The volley
Volley: what good form looks like, and the 8 faults you can see on your own video
What good form looks like
At the net the shot is short and your position is everything. Your paddle stays up and centered in front of you at about chest height with the tip pointed at the ball, elbows and knees slightly bent. You step toward the ball rather than reaching for it, which keeps your shoulders level, and you punch or block through it with about six to twelve inches of motion driven by your shoulder. Contact is out in front: not jammed against your body, not stretched out. Against a hard drive you soften your grip and let the paddle absorb the pace. Then you reset the paddle immediately.
The fundamentals
- Paddle up and centered in front of you at about chest height, tip pointed at the ball
- Contact out in front, not jammed and not stretched
- Punch or block from your shoulder, roughly six to twelve inches, with a firm wrist
- Step toward the ball so your shoulders stay level through contact
- Soft grip on blocks so the paddle absorbs pace instead of returning it
- Reset to ready position after every single ball
The camera angle that shows the most
Film this shot from the front. Most of the faults below live in rotation, spacing and hand position, which read best when the camera is facing you. Each fault below is tagged with the angle that reveals it, so you know what a single clip can and cannot show.
The 8 common faults
Each fault is named by multiple independent coaching sources, tagged for whether it shows up in your body or in the paddle, and mapped to the camera angle that reveals it. Green means the skeleton can see it. Read how to spot it, the fix, and one drill.
Swinging at volleys
Visible in the skeletonFilm from the sideSpot it
You take a full backswing at the kitchen line. Balls fly out or pop up, and you are late for the next one.
The fix
Shorten it to a six to twelve inch punch from your shoulder. The pace is already on the ball, your job is to redirect it.
Drill it
Three minutes of wall volleys with the paddle never passing your torso.
Paddle down
Visible in the skeletonFilm from the frontSpot it
Your paddle rests at your hip or thigh between shots, and any ball with pace beats you before you start.
The fix
Keep the paddle up in front at about chest height with the tip pointed at the ball, and reset it after every shot.
Drill it
Ten minutes of wall drills alternating forehand and backhand, resetting the paddle to ready after every hit.
Chicken wing
Visible in the skeletonFilm from the frontSpot it
A ball at your body forces your elbow up and your paddle face sideways, and the return sprays somewhere neither of you expected.
The fix
Keep your paddle tip pointed at the ball, take contact in front of your body, and use your backhand side to cover your middle.
Drill it
Wall drill alternating forehand and backhand, elbow down, resetting the paddle every rep, about ten minutes.
Standing up on contact
Visible in the skeletonFilm from the sideSpot it
You rise as the ball arrives, and you clip the edge of the paddle or the ball goes underneath it entirely.
The fix
Stay low and stay level through contact. Your paddle follows your shoulders wherever they go.
Drill it
Twenty blocks against a partner driving at you, holding your knee bend all the way through the finish.
Turning your shoulder
Visible in the skeletonFilm from the frontSpot it
You take a turn at a fast ball and the block flies off target even though you got the paddle on it.
The fix
Keep your upper body quiet and let the ball come to a paddle that is already in front of you.
Drill it
Partner drives twenty balls at you. Block each one with your shoulders staying square to the net.
Flinching away
Visible in the skeletonFilm from the sideSpot it
You pull back from hard balls and they go under your paddle.
The fix
Hold your ground, loosen your grip, and let the paddle meet the ball out in front.
Drill it
Partner drives at you at about seventy percent from mid-court, twenty balls, focusing only on not moving backward.
Squeezing on the block
In the paddle and handFilm from the frontSpot it
Blocks pop up or fly long, and there is a loud pop off the paddle when you make contact.
The fix
Soften your grip to about three out of ten on hard balls so the paddle cushions the ball instead of springing it back.
Drill it
Twenty blocks against drives, saying your grip number out loud before each one.
Reaching instead of stepping
Visible in the skeletonFilm from the frontSpot it
You stretch your arm out to the side, your shoulder dips, and the volley goes into the net.
The fix
Take a half step or a full step toward the ball so your shoulders stay level.
Drill it
Partner feeds twenty wide volleys. Step to every ball before contact, no exceptions.
Reading about it is not the same as seeing it
You can know every fault on this page and still not know which ones are yours. That is the whole problem with technique: it is invisible from inside your own swing. Dinklix draws a pose skeleton on a ten-second clip of your volley and names which of these your body is actually doing, in order, with one thing to start with.