Five easy ways to become a net fo~There's nothing quite like the feel-

ing of satisfaction knocking off a volleywinner. It's fast, it's quick, and it's alsogood for a quick boost in confidence.The volley winner is to tennis what thefast-break lay-up is to basketball. Whilehitting a volley is simple in terms ofmechanics, it still has its challenges,especially if you want to climb to thenext competitive level. Here are fivekeys to becoming a victorious volleyer:

1) Back off the backswing.Unlike a groundstroke, a back-swing isn't necessary to hit awinning volley and in mostcases is impossible to pull offconsidering that the ball iscoming at you faster than anyball you will encounter on atennis court ..

2) Forget the follow through.Since there is no backswing, nofollow through is requiredeither. After all, the only pur-pose of the follow through is toallow the racket room to decel-erate, just like an airplane land-ing needs a long enough run-way to slow down and come toa stop. A helicopter, on theother hand, only needs a smallpatch of turf to land. Hitting avolley is akin to landing a heli-copter.

3) Get a grip-and stick with it.There are two schools ofthought on volley grips. Oneadvocates holding a continentalgrip and making no change

whatsoever; the other allowsfor a slight change from fore-hand to backhand volley to givea player more strength on highbackhand volleys. Whichevercamp you fall into, one thing isfor sure: If you're going to be aneffective volleyer, forget majorgrip changes at the net.

4) Mind your midcourt andlow volleys.All experienced players knowthat midcourt and low volleysare difficult. Two reasons. Onmid court volleys, players thinkthey have to swing more andtherefore lose control of theball. The real solution is a slightlengthening of the stroke, butnot to the point where it evenremotely resembles a full swing.And, on low volleys, playerstend to drop their racket headby relaxing their wrists, insteadof lowering their playing heightand keeping the racket at closeto 90 degrees relative to theforearm.

5) Volley with your feet.This will sound funny to many,but it is another key to solidplay at the net. Many playersmake the mistake of standingflatfooted at the net. I remem-ber one of my coaches tellingme that "a flatfooted tennisplayer at the net is like a boxerjust before getting knockedout." Since your racket, arm,and hand position is relativelyconstant on the volley, the feet

are the major variable. Dependupon them to get you into posi-tion and you will become a bet-ter volleyer in seconds.

Reading tips in a magazine is onlythe beginning of becoming a bettervolleyer. Some studies in motor learn-ing and sports show that the use ofvisual and kinesthetic aids, like theones shown here, not only acceleratesthe learning process but also increasesthe retention of those acquired skillsmore than verbal instructions. In otherwords, "Tell me and I will struggle, giveme an image and I will remember, butgive me a feel and I will succeed."

Whether you go to a local hardwarestore and get creative in your garagemaking your own aids, or invest intraining aids from a tennis company,our suggestion is to use tools to helpyou get better faster whenever possible.After all, the faster you experience suc-cess, the more enthusiastic you willbecome about continuing to improve.

Key #1 and Key #2No backswing and no follow through.

Key #3Control your grip.

Key #4Keep the wrist solid on low and mid-court volleys.

Key #5Volley with your feet. 0

Joe Dinoffer is a USPTA Master Pro andPTR Professional and has conducted clin-ics and exhibitions in over 50 countries.

to reckon with

Key #3 Tohelp players get a better feel for the right grips on volleysor any other shot, Velcro systems like the Grip Doctor can fix problemsin minutes.

Key #4 To help players get the feel for keeping the racquet headabove the wrist, you can improvise by tying a string between the throatof the racquet and your forearm. Just make it tight enough so the rac-quet head stays up (angled about 90 degrees to your forearm).Another option is the Volley Doctor, a very user-friendly apparatusspecifically designed to meet this challenge.

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