Volley

“ 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. ”

“ For some time, therefore, volley succeeded volley, and the discharges from the artillery rolled in a terrific manner along the vale, without producing any result beyond that of winding up the spirits of our men to the highest pitch to which the bravery of men can be screwed. One of the finest qualities which British soldiers possess, is, that on all occasions their courage invariably rises in proportion to the exertions required of them, a quality which was never more nobly exhibited than on the plains of Vittoria. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ As a rule, it is a most unsafe stroke, and, when it can be played without risk, a hard volley will generally be just as good. It is a great satisfaction, both to the gallery and to the player himself, to see a ball smashed through an umbrella or a parasol, but it is an amusement that should be strictly confined to exhibition matches.
Do not volley a very low ball if you can possibly help it. For instance, one is coming forward, and meets a slow return that has passed just over the net and is dropping fast. ”

“ It sometimes happens, too, that the player finding himself too near the pitch of the ball to take it at the end of the bound, yet not near enough to volley it, is compelled to take it on the half-volley as the only chance of getting it up. Accuracy in volleying and half-volleying, especially if the ball be kept low, is a most difficult art to acquire, but a good long rally in which are included a number of hard rapid half-volleys within a couple of inches of the board, is the prettiest feature of the game. ”

“ The whole secret consists partly in timing your hit well, and partly in taking the ball at the right part of the rise, so as to play the ball down without wasting its force against the ground.
Every player thinks he can hit a half-volley along 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. ”

“ The opponent wins a stroke if the server serve a fault, or fails to return the ball in play, or returns the ball in play so that it falls off the table.
No volleying is allowed; but as long as the ball touches the table-top it is in play and can be taken at half-volley. The opponent loses a point if he takes the ball on the volley.
The player who first wins six games wins a set.
The service must be strictly underhand and delivered from behind the end of the table.
Scoring Your opponent scores—If you do not return the ball; if you strike the ball before it touches the table ”

“ If you do play low, don’t play directly down the middle of the court if your opponent is standing there. It is much better to take a greater risk and play for the side-lines. Remember that it is usually easier to pass a volleyer on his forehand side. Remember, also, that the easiest ball to volley is one hit low and hard, because it comes in nearly a straight line. For this reason, especially when a volleyer is coming forward, the most difficult stroke that you can give him to volley is one hit slowly enough to drop low before he can reach it. ”

“ The moment that a volleyer fails to make a severe or at least a well-placed stroke, he is at a disadvantage, and would be better off in the back of the court than where he is. It is seldom that the two positions can balance, so to speak, and if a volleyer is not distinctly up, he is pretty sure to go down. Of course I do not mean that every ball that is to be volleyed should be smashed; far from it, but I do say that a volley should always be played hard on to the base-line or across the court to the side-line. If neither can be done, it is wrong to volley the ball at all. ”

“ The cause of these volleys was more difficult to discover, and, as our men never replied, it seemed somewhat of a waste of ammunition. Their original cause was a sortie early in the siege, when Captain Fitzclarence made a night attack with the bayonet on their trenches. Ever afterwards an animal moving on the veldt, a tree or bush stirred by the wind, an unusual light in the town, was sufficient for volley after volley to be poured at imaginary foes. ”

“ Should your adversary lob, walk slowly back with the ball and volley it quietly, but hard, into the back of the court. Other things being equal, the backhand corner is the best place into which to return a lob. If your opponent lingers at all in the left-hand side of his court, volley directly across to the forehand end of the service-line.
Don’t be afraid to hit a lob. There is really no half-way; if you don’t make a good stroke off it, your opponent will probably pass you. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ VOLLEY BALL.—Volley balls are quite similar to basket balls, but slightly smaller and lighter. They are suitable for games in which the ball is batted with the open hand or fist and where it is to be kept continuously in the air, such as the game of Volley Ball. The ball consists of a rubber bladder inclosed in a laced leather cover of white. The official specifications call for a ball not less than 25 nor more than 27 inches in circumference, of weight not less than 9 ounces nor more than 12 ounces. ”

“ 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. ”

“ H.—There was Jack Spines, the racket-player: he excelled in what is called the half-volley. Some amateurs of the game were one day disputing what this term of art meant. Spines was appealed to. ‘Why, gentlemen,’ says he, ‘I really can’t say exactly; but I should think, the half-volley is something between the volley and the half-volley.’ This definition was not quite the thing. The celebrated John Davies, the finest player in the world, could give no account of his proficiency that way. It is a game which no one thinks of playing without putting on a flannel jacket ”

“ 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.” ”

“ 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. ”

“ When the bowling is fast enough to compel the wicket-keeper to stand back, I have found it a good plan to stand a foot or two outside the popping-crease. This tends to put the bowler off his length, for he finds his good length balls hit on the half-volley, and this, for the time at any rate, is apt to disconcert him. ”

“ Leading player of each team grasps the opponent about neck or shoulders, team breaking first or having one or more players pulled over the line after thirty seconds is the leader.
VOLLEY BALL
Ten to thirty players may play at one time on playground or gymnasium. Equipment consists of volley ball and tennis net.
For large teams this game is best played on a ground measuring fifty feet in length and twenty-five in width. A tennis net or a net two feet wide is stretched across the center of the ground from side to side, extending one or two feet beyond the boundary on either side. ”

“ Six runs are needed and I am the last man. The bowler against me is a demon and I am dead out of practice and by no means fond of being hit on the body. He begins his run towards the wicket, and the ball leaves his terrible long swinging arm and comes towards me like a shell. I raise my bat, get it on the half-volley right in the middle, hit it clean over the Pavilion for six, and the match is won. ”

“ She proved a very “wicked” animal, and a few yards prancing and capering made me heartily wish that I was safely on terra firma. Suddenly a volley was fired, and as suddenly the horse gave such a lurch that I was within an ace of being pitched where I wanted to get—though not quite so precipitately. Volley after volley was fired, and I lost all command over the snorting steed, which was flitting along at the rate of so many miles an hour. ”

“ Some good players make a practice wherever possible, especially in the case of heavily cut service, of taking the serve on the volley (i.e. before the ball reaches the ground) , sometimes of taking the ball after it leaves the side wall and before it reaches the back wall; practice alone enables the player to decide with the necessary promptitude how each stroke is to be played. In returning the serve, or in playing any stroke during the rally, the ball may strike any of the other walls before the front wall ”

“ The first volley took them when the foremost were about sixty yards off, but it was rather wild, and the men for the most part shot over their heads. Two more volleys were delivered with greater precision before they got up to the gate, but they still pressed on. A party of men had halted on the hill behind, about a hundred and twenty yards off, and were returning the fire, but without effect, for the defenders were protected by the wall, and the bullets either struck that or whistled over the top. ”

“ Of all the different kinds of fire, the volley is best adapted to meet the requirement of keeping the troops in hand, of concentrating the fire, and thereby producing great moral effect. Volleys are of value to troops in ambush, in repulsing cavalry attacks, and in preventing premature firing against the wishes of the commander. They should be used against staffs which would be able to seek cover or spread out when exposed to fire at will.
As the men are, however, not equally skilled in loading their pieces, the rate of fire is very little increased by the use of volleys. ”

“ When the men have been well grounded in ball practice it will be interesting to pile up stones to the height of a man and bring them down with a crashing volley at a hundred yards. The men take a lively interest in the shooting and drill, and a list should be kept of good, bad, or indifferent shots, so that the fact may be endorsed on their written characters when they are dismissed at the coast. ”

“ 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. ”