It's crazy how you managed to find two videos with the same - incredibly the 'SAME' - game situation, the one with the opposite result to the other. Great explanation!

Amazing analysis. This footwork is the most important correction most recreational players should make for their volleys.

A technique tip I learned is to try and plant your left foot (backhand volley) directly behind the ball as it approaches. I believe this may result in the correct footwork.

Thanks a lot! Excellent explanation!

Great video! Thank you.

Amazing video and analysis!!

This is truly amazing, thanks a lot Ryan, I learned more from your video than other videos!!!!

astounding research and recognition to find two sequences that line up this well. im super impressed.

Great examples and explanation!

Wow, this analysis is at a different level! Thank you for making the video

Wow. This is golden! Thanks!

Awesome analysis coach R. I'll try to get this.

Again, fantastic analysis and coaching.

Definitely, one of your best videos Ryan and yes, I have to admit to doing this sometimes. Time to fix it. Thank you.

Great analysis.

I just wanna thank you from the bottom of my heart ❤️ cuz u just improved my volley by just this logic of which foot should step last before contact. I had been doing exactly like what sousa does. After i watched ur volley vids, i played a match this morning and followed exactly what u said and i hit so many volleys which i cant ! Again thank u so so much !

WoW thank you for showing this, i really like your work

Excellent analysis, Thanks!

You are the best. Many coaches say do this. Not many can explain it this well.

Super lesson. I keep watching this and it brings past lessons full circle. The same side foot plant (hear the stamp) allows for the "trailing foot' to move forward after the strike to provide power. Ingenious.

Great content!! Footwork is so easy to overlook (and get wrong) during a split second at the net. Personally, all I can concentrate on is the idea of gliding

I am learning. thank you Ryan

Agree. Amazing the a popular French academy coach posted a video and teaches the front foot landing before contact. On an extreme low lung volley is can accept it.

Thanks much for the tip. Watched this before my match today. Had this volley chance and stuck it to win a big game.

Brilliant coaching! Reminds me of the return of serve movement where the other foot only comes forward after hitting the ball.

Superb analysis and explanation Ryan ….. as always. I know this will take a lot more practice to embed it. Knowing is one thing ……. Anyway thanks I think this is great work

Amazing analysis. Amazing coincidence

this is very very good information!!! Now I know the proper footwork for volleys because I never learned how to properly hit volleys.

I really like the details! Keep up these detailed videos! Great Job! Is this rule you mentioned the same for most volley's deep or short volleys?

So just like open stands FH and BH groundies.. the last step is on the foot on the side you hit the ball. Makes both groundstrokes and volley consistent and maybe volleys easier to master. This certainly helps using your body weight to volley and not just your arm. Never heard it taught this way but what you say make a lot of sense. The fact that you found 2 points identical to teach this is just amazing work on your part. Thanks for the video and analysis.

Love your vlogs.Thanks a lot. One of the best explanations. 🇷🇺✌️🙏👌

Just a beginner here but if I may, I find it easier to think of back foot vs front foot rather than left /right. We always push off from back foot when throwing a ball. Thank you for your very clear and instructive vids which I watch almost exclusively of all others.

good bit of synchronicity coming your way there with the 2 videos allowing you to make such a great point. Very useful thank you. You're clearly in your flow! :)

Very good, I always end up with my upper body too low - very helpful and makes logical sense

Thank you. Ryan. Is that applying for forehand and backhand swing?

Another excellent coaching video - thanks Ryan. Also on the topic of how similar each player is, have you noticed that they both are playing with what looks like the same Wilson rackets??!

Thanks

Step into volley is the word advice for teaching a volley but people told all the time. Great video and explanation

It’s totally new method to me and I’m going to try out!

This is an excellent observation, like a good volleyer, college player added a split step to be able to be close enough to the ball to shift weight properly.

Hi, Great channel!!! Video suggestion : Serve recovery

Love your videos and agree with your instruction and the importance of footwork. Wish to point out that the Pro appears to travel farther to make contact after split stepping whereas the college player, volleys nearly within is body, though with better foodwork. Any importance in this difference?

