has a wide base and is low giving him the perfect base to move from.

I have heard many coaches telling students the very common phrase- "PUNCH THE VOLLEY"

Now i like to think of a good volleyer as a wall-whatever you hit at a wall will come back, and the harder you hit at the wall the faster the ball come's back to you, well a good volleyer does the same-they use your pace and whatever you throw at them they can return. I have watched and studied many top double's players volleying and i have never come across one that takes big backswings on the volleys.
For me the number one thing any player can do to improve their volley's is start taking smaller swings with the racket but use the body to generate power and stability on the volley's.
If you start thinking about the volley's as almost a block and you take less swing but step into each volley with the body you will see a big difference.
Below is a list of things anyone can try to help improve their volley's.

1.Short takeback and short follow thru on the volleys, imagine blocking the ball.

2.Use the legs on the volley's-step towards the contact point (for a right hander on the forehand volley step with the left leg, for the backhand volley step with the right leg) and really feel that you are stepping thru the ball with your body weight.

3.Practise many drop volleys-this will teach you how to take very little swing on the volleys and will give you good control of the racket head

4.See the contact point on every volley, a very common mistake many player's make is they look away just before the contact and don't get the ball in the sweet spot.

5.Make contact out in front and feel your body weight going into the ball.

Now lets take a look at the actual technique professional player's use on the volley's

GRIPS

The Grip that is common for volley's is the continental grip (chopper).
That is because you can hit both the forehand volley, backhand volley and the smash (overhead) all with the same grip.

FOREHAND VOLLEY

We see Federer just getting ready to step into the forehand volley here, notice the shape in his arm/wrist/racket-he has the racket head higher than the grip and there is a lot of leverage in the arm and racket, this will give him control over the ball. He also has a slight shoulder turn with his left shoulder turning sideways to the net. Pay close attention to his takeback also-its not far behind him, its very compact and just on side of his body.

Pete Sampras getting ready to hit a forehand volley, look at the shape of the forearm/wrist and racket-perfect leverage as he is about to make contact. Also notice the left leg stepping forwards towards the contact point. He is also using his left arm to counter balance himself, this is very important on the volleys. If your non hitting arm helps with the balance it is much easier to reach for wide balls and maintain a good solid foundation and even on a regular volley it helps keep the body balanced.

 Here we see Ferrero stepping into the forehand volley, look at the racket shape again, good leverage in the arm and again notice the big step forwards with the left leg. Ferrero is using his left arm perfectly here for balance.

Max Mirnyi-a good picture to see the leverage again in the wrist and forearm, even if he doesn't have time to step into the volley he still maintains good leverage to control the ball

Here is Max again, it looks like he is about to hit a half-volley or a very low volley, its a great photo to see just how much a good volleyer like Max will use his legs to get down to the ball, he is fully lunging for this volley and his back is straight with a very good posture.

Federer forehand volley just before the contact point, the hitting arm is almost if not straight, he has maintained good leverage, the left arm is being used for balance, he has a good step with the left leg and his eye's are focused on the ball.

Stefan Edberg-one of the best volleyer's of modern times. Look at the leverage in the arm. The contact point will be out in front of his body

Andy Murray's forehand volley at contact point-look at the huge step he has taken with the left leg here, the left arm is working to balance the body and he makes contact out in front while maintaining the leverage in the arm and racket head.

Roger Federer again, look at the left arm balancing the upper body and look at the eye's and head fully focused on the ball. He has a very wide base with a big step on this volley.

BACKHAND VOLLEY

Pat Rafter getting ready to hit a BH volley, 4 BIG things to look at
1.Body weight is on his left leg in this phase
2.Has a great shoulder turn
3.Has great LEVERAGE in his arm/wrist/racket
4.Is using his non hitting arm to help with the takeback

Roger Federer getting ready to hit a BH volley, look at 3 main things
1.Shoulder turn
2.L shape in his arm/wrist/racket
3.His right leg is getting ready to step into the volley (big weight transfer) which will put his body weight in the ball giving him extra power

Roger Federer at contact point on the BH volley, 3 key things
1.Shoulder turm
2.L shape in arm/wrist/racket and the extension in his hitting arm (extended but not fully straight)
3.Eyes fixed on the ball at contact

Again we see Federer at contact point on the BH volley, now he has stepped through the contact zone with his right leg creating a huge amount of body weight in the volley, also look at his non hitting arm counter balancing his hitting arm and notice how far IN FRONT HIS CONTACT POINT IS

Here we can see clearly how Sampras uses his right leg to step into the volley, again notice the L shape.

Sampras with a big L shape in his arm/wrist/racket. Also look at his eyes-they are fixed on the ball and his body weight has come onto the front foot.

Pat Rafter hitting either a very low BH volley or a BH half volley, look at his LEFT arm balancing his body, and notice how low he gets on this volley.

Roger Federer after contact on the BH volley, 3 main things that we can clearly see are-
1.The body weight on the right leg
2.The L shape still in the arm/wrist/racket (he hasn't let the racket head drop which many club players do)
3.The use of the left arm for balance

Backhand Volley's in slow motion as demonstrated by Radek Stepanek