From 3.5 to ATP Tour: Everyone Makes This Volley Mistake.

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:00]One of the most consistent volley mistakes I see across all levels that I work with from 3.5 to junior national champions to Division 1 All-Americans all the way up to my ATP pros is catching the volley late. And this primarily happens for one of three reasons. Number one, and this sounds so simple, but they're just simply not expecting the ball and more importantly they're not expecting the fastest possible shot their opponent can hit. So a lot of times when I do volley demos on Instagram or YouTube, people will always get in the comments and say "Well, it's easy cuz you know where the ball's going." Yeah, and it kind of works that way when you're playing points too. I should always be expecting that player to hit to me and if I don't think that, then I'm going to poach. So I'll give you an example of something that looks like good hands, but it's really just expectation. Let's say my partner has a weak second serve and I can see my opponent stepping up in the court and taking a huge swing with their forehand and let's assume they have a good offensive forehand. I know the ball should be coming to me and I know the ball will be coming very fast. So that means I have almost no time to take a swing or do anything with my volley. So in that situation I have my hands out in front and this would be my first move either way, knowing that I barely have time to even get the racket back a little bit. So again, this is an easy one to fix for you. When you're at the net, expect the ball to come to you at all times. If it's not, obviously you should be poaching. And expect it to come as fast as possible given the situation that you're in. The second reason why I see players catching the ball late is they're taking a big swing and before we get into that, I want to make sure you know that swinging is not necessarily bad, right? No one complains about a swing on an overhead or a swing on a swing volley. So why is that? It's cuz when the ball is high and slow, it's okay to swing. The problem with swinging is when you take your racket back really far like this and someone has ripped a ground stroke at you, then you're going to catch the ball late and you're probably going to have a little too much juice on it to keep it in the court anyway. So swinging is only an issue if you're taking too big a swing for the ball that's coming to you. And also just a little side note on swinging and I'll show you a little bit demo swing behind, but I've actually changed my mind on taking a big swing. It's actually not that big a deal if your swing is going this way in a straight line, what I see most amateurs do when they swing is they're swinging across the ball this way. So, not only are you taking maybe too big a swing for the ball coming to you, but when you're swinging right to left but trying to hit the ball straight, your timing has to be perfect.

[00:02:12]So, you'll see when I actually swing on volleys, I tend to go straighter this way when I get a floater, and that allows me to make simple solid contact and be consistent while staying offensive.

[00:02:23]Now, we talked about swinging. I'm going to give you a couple demos here where I swing but more in a straight line.

[00:02:30]Right? So, is that a problem?

[00:02:33]Not really cuz I know the ball's coming to me, number one cuz I'm expecting it, but I'm also swinging in a straight line here.

[00:02:41]That is the issue when I swing across, right? So, I'm trying to go in a straight line. If I get a slower, higher ball, why not take a bigger swing? I would never do this off a ball coming to me when I could hit the ball more offensively. So, again, we would never complain about a swing volley or an overhead swing.

[00:03:03]So, why would we complain if we get a slow ball?

[00:03:05]I don't need you tapping this ball and taking a short swing. So, again, as long as you're not swinging across and having to time it perfectly, I like actually taking a little farther back on a slower ball as long as you're going in a straight line. Now, the third reason why players catch the ball late is they have an improper ready position. So, one thing I'll see at all levels is players resting with their elbow behind their body. So, it's back here. So, even though they're trying to keep their swing short, when they turn, they're already behind their body, and they haven't even set their hand. This is a really weak position, right? So, the ready position I like is to have my elbows in front. If I drew a line on my waist, I always want my elbow and my hand to be in front. Even when I turn for the volley this way, I want it to be in front of here. So, I see just players starting this way, and they never have a chance to get that ball out in front.

[00:03:55]So, one of my favorite drills to work on all three of these things is to get a ball machine or have my coach feed, get my elbows over the net here. So, even when I turn and set my hand, I'm still in front right here. So, it gets me in a good ready position. It prevents me from swinging too much, right? And then obviously, I'm expecting the ball because it's a ball feed drill, and of course, the ball should be coming to me.

[00:04:16]So, let's take a look at me doing some of these reps here. All right, so you can see me getting down in this position. I'm low, and I've just got my hands in front. My ready position is solid. I'm expecting the ball, and it's going to be very, very difficult for me to take a swing right here, right? So, this is the ready position I want. And notice when I turn, I don't take it back.

[00:04:37]Right? So, it's here, not back in here.

[00:04:40]This is what I see so often from amateur players is they're in this position, and they're catching balls back here.

[00:04:46]So, I want to have that elbow in front.

[00:04:48]My hand will be in front. I'm expecting the ball every time, and I'm working on all three things that we struggle with.

[00:04:54]Expectation for the ball, reducing my swing, and starting with the proper ready position. By the way, this also helps me bend my legs because to sit it on this side of the net, I can't be up here, right? I can cheat. I can get over this net. So, I've got to bend my legs. I've got to be out in front right here.

[00:05:13]And I've just taken a short, simple swing, catching the volley out in front, which is so crucial because from out in front, I can play offense and do almost anything I want. So, let's see if I can hit a few solid here instead of talking.

[00:05:24]I got my ready position. Boom, that was a great volley. Ready position.

[00:05:28]And you'll notice it's okay if I take this back a little bit.

[00:05:32]That allows me to What a shank. That allows me to pop the volley, right?

[00:05:36]I can do this as long as it's in front of my body here instead of back behind my body there.

[00:05:45]So, just a couple demos from behind.

[00:05:48]I'm in that ready position. You can see how I look here, how I'm always in front. Look how low I am. Elbows and hands in front, right here.

[00:05:59]Now, many of you don't even know you have this problem in your game, and this is why I created my online academy. So, it's a place where you can send me either stroke analysis, points from your matches, and I can give you individual personal feedback. So, think of me just being your coach every month for the price of one lesson.

[00:06:16]I think it's pretty good deal.

[00:06:17]And I notice big improvements from the people in my academy. But again, we just want to be out front with our elbows. I got a nice little ready position. I'm taking care of what I can control and drilling this habit. So, when I back up a little bit, I can try to have the same motion from here, right? This would be the next level to drill.

[00:06:36]Seeing if I keep that elbow out in front. But you can do this almost an unlimited amount of times to break through this habit so your doubles volleys are a little bit better.

[00:06:45]All right, so keep these three things in mind, right? We have to get the volley out in front to not only be consistent, but to have offensive options. And when we do that drill over the net, we get ourselves in a proper ready position, we're shortening our swing a little bit, and obviously we're training ourselves to expect the ball.