Hi Ryan great video! That mean When You run to thé bal to exécute à Black hand slice, should we put first the left foot as Well ?, Thanks guillaume

"Don't stop 'til you get enough" hehehe. Gliding is so much more flowing. Nice tip!

Hey great video, in a future video, maybe the Friday video can you explain the volley technique of the college player on the right. It looks like he almost takes a slice swing path at his volley. I see this a lot too. It looks like the pros will hit a full backhand slice on their volley. Is that just what I’m seeing? Or do pros actually try and slice hit similar to their slice

Can you please do a video on how to scoot that outside foot after the split, and how to do that shuffle

hi, thanks for the content! may I ask is this only during a volley under a dynamic situation when moving. or even when one is properly set up.. you should also hit the volley then land the foot? my coach telling me to hit and land at the same time... so want to make sure.. :)

Awesome job. Thank you ryan! I completely agree with that tip, however, I believe the main reason that Sousa lost the volley, was the angle of his racquet.

Pure genius. but natural inclination is to planting with right foot, i do the same. but you are right, i think Genender footwork work better. volley is my strength but i should work on this footwork more. Does same thing apply in forehand volleys ?? We tend to do what the pro does here because we are taught when learing tennis,,, move forward and make big step sound, stepping in as you volley.. so is that wrong ?

Ryan can I use the Top spin pro to practice and also I am 8.

What a great video! I fear that there is little chance that I will be able to put this into practice....haha...but great analysis. And who is that college kid? Should we look for him on the tour soon, volleying as well as he does ;-)

Damn, the 4:35 comparison was just perfect!! Thank you!

Great comparison! Although, it does look like Sousa had to stretch more than the college player, forcing him to use the wrong foot to reach

Not sure I buy it. The key point is the college shuffle to get closer to the ball, and to stay balanced. The pro is reacting to a higher and farther ball. I would stress the move to the ball, and keeping the weight behind the shot.

Moving the ball down, with help of bodymovement, is the most secure way of hitting volleys in. Especially necessary when you must reflex volley while also hitting hard (restrict backswing always). Ball machine really helps you grind this down technique in: you can hardly miss after that!

Wow. Just wow :)

If KZfaq allows me to give more than one likes, I would have done that. This is so amazing video on volley. Thank You Ryan !!

Good job on this one. Mouratoglou has a video saying the opposite. Funny thing is if you watch video of Serena volleying (with Mouratoglou watching) she does it the way you are saying and the way all the teaching pros I know teach it.

What about when you are playing doubles and are at then net, and the ball comes a various speeds, after your split step there may not be time to step right or left? Hope it's not a dumb question.

I don't think we are comparing apple to apple here. The ball of the pro was hit with a faster pace and a sharper angle.

Regardless of hitting a forehand or backend volley, if you're a right-handed player, you'll always use your right hand to volley. So following the principle of "right arm and left leg should be moving at the same time", shouldn't the last step prior to hitting the volley always be your right foot? I feel like you didn't explain why hitting on different sides (i.e. forehand v.s. backend) would cause the footwork to be different according to your theory...

I would like to buy a board like yours

Very meticulous & comprehensive explanation Ryan.. Truly truly impressive.. I wish our kids get a chance to learn from you, if they ever be interested to play tennis.. Pardon my naivety, do you also train professional (ATP & WTA) tennis athletes?

I had to come and find this video as in my lesson last night, my coach kept insisting that I 'step across' with my front foot before striking the volley. I argued but he was adamant. Has this always been the technique or is this a more modern approach?

Ryan great analysis on the footwork. Wouldn't you also agree that in both examples the players are dropping the racket through the stroke, rather than pushing out and keeping the racket still and level? I was taught that dropping the racket in a volley "stroke" resulted in the ball popping up. Sousa certainly floats the ball long, rather than having a crisp punch to the volley. It looks like he has the wrong grip also, strings look pointed "up"...

