Chapter 8 - How to Volley

Volley is the most common attacking method for pickleball. The players often need to use volley to earn the point finally, especially in double games.

What is Volley

Volley refers to the action of hitting the ball during the flight of the ball before the ball hits the ground. Usually, a volleyed ball is very quick, and the opponent will feel difficult to return it appropriately in such a short time. In professional tournaments, players need to react and complete the shot within 1/4 of a second when volleying and attacking each other in front of the net.

Generally, according to the location of the volley, there are Backcourt Volley, Mid-court Volley, and Near-net Volley.

• Backcourt Volley: If the opponents return a high ball in the backcourt, you can volley it to force the opponent to retreat into the backcourt.

• Mid-court Volley: The mid-court volley is mostly when you are going to the net after the third shot, and the opponent returns a long ball. In this situation, you should hit the ball very softly using its own power, let the ball drop to the opponent's NVZ shortly, and go to the net quickly at the same time.

• Near-net Volley: If the opponents make a mistake to return a high ball in front of the net, you can smash the ball quickly to earn a point. For non-high balls, avoid using vigorous efforts to hit the ball out. Generally you can push the ball to the backcourt, or hit the ball softly to attack, so that the ball does not go too high when passing the net. Pay attention to avoid stepping into the NVZ area when volleying.

In addition, according to the height of the ball when volleying, it can be divided into flat volley, high ball volley and overhead volley.

It is common in professional tournament that both sides can volley opponent's ball mutually, which will form a faster rally.

When to Use Volley

When the opponent at the back court returns the ball too far or too high to create a good attack opportunity, you can use volley to earn points directly.

When the opponent dinks the ball from near the net, but the returned ball is too far or too high, you can volley to try attacking the opponents to create score opportunities, too.

Master Volley

First need to move to an appropriate position. Move to the direction of the ball in time by predicting the trajectory of the ball. The volley timing should be earlier than the hitting the ball after it bounces. When the opponent hits a high ball to the back court, you need to turn to your forehand side and move back quickly.

In addition, when volleying, hold the paddle stably to hit the ball right against the paddle surface.

When volleying a low ball, you can use top spin appropriately. The returned ball should pass net lowly and move downward in most time. The target of the volley should be far from the opponent's paddle, and you can also choose to target the opponent's ankle or space between the players (in double games). Generally, do not target the area above the waist when volleying from near the net to avoid going out. Unless you are very confident, it is generally not recommended to hit the ball to the sideline, because it is easy to hit the ball out. When the opponents are near the net, can attack the ball softly to the shoulder with the paddle, to cause a body attack.

When volleying a high ball (especially from overhead), you should prepare the position to do the smash in advance. Similar as the smash in badminton, generate the power by the torso turning and the arm pronation, and grasp the paddle suddenly when hitting the ball to keep the paddle surface stable. Pay attention to hit the ball with a good speed, depth and angle. In this situation, you can use most power to smash the ball to the back court to force the opponents to make mistake. The landing position can be the middle or near the side line.

In order to volley near the net quickly, keep the arm steady and only use small movements (wrist or fingers) to generate power by tightening the fingers to hold the paddle from relax status. Try to keep the ball fly down after passing the net, and try to target the place far from the opponent.

Defend a Volley

The key to defend a volley is moving to appropriate position quickly. Especially when the opponent is smashing a high ball from the net, you need to retreat immediately, lower your body to prepare to defend the ball.

There are mainly two ways to defend: volley back or use ground stroke.

When the opponent’s ball is flat or the ball is too close to your body, you can try to volley the ball back directly in the air. Pay attention to keep the stability of the body, and use small movement to hit the ball softly back to the NVZ using the ball’s own power. If the coming ball is high, then hit it down proactively with more power.

When the opponent's ball is hit down from high position or it is far away from your body, you can wait for the ball to bounce from the ground before hitting the ball. You can drop the ball or drive the ball. When the ball comes very quickly, use its own force mainly to let the ball fall over the net and be careful not to drop it too long. Otherwise, try to lob the ball to the back court.

After the defense, try to move forward with the ball to the net as quickly as possible. When your return is good, you can move directly to the net and prepare to enter the Dink stage. Otherwise, move to the middle court for transition and prepare a second attempt to go to the net.

Training Methods

You can master the volley attack and defense techniques through the following trainings:

• Practice volleys with swing paddle movements, 50 sets per set, 10 sets per day;

• Hit the wall with volley by 50 consecutive forehands, 50 consecutive backhands, 50 alternate forehands and backhands. Practice 10 sets a day.

• Multiple Ball practice: the assistant player continuously sends out balls of different heights, and the trainer volleys them to a given position.

• Return practice: both players continue to volley in the air so that the ball does not fall to the ground. The distance between the two sides can be adjusted dynamically. The players can move along the net at the same time, too.