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Drills for Volleys Volley Tap Athlete stands in the ready position and the coach tosses or hits a ball to him/her. Athlete steps in with a crossover step and bumps the ball with outstretched hand, simulating a forehand or backhand volley. Next, athletes catch the ball using proper footwork and toss it back to the partner. This drill could be repeated several times.       Cup/Cone Catches Using a large cup/ cone, have athletes catch a tossed ball. This emphasizes that athletes do not need to swing to hit a volley.       Volley Toss Coach or partner tosses a ball and players hit a forehand or backhand volley. Using proper volleying technique, players hit volleys to a partner. Count how many tosses and catches can be completed before a miss.       Volley Feeding Drills   Coach feeds balls from a hopper to a single-file line of players. Players hit a specified number of balls and return to the end of the line.   Criss-Cross Volley Drill Two lines of players start at the corner of the service box. Feed a forehand volley to the first person in the left line and then feed a backhand volley to the right line. Continue to feed volleys, alternating between the two lines. After volleying a designated number of balls, the player returns to the end of other line.       Alternating forehand and backhand volleys Coach feeds four balls, alternating forehand and backhand volleys.       Corner Volley Drill Two lines are formed at the corners of the service boxes. Feed a ball so the athlete must move to hit the volley. After hitting the volley, the athlete touches the corner of the service box with the racket and runs back to the net to play another volley. As the player is running to touch the corner, a ball is fed to player on the backhand corner side.     Approach and Volley (Forehand, Backhand and Same Side) Player hits an approach shot off a ball fed to the mid-court area. The second shot is a deep volley from a ball hit at the service line. The coach feeds several volleys, stressing forward movement between hits.         Rallying Drills   As players become more advanced, they can practice the volley in a rallying situation with a coach or partner.   Quick Volleys Two players stand at opposite service lines and volley with control back and forth to each other. Keep track of consecutive hits.     One Up — One Back Athlete volleys to a coach or partner who is rallying from the baseline. Aim for specific targets (example: forehand cross court rallies). Keep score or devise a game to make this situation competitive.     Key Words "Racket head up" "Keep the racket above the wrist"     Coaching Tips Emphasize that athletes should not swing at the volley, but instead "punch" or "catch" the ball. Have athletes hit and stop their racket to avoid swinging. Ask them often if they can see their racket. If they lose sight of the racket they have taken it too far back. The racket head should be above the wrist throughout the volley. Volleys are simple to teach and many Special Olympics tennis players are relatively successful with the stroke. But it is often difficult to make the transition from the baseline to the net in a game situation. Many athletes may only use the volley when in the net position in doubles. Even though they may not use it in their matches, encourage your athletes to practice their volleys. To be balanced properly after hitting the volley, it is necessary to use the correct footwork. On the forehand volley, step across with the left front foot and conversely on the backhand step across with the right front foot. When feeding balls, make sure balls are fed at different heights and speeds so athletes learn that not all balls approach at shoulder height. Initially, athletes should be given verbal cues such as forehand and/or backhand to help them react more quickly.

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