This is subjective as there is not a hard and fast rule in a dynamic situation. The pro player simply missed his volley due to the trajectory of his ball and an open racquet

Interesting lesson. I was always taught to hear the stamp of the opposite foot before contact on the volley. So then, how does this relate to groundstrokes where, for instance, on the forehand, the right foot follows after contact?

I was expecting Friday Q and A video 🙂

Oh man! This is still such a controversial topic. I have had several tennis instructors that insist the volley must be hit with the forward leg being OPPOSITE the side of the volley. Personally, im inclined to agree with you. I think the college player not only finished the point off better but in the event that the opponent did return the volley he would have been prepared for the next ball much quicker.

Well, I don't think they are exactly the same. Grigor's court position is still in the court while the college student's opponent is outside the court. As a result Grigor hits a shot with more pace and height. Sousa's intent is to stick that down Grigor's throat because he knows that Grigor can reach the ball if he doesn't. So he moves quickly to the contact point and delivers a firm volley. The college kid's opponent is out of the court so he doesn't need to do much with the volley for a winner. And the ball is lower and weaker. Just the fact, that he could do so many shuffles is indicative of how slow the ball is. So it's really an easy put away no matter what his footwork is. Besides, it's easy to hit a high running volley long. If you are slightly too open in the racket face or your timing is just off, it will go long. Since Sousa is practicing and no money involved, I don't know if he's fully concentrating on this. I know that I have done this volley with many types of footwork and I haven't made a conclusion on what is better footwork technique or what volley technique is superior. All I know is that there are various schools of thought for the volley and every teacher as a particular preference. Unlike the forehand which has less philosophies, the volley seems to be something that has a lot of variance. (Also a lot depends on the racket you use.) And to develop a good volley is like taking a long sojourn. I like my volley technique and wouldn't trade it for anyone except Feds. Its born from a hodgepodge of different ideas but it works for me. These on court comparisons are really hard to do with so many variables that could be different. I think serve comparisons are much easier because only the player controls the ball toss and swing. Thanks for the video.

This is definitely a unrefined technique in terms of volley from Sousa (it's supposed to be a more twisting the right foot over the body into the volley, and then stepping with the left foot AFTER he hits the volley, in order to take time away FROM YOUR OPPONENT, but he executed poorly with that mistake (by not hitting the ball FIRST, which was why he missed the volley, but Federer uses this advanced volley technique quite often, and actually can masterfully execute this advanced technique w/o fail about 69% of the time, in high-pressure situations). Just goes to show why the BIG FOUR separate themselves from everyone else: They can execute SIMPLE AND COMPLEX tennis techniques more successfully than anyone else in the tour.

I strongly disagree, as the circumstances are different. The ball is further away with the pro player (looking at 6:11). If the ball was at a similar distance with the college player, stepping with the left foot would not allow him to reach the ball at all. He would still need to lunge with his right leg, if the ball was further away. As I also play badminton (for almost 20 years), a side step with the left foot is only for when the ball barely out of reach on the left side. A lunge with the right foot or a dive is required for balls that are further away on the left.

The difference is that Sousa is much taller and could count on reaching well the ball without shuffle, and surprisingly for him was mistaken a little bit, so he had to step on right foot prior the contact. The amateur on the contrary is shorter and had to be more precise with footwork, he knew in advance that his reaching abilities are not so great and he must work with feet better to reach the volleys.

love your content, however these situations are not the same .....players are not approaching from the same angle towards the ball....the step out would not be the most efficient way for the pro to handle that shot

one is low volley other one is high volley ,totally different ,the pro do a good balance split step ,he hit the ball out becos of the body weight wrongly shift n the hand skill no very good

These shots appear to be the same but they are not. The Stanford player is hitting a volley at a much lower height than the other guy. I also noticed that if the high volley person had simply moved his racquet a little higher than the trajectory of the ball, he would have been able to keep the ball in the court. As you can see, he only missed by a small margin. You can have perfect footwork but if your racquet is not slightly higher than the ball and pulling the ball down, the ball can hit the net or float out. I respectfully disagree with this analysis.

These 2 videos are scarily similar... lol

I'm afraid I believe you are not entirely accurate