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Before Andre Agassi arrived on the scene nearly two decades ago, this shot was seldom seen. With the older, less powerful racquets, players had plenty of time to set up and hit a classic forehand or backhand volley.
Agassi, who often played on or inside the baseline, would take a couple steps forward and hit balls out of the air with what could only be described as a topspin groundstroke. The shot was ridiculed at first by the purists, including this writer, but today everyone has this shot. With the increased speed of today's game, there's often not enough time to turn, set the racquet and strike a conventional volley. In some situations, the swinging volley is faster and facilitates a quick journey to the net behind the shot (that is, if the shot isn't an outright winner, which it usually is).
In VJTTA, the kids are going to be swinging at a lot of balls in the air, almost naturally. The speedballs and lst set balls we use tend to float through the air more than a regular tennis ball, almost begging to be struck by a swinging volley. Given this, we teach both the classic volley and the more modern swinging volley.
Set some parameters for the kids. Low balls should be taken with a conventional volley stroke. Balls hit from above the waist to about eye level can be hit with a swinging volley. Balls above the head should probably be taken as an overhead, or allowed to drop lower and volleyed (swing or classic).
The forehand swinging volley is an easy stroke to teach and to hit. Again, the "show the logo" concept comes into play, but it is exaggerated and is accompanied by a full unit turn so that the player is perpendicular to the net. The grip can be the player's regular forehand groundstroke grip. As the ball approaches, the player continues moving forward and sideways, trailing the racquet behind him. The player then makes his last step with his left foot, rotates his right shoulder, and swings the racquet forward on a rising plane, finishing above the head. The racquet head should probably rise from the hitting shoulder about 30 degrees through the stroke's end. The racquet should swing out parallel to the net to ensure a good lift and to supply some topspin. It is not necessary to drop the racquet head low on this shot. It is a fairly flat, with just enough topspin to keep it within the court.
The two-handed backhand swinging volley is similar to the forehand in terms of positioning the body sideways to the net and swinging through the shot from low to high. Again, it is not necessary to put a great deal of topspin on the shot. The trouble on the two-handed backhand is that the left arm doesn't allow as much forward extension on the swing.
A good shoulder turn is required, and the player has to be patient and let the ball come in fairly close to him, at least to the front shoulder before swinging. Otherwise, the shot will lack power or will be topped into the net. Players can get better extension if they have made a grip change to the Continental with their dominant hand. High balls are better hit as two-handed backhand overheads, rather than with a two-handed backhand swinging volley because of this restricted extension.
The one handed backhand swinging volley is not often seen, as it is often easier to attack the ball and hit a conventional backhand volley. Nevertheless, some players like to hit this powerful shot and it looks impressive. Again, the player must be perfectly sideways to the net and should set the racquet carefully around shoulder height with his free hand. Players will often lunge into the air as they hit up on this shot in order to get additional leverage and power. The follow through is long and flowing, slightly from low to high, and the free arm snaps back to keep the body aligned with the net and the racquet head parallel.
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