Serve and Volley: Three Critical Shots

In the last article (Click Here) we looked at the fundamental patterns of serve placements combined with volley placements. But not every serve you hit will produce a shoulder high first volley that you can direct to the opening of your choice.

There are three other critical shots you must master to become a complete serve and volley player. These are: the half volley and the overhead. And in the modern game, even at the club level, the swinging volley.

Serve volley players must have confidence in their ability to deal with half volleys that bounce at the feet. They also must have absolute confidence in the overhead, both the ability to use it to finish points but also to maintain advantage on more difficult balls..

It’s also important to have the ability to hit swinging volleys. In a game that is played with modern rackets and strings, even well placed approaches and crisp volleys to the open court sometimes aren’t enough to win points against players with great passing shots or determined lobbers.

The swinging volley gives players a way to create more velocity and pressure. A swinging volley can often be hit for a winner when a classic…