Most Adult Beginners Can't Volley. Here's Why.
There's a lot of noise out there about doubles strategy, positioning, movement at net. All of it is premature if you can't volley yet — and most advanced beginners, if I'm honest, can't. Not really. So before we talk strategy, let's fix the actual shot.
Rule number one: the grip
If you take nothing else from this, take this. At net, you hold a continental grip. Not forehand.
Here's why it's non-negotiable. In a forehand grip, when the ball meets your strings out at net height, the racket face is naturally pointing down — into the net. In continental, the face is naturally pointing up, which is what lets the ball clear the net at all. This isn't a preference. It's physics.
I insist on this with every improver I coach, because if I don't, it's nearly impossible to fix later. Get the grip right and you've won half the battle before you've hit a single ball.
Know what you're standing there to do
Advanced beginners need to understand one thing before anything else: volleys are balls hit out of the air. Groundstrokes — your forehand and backhand — are balls hit off the bounce. If you're at net, no ball should be bouncing in front of you.
And once you're up there, you are not there to hit the ball back to your opponent. You're there to hit it away from them. I see this constantly — players at net rallying the ball straight back like it's a groundstroke exchange, as if someone taught them that's the strategy. It isn't. You're at net to finish the point, not extend the rally.
There is no swing
This is the part almost everyone misses, because by the time players learn to volley, they've already spent months taking full swings on the forehand and backhand — so they try to apply the same motion. It's nowhere near the same shot.
There is no swing on a volley. Everything happens out in front of you. Ready position, contact — both out in front. If the ball gets a second behind you, you've already lost it.
You have less time to prepare and less time to react at net than anywhere else on the court, which is exactly why anticipation matters so much:
See the ball early — off your opponent's strings, not after it's already crossed the net.
In singles, move toward it before it arrives.
In doubles, both players move together in the direction of the ball. Not just the net player reacting alone.
Where to send it
Deep balls and aggressive angles are what keep your opponent away from the net — and whoever controls the net typically wins the point. If you do hit the ball back deep, that's still a win: you're keeping your opponent pinned back. The goal either way is to move the ball around the court, away from your opponent — never straight back to them.
Contact and finish
On your forehand and backhand, you want a loose wrist and relaxed arm. Not on the volley. Here, you want a firm contact point — think the firmness of a high five, not a loose slap.
Swinging down drives the ball into the net. I tell my players their volley finish should never dip below the white tape on the net. Below that line, things get dicey fast.
Doubles: know your side
In doubles, you and your partner each own one half of the court. I get players — Irish players especially, for whatever reason — telling me they've been taught that one player covers the entire net, running side to side, while the other covers the entire back court, both sides. Where does this come from? That's not adult recreational doubles anywhere. That's a kids' drill at best.
Your job is knowing your area and being ready in it — not covering someone else's. As a rough rule, a right-handed net player usually takes balls down the middle. But that's a starting point, not gospel — it depends on who actually volleys better on which side, and a gusty ball down the middle can shift on anyone. This is exactly why doubles clinics or semi-private lessons — with the actual partner you play with, and a coach who genuinely knows doubles — are worth the money. Court coverage isn't something you work out on the fly during a match.
How to actually get better at this
Minimize the swing entirely. Feel the ball, cut gently under it, keep it low and close to the net.
Practice with targets, not just back-and-forth. Cones, depth zones, angles — you're training placement, not just contact.
Keep your eyes on the ball through contact. Look away too early and you'll mishit off the frame — and at net, that ball can come straight back at your face.
Never volley from no-man's-land. Get closer to the net where you have time and margin, or stay back at the service line. The in-between spot leaves you playing an at-your-feet volley that's a genuinely advanced shot — not one to be learning improver-level.
Small steps, not lunges. Find the ball with your eyes, move toward it, and as you get close, tighten your stance so your balance is solid and your head stays still through contact.
Get the grip right, understand what you're actually up there to do, and take the swing out of it completely. That's when volleys — and doubles — start to become fun instead of something you're dreading every time the ball comes to net.
Grip and positioning are only half the fix — the rest comes from repetition, feedback, and real match play. That's exactly what a Costa del Tennis improver week is built for: small groups, hands-on coaching, and volleys corrected in real time until they hold up under pressure. [See upcoming camps improver / adv.beginner camp offerings]