Take a small stool or folding chair to the court with you.  Set it inside the service box and place your ball cart or hopper on the service line across the net from the chair.

Have your student sit sideways on the stool with her upper body turned about 45 degrees from the net. Her front knee should be higher than her back knee.  If using a chair, she will probably have to adjust her legs to get comfortable.  A slight kneeling with the back leg extended backward and the knee lower than the front knee should do it.

Her racquet should be in a position that mirrors the end of the volley preparation position; that is, racquet face parallel to the net, laid back, and slightly raised.   Either an Eastern forehand or a Continental grip is acceptable.  The wrist should be laid back and  locked.  Finally, have the student place her non-hitting arm across her waist with her hand under her hitting elbow; this will emphasize the use of the forearm only and minimize any over-swinging on the volley. 

Now, softly feed balls to the student and have her volley the ball over the net using the abbreviated volley stroke you have designed for her.  With the wrist laid back and locked and the elbow stabilized, the only motion on the volley will be a raising and lowering of the forearm.  This is reallly all the swing one needs for a good forehand volley.

If she is still having problems, have her choke up on the racquet handle. This will make the stroke feel more solid and controllable.  She can also try to make her volleys land in your ball cart.  This will encourage her to use more backspin in order to clear the net by several feet and keep the ball in cart. 

Once the student gets the feel for hitting the volley in a seated position, have her stand up and hit some volleys.  Have her again try to land the ball in the basket. After a while, have her sit down on the chair again and hit volleys from there.  Repeat this sitting and standing until the volley becomes grooved.

Next, the student should try to lengthen her volleys while still using  the basic volley stroke you have just taught her.  She should flatten out the stroke by closing her racquet and putting more body weight into the shot.  She shouldn't need to add much backward or forward swing.  Encourage her to keep it short and compact.

In subsequent lessons, any time the feel for the volley weakens, have the student briefly resume the sitting position to re-establish the mechanics of the stroke.

I have also used this stool or chair prop successfully for teaching the one-handed and two-handed volley.   It is a good cure for two-handed backhand volleyers who tend to hit the ball too far in front of them instead of waiting for it to approach the forward plane of their body.   Anyway, give it a try.

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