The Five Fundamentals
Position on the Ball:
Volleys and Returns

Michael Friedman

In this series on the five fundamentals for all the strokes in tennis, we've looked at the Ready Position (Click Here), the Preparation (Click Here), and Position on the Ball for the groundstrokes. (Click Here.) Now let's look at Position on the Ball for the volleys and for the returns.

Volleys

The optimum contact height on a volley is at eye level, with the contact a forearm's length in front of you. This is actually the same spacing between your racket and your nose that you start with in your ready position. To create this powerful position at contact, the key is Position on the Ball, or how we move and set up for the shot.

Let's see how this works by examining the forehand volley of Taylor Dent, one of the few serve and volley players on the tour in recent years and currently in the midst of an amazing comeback. Footwork on the volley can be confusing, because the players flow forward through the shot. But as they move forward, there is still a clear sequence of steps players use to create the alignment they need to execute the technical motion. Those step patterns vary quite a bit situationally, so let's look at a few examples and see how they all lead to great position on the ball.

Watch how these two animated sequences allow Taylor to make optimal contact. First he recognizes the on-coming flight of the ball. He then starts to move forward and begins his split step. But watch what actually happens to the feet. He doesn't land the split step in what we think of as the traditional ready position, with both feet touching the court. Instead, as he starts to come down, his right foot is already turning in the direction of the shot. As his foot begins to turn, so does his body.

This move is critical because it initiates the preparation. Especially with so little time at the net, beginning the preparation at the end of the split step allows him to turn, and to position his outside foot behind the ball at the right time. This positioning is analogous to what we saw on the groundstrokes.

Taylor's alignment is picture perfect. Watch in the first animation how his weight is loaded on the right, outside foot. The outside foot is behind the flight of the incoming ball. His left arm has come partially across his body and his shoulders are turned about 45 degrees to the net. His body is upright, and there is minimal backswing other than from the body turn.

At other times, (see below) you do see the more traditional split step with both feet touching the court even in the pros. But the speed at which things happen often necessitate combining the split with the start of the positioning move.

The Forward Step

Another confusing point about the positioning on the volley is the role of the front foot, and the timing of the step forward with this foot. Watch in the second animation how Taylor makes contact between the strides. Yes, he is stepping forward into the shot. Yes, this step forward started prior to the hit. But notice that the contact occurs before the front foot touches down. After the foot touches, the right rear foot continues to move forward as recovers toward the ready position for the next volley.

There is a flowing pattern in which the movement never stops, and the body is definitely moving forward at contact. But the pattern of the steps is also very precise, and this is critical to good technical execution. (For more on the concept of Flow. Click Here.)

So to recap: it's split, turn, position behnd the ball, start the step forward, contact between the strides, balanced landing on the front foot. It's all there to see thanks to the awesome resources in our Stroke Archive.

Backhand Volley

Now let's see these same principles of positioning and flow on the backhand volley, but with different step patterns. On this example, we can see the other split step variation, (Of course you see both variations on both volleys.)

This time Taylor splits and comes down with both feet on the court. He then immediately takes a small out step with his left foot. Again he is working to position himself behind the flight of the oncoming ball.

As his feet turn, his body naturally turns as well, just as on the forehand. His shoulders reach an angle of possibly 60 degrees to the net (usually a little more than on the forehand.) As with the forehand, his weight is loaded over the outside foot, with the knee bent and the torso erect. His backswing is compact. Perfect positioning!

As with the forehand volley, he initiates the forward step well before the hit and makes contact between the strides. Note as he cross steps he is also pushing off with the outside or left foot. The front foot continues to come forward and comes down on the court after contact.

Throughout the motion he retains tremendous dynamic balance. And notice the extent of his flow forward. Taylor starts the split several feet behind the service line, but finishes with the front foot just inside the service box.

This is a precise pattern of movement with both the feet and the body, but all in the context of flowing forward. The movement to the net never stops as Taylor goes through the split, the position, the forward step, and the hit.

Low Volleys

We can see many of the same elements when we look at Taylor Dent hit a low volley. After the split he again uses the outside foot to get behind the ball. Note that in getting down to the ball, how much of the bend is coming from the knees. The angle of his knee bend is as much as 90 degrees. This reduces the amount of bend at the waist, allowing Taylor to keep his trunk as upright as possible.

One other important difference on the low volleys is the timing of the forward step. We saw that on a shoulder high volley the player usually makes contact between strides. But lowering the body requires that the front knee bend substantially as well. This affects the timing of the step.

Typically you see contact made at about the time of the front foot landing, rather than before. Not the amount of knee bend in the front leg.

This difference in the timing of the forward step on a low volley doesn't mean the player stops his forward flow. Watch how Taylor continues forward and back toward the ready position.

