C5L1: Slice to Volley

I call this slice to volley cause you see I am i the back court there, and that is what you want to have one player in the back court slicing the ball. On both sides, backhands and forehands its a great way to practice for that running stab slice forehand that everyone invariably needs to hit. When they are playing top level tennis. So this a great drill for the base line. Paul is up at net volleying back to me. Take a look in slow motion. The reason I have the camera at this angle because I want you to see what Paul is seeing. So you can sort of see through the net mans eyes. What you're going to do here is instead of watching the ball come off my strings he split steps here, lines up the 45 and gets connected with the line of the ball. Soon as he sees the ball leave my racket he knows the direction its going. So know he just has to merge with the ball at the 45 slowly there, so if he knows where the line of the ball is thats coming towards him. He can move gradually and efficiently and slowly and make this shot with relative ease. See that he just gets out to the 45 slowly, and then to do that he has to be connected with the line of the ball. You just can't watch the ball, and then it goes back cross court because he kept his racket head at the 45 degree angle. We are going to get to the backhand volley in a minute here. The reason the camera is at this angle is because you really need to watch the line of the ball. This is half the reason we can hit between our legs or behind our back or all kinds of tricks because you don't really watch the ball. What you do is get connected and understand the entire line of the ball and not just the ball itself. Sort of like a football receiver running for a pass and then as he gets a bead on the ball he can basically close his eyes and the ball will fall into his hands. Lets take a look at the backhand there is the split step right as I hit the ball and Paul slowly moves and merges with ball right there at the 45 degree angle. The way he does that we are going to see here in a second is he understands and get connected to the line of the ball. Here comes the hit, his heels are up in the air, see that so he is just splitting upon the hit doesn't know where the ball is going yet. As soon as his feet touch the ground its just about the right time, the ball has left my racket he can see the line of the ball. If you look carefully you see where the ball came from and where its going. That's the line of the ball and its going to stay true. Now it might be higher or lower than you expect but thats a very easy adjustment with your racket. What you want to do is be connected to where the ball and your racket both merge at the 45 degree angle to the net. Right as your racket is getting out there and expanding to the 45 degree's it just merges with the ball there. So its not really a block or anything where you are trying to hit the ball. You are just stretching slowly to merge with that line of the ball at the 45 degree angle. Very efficient and effortless volley. Its very important to note that the first move by either of us is critical and its a very minute thing, its almost unnoticeable. Watch Paul's head, watch here as soon as he catches the line of the ball, look how its still looking straight ahead. Now watch this small move right there, see how his head goes about an inch thats all, maybe not even that much. That is where he gets his best peripheral vision see and he keeps his head at that position the rest of stroke through. Thats his best view point of the on coming ball or the entire path of the ball, the line of the ball. Is to keep that head right there just slightly at the 45 degree angle, watch it again. See that his head barely moves, so your goal really is to try to keep your head looking forward because it will make that little transition to the right or left depending on forehand or backhand. It will make the small adjustment but if you make that small adjustment you can move incrementally, you will notice that it does move to the 45 and thats where it stays throughout the stroke. Its important to see that line of the ball by keeping your head looking forward.