Steal this Drill: Inside Out Volley

As a follow up to the inside-out drills from the baseline, the player should also consider hitting inside-out volleys". This is mainly a feeding drill where the player hits a forehand volley from the backhand side and a backhand volley from the forehand side. Although this is something that the player would seldom do in an actual match, the benefits are in that the player learns to (i) move quickly side to side (relatively less time to move and adjust than from the baseline), (ii) get low and in balance and (iii) more importantly, to keep the leading shoulder in front on the volleys (i.e., left shoulder for the forehand and right shoulder for the backhand).

Often times, the players do not learn to work correctly with their shoulders (maybe it's a "relic" from open-stanced groundies) on the volleys relying too much on swings and swats as opposed to "punching" the ball. For purposes of this drill, the player should stand about 10-12 feet from the net and have a cone placed at their feet. The player should have to recover around the cone after each shot. Furthermore, the feeds should force the player to (a) circle slightly backwards and (b) move slightly forward/diagonally back through the ball. After a couple of sets of this drill, the coach and player should engage in a quick-hands volley drill (i.e., volley-volley) in order to see how the player reacts when the ball is hit right at her (i.e., hopefully with the correct shoulder in front). For example, is the player moving quickly out of the way and punching through the volley or does the player wait for the ball on her heels (with shoulders parallel to the net)? If necessary, have the player alternate between these inside-out drills and live-ball quick-hand hitting. Even if the ball is struck at her, the player should manage to (1) get out of the way with small, measured steps, (2) turn her shoulders and (3) step forward and punch through the ball.