Drop Volley

Next let's watch another example of positioning at the net, with another type of forward flow step after the hit. Sebastian Grosjean is using approach shot power and drop-volley touch! On the approach shot he gets into a good position with his right foot, then because the ball is relatively low, steps into the shot with a neutral stance.

Next he takes a couple of large strides toward the net, and split steps and lands with both feet. This is because of the line of the incoming ball. Watch how from this position he takes a small reverse step, moving away from the ball to create the right alignment. He is now is good position and executes a great drop volley.

Watch that, even though the racket moves backwards after the hit, his body is still moving forward. In this case, he takes a forward hop step with the front foot, yet another situational footwork pattern that allows him to continue the forward flow. DavidBailey talks about this move in detail in his footwork series. (Click Here.)

Overhead Smash

Now let's see one more example of position on the ball when the player has to shift directions to hit an overhead. Watch Andy Roddick move into the court and hit an approach off the short ball, then continue forward.

Notice his split step is a little different, because he has recognized that his opponent has hit a lob and he must move to his left to position for the overhead. He actually uses the landing with the right foot as a breaking step. Then he immediately begins his body turn while bringing the left foot forward. Within one step with each foot he is completely sideways. Very efficient!

Now watch how he takes small adjusting steps to his left to create position on the ball and align for the overhead. The rear foot is positioned perfectly so he can step forward and then explode upward into the shot.

Watch how after the hit his movement still remains dynamic. Andy elevates and lands on the front foot with the back foot kicking backwards, the same footwork pattern as on a serve. He then brings his right foot forward, and is prepared to split step again, in the unlikely event this overhead actually comes back.

So, despite the differences, note the similarity in all these net approaches. There is no one set pattern of steps. The split steps can be different. The size and direction of the first steps can be different. The timing of the steps to the ball can differ as well. But in all cases, the goal is similar to create positionon the ball with the body aligned to make optimum contact.

Return of Serve

Now let's see how the concept of position on the ball applies on the returns. There are many options on the return. The great returners can go forward, moving into the shot. They can also stand their ground, usually hitting open stance. A third option is moving back and/or running around to hit a forehand, especially on second serves.

As we will see, positioning on the ball is critical in all options. Let's start by looking at some aggressive returns by David Nalbandian, known to have one of the best returns in the business.

Watch on the wide forehand return how Nalbandian gets his momentum going forward as he moves into his split step. He makes a small pivot step with his outside foot and loads his weight onto his right leg. Now watch how he pushes forward on a diagonal with his rear foot toward this wide serve. To reach the ball he then takes a large forward cross step with the left foot, basically on the same diagonal as the push with the right.

As with the high volleys above, he makes contact between strides, with the front foot coming down after the hit. The result is that he is able to cut off the server's angle, keep the contact in front of him and play the ball on the rise.

Down the Middle

When the serve is wide and moving away from you should try to cut it off on a diagonal on both the deuce and ad courts, like Nalbandian. But when the ball is served down the middle and traveling a shorter distance, the movement is more lateral.

Watch Nalbandian hit a perfect two handed backhand return on the deuce court. He has great reflexes, balance and timing, and he sees the serve so early that he makes it look easy!

Again, he is moving forward as he splits. Again after the split he makes a small pivot step on the outside foot, turning his body as a unit. The difference is that on this serve he is already behind the line of the incoming ball, with the outside leg heavily loaded. So there is no need to complete his positioning with a cross step. Instead he maintains his open stance. He weight will shift off to the front foot as he swings, but the step is only slight forward, staying well on Nalbandian's right side. The difference is in his ability to position the rear leg closer to the ball on the serve down the middle.

Running Around

Now let's explore the third option, a completely different type of return hit so effectively by Rafael Nadal, moving backwards and then around the ball to hit a forehand.

For starters, Nadal is starting much further behind the baseline than Nalbandian. But watch what happens with his split step. Unlike Nalbandian, he actually steps backwards as he starts into his split. The split itself is also backwards, rather than forward like Nalbandian. So when Nadal lands his split he is even two to three feet further behind the baseline.

From this position, he can pivot either way for a forehand or a backhand return. But as the animation shows, he can also do a reverse pivot step. Watch how his outside left moves back to his right. With the step, his body starts to turn. The result is that he is able to get around the ball and in position to hit a forehand.

So again, Position on the Ball means aligning the back foot to the incoming serve. Rafa is in an open stance with his weight on his outside leg. From this position he can explode into the bal and l hit a heavy topspin forehand return with his signature reverse finish.

Although the contact point will be lower than with Rafa, this strategy often works really well in club tennis, allowing you to get around a spinning second serve and attack with your own forehand.

So there we have the second installment on Position on the Ball. Next will turn to a completely different type of positioning. Using the toss to position the ball on the serve.