Volley (tennis)

“ Without taking his eyes off the ball, the player can usually tell about where his opponent is, and can place the stroke accordingly. In all such volleys he should make up his mind just where he means to put the ball before he takes the step forward, and he should not change it even if he sees that his intention is discovered.
No rule can be given for placing the volley, but in any case the stroke should be severe enough to prevent the next lob from being as good as the last. If you do not gain a distinct advantage by the volley you are pretty sure to be worse off next time. ”

“ Hillyard, the late Miss Robb, Miss Sutton, Miss Boothby and myself are base-liners. Miss Dod and Mrs. Sterry are the only two volleyers. Every girl, however, should learn how to volley. You may be inveigled up to the net, and you should then know how to play and place a volley. And you should go up now and then on a good-length ball.
In Doubles of course it is different. I think then a girl should volley. It will greatly improve her play all round, and will also make the game so much more attractive. ”

“ Should your opponent try the cross drive, his chances of beating you clean and keeping the ball in court are much less than his chances of error.
Strive to kill your volleys at once, but should your shot not win, follow the ball 'cross and again cover the straight shot. Always force the man striving to pass you to play the hardest possible shot.
Attack with your volleys. Never defend the ball when at the net. The only defensive volley is one at your feet as you come in. It is a mid-court shot. Volleys should win with placement more than speed, although speed may be used on a high volley. ”

“ Again, if the man against you is one of the great volleyers, the ball must be kept away from him at any risk. If you let the ball go back to your partner he will get more chances than you can afford to give him. In such a case I feel sure that it is right to go across to volley on the least opportunity. ”

“ For a back-handed stroke the right foot is brought across the left, and whilst striking the weight is shifted from the left foot to the right. The Volley has ever been a subject of controversy in lawn-tennis annals. We all know what an instrument of defence the stroke became off the rackets of the Messrs. Renshaw; but at present we are considering lawn-tennis from a woman's point of view, which is a very different thing. The ordinary variety of the volley is employed to save change of position necessary in taking a ball off the ground. ”

“ You should not swing back as far for a volley as for a ground stroke, nor relax a firm grip of your racket, remembering to follow through to the place you wish the ball to go. In overhead work it is most important to remember the oft-repeated maxim: "Keep your eye on the ball." Watch it up to the moment of striking. Do not always "smash" every overhead ball when a well-placed volley will win the ace just as well. It is a waste of much-needed strength, and there is a greater risk of making a mistake. ”

“ I mean that a volleyer must always cover the straight passing shot since it is the shortest shot with which to pass him, and he must volley straight to his opening and not waste time trying freakish curving volleys that give the base- liner time to recover. It is Johnston's great straight volley that makes him such a dangerous net man. He is always "punching" his volley straight and hard to the opening in his opponent's court.
A net player must have ground strokes in order to attain the net position. Do not think that a service and volley will suffice against first-class tennis. ”

“ We now come to a wholly different class of volleys, namely, those of a dropping ball, as when a weak return is made off a fast service, or more often when one player is lobbing to drive his opponent back. In this class comes the “Smash,” which is simply a volley made very hard, with all the joints of the arm free, so that as soon as the stroke is started all control of the racket is lost. In a simple volley the joints are not held stiff, but one retains control of the racket throughout the stroke; in a smash one lets the racket go apparently at random. ”

“ Although it moves your opponent out of her dangerous position right up at the net, there is time for her to run back and return it. (2) The low lob, which only just passes over your opponent's racket—a much more risky shot than the high lob, but with the advantage of falling much quicker. If you succeed in getting the ball out of her reach, it is almost certain to be a winning shot, because she will not have time to turn and go after what is a very fast-dropping ball. (3) The lob-volley is one of the prettiest strokes and a most effective one. ”

“ When all four players are in position for volleying, one is often puzzled where to put the ball, as there seems to be no place left vacant for it. The same principles apply here as in the return of the second service, except that the server has had time to place himself. You must work for an opening by driving one of your opponents out of place, or you must try to make one of them half-volley, which may give a chance for a smash, or must simply keep on returning the balls and trust that a mistake will give you the opportunity to kill which he cannot make for yourself. ”

“ If you see that your opponent hesitates to hit a lob hard, be ready to go in the moment the chance comes. It usually is easy to tell if a player intends to stop a lob instead of hitting it, and it is well worth while to take some risk in running up to volley his return. He will probably be too far forward in the court to return your volley well, even if he gets it at all. ”

“ To become an adept at the game, the player must be able to volley well; he must know how the stroke is made, and he must be able to make it, no matter where the ball may come—high or low, right or left, straight or dropping. One common principle applies to all volleys, namely, that the ball must not be allowed to hit the racket, but the racket must hit the ball, and a distinct stroke should be made. A step should always be taken with the opposite foot, i.e., with the left foot in a forehanded stroke, and with the right in a backhanded one. ”

“ One does not, however, see good players confine themselves wholly to either game. As I said just now, one cannot volley every ball, and one needs to be able to make a severe stroke off the ground to get into position to volley. This one can do only by skill in back-play. Every well-known player of the present day believes that both back-play and volleying are necessary for a successful game, and the question now is not which to use, but how to mix the two. ”

“ The half-volley is the prettiest stroke in lawn tennis; it often saves valuable time, and it helps one out of many difficulties. There is only one remark more to be made about it, and that is, never play it if you can possibly avoid it. Unless played exactly right, it will give an easy return, and will allow your opponent to gain the advantage in position if he did not have it before. ”

“ Notwithstanding these truths, there are certain players who have turned the half volley into a point winner. The greatest half volleyer of the past decade—in fact, one of the greatest tennis geniuses of the world—George Caridia, used the stroke successfully as a point winner. R. N. Williams, the leading exponent of the stroke in the present day, achieves remarkable results with it. Major A. R. F. Kingscote wins many a point, seemingly lost, by his phenomenal half-volley returns, particularly from the baseline. These men turn a defence into an attack, and it pays. ”

“ The half volley is essentially a defensive stroke, since it should only be made as a last resort, when caught out of position by your opponent's shot. It is a desperate attempt to extricate yourself from a dangerous position without retreating. ”

“ There is hardly anything that discourages a player so much as to see his partner leave his side-line unprotected.
The server should follow up his service at once, so as to volley the return. If he serves a fault, let him serve again very slowly and up in the air, so as to give himself time to get to the service-line and into position before the return can reach him. If he serves a ball of medium pace he will probably have to volley while on the run, and the return may strike the ground in front of him so that he will have to half-volley. ”

“ Thus the nearer a player is to the net the less space he leaves his opponent to place the ball in, but, on the other hand, the quicker he himself must be to judge and reach the ball. It is a great gain if you can volley the ball while it is still above the level of the net, as it can then be volleyed downward. If you allow the ball to drop much, you have got to volley upwards to get it over the net, and there can be little severity in your stroke, which moreover itself is a more difficult one to make. ”

“ A ‘volley,’ as you know, is hitting the ball before it touches the ground. The ‘server’ is the one who hits the ball from behind his base line and at one side of the center diagonally over the net into his opponent’s service court. ”

“ It sometimes pays to place such a service as near as possible to the outer corner of the court, and to follow it up almost to the net. One would think that there would be no difficulty in passing the server as he comes forward, but it requires a very accurate first stroke to do so. If the stroke is not well-placed, there will be a chance for a sharp volley which should win the rest. It needs great quickness to make such a volley, and no one should take such a risk unless he can volley really well. ”

“ The stroke should be crisp, snappy, and decisive, but it should stop as it meets the ball. The follow through should be very small. Most low volleys should be soft and short. Most high volleys require speed and length.
The "stop" volley is nothing more than a shot blocked short. There is no force used. The racquet simply meets the oncoming ball and stops it. The ball rebounds and falls of its own weight. There is little bounce to such a shot, and that may be reduced by allowing the racquet to slide slightly under the ball at the moment of impact, thus imparting back spin to the ball. ”

“ Miss Elting here took a hand in the instruction.
“When your opponent serves the ball into your court, you let the ball strike the ground, bound up into the air, then you volley it back into your opponent’s court. Then, the ball being in play, you do not have to let it strike the ground again unless you wish to do so.” ”

“ It should be used to drop short, soft shots at the feet of the net man as he comes in. Do not strive to pass a net man with a chop or slice, except through a big opening.
The drop-shot is a very soft, sharply-angled chop stroke, played wholly with the wrist. It should drop within 3 to 5 feet of the net to be of any use. The racquet face passes around the outside of the ball and under it with a distinct "wrist turn." Do not swing the racquet from the shoulder in making a drop shot. The drop shot has no relation to a stop-volley. The drop shot is all wrist. The stop-volley has no wrist at all. ”

“ Volley ball is another team game which is rapidly becoming popular among girls. It may be played indoors or outdoors and can be enjoyed by large groups of girls. The game is a combination of tennis and hand ball and consists of keeping a ball in motion over a high net.
Many girls, particularly the young and those who are weakly, are compelled to refrain from indulging in many of our most popular games. These can play volley ball without running the risk of any serious injury. There is no bodily contact with opponents. ”

“ Both these shots are essentially defensive, and are labour-saving devices when your opponent is on the baseline. A chop or slice is very hard to drive, and will break up any driving game.
It is not a shot to use against a volley, as it is too slow to pass and too high to cause any worry. ”

“ It is a stroke that should never be used if it is possible to avoid it. If you make up your mind to let the ball go unless you can play it in some other way, you will thus learn to avoid wanting to half-volley. When you become a really good player, you can add this stroke to your others, and you will not have got into the habit of using it too often. It is a mistake to play long at a time. ”

“ If she succeeds in passing the man opposite, there probably will be a chance for her partner to go forward and volley.
If the man is serving, he should follow up a severe service if he possibly can. For the return of a second service it is better for him to stay back at or about the middle of the base-line, for he can play most strokes better than his partner, and if he goes forward on a weak service the ball will probably come to her. ”

“ It is the Big Bertha of tennis. It is the long range terror that should always score. The rules of footwork, position, and direction that govern the volley will suffice for the overhead. The swing alone is different. The swing should be closely allied to the slice service, the racquet and arm swinging freely from the shoulder, the wrist flexible and the racquet imparting a slight twist to the ball to hold it in court. The overhead is mainly a point winner through speed, since its bounce is so high that a slow placement often allows time for a recovery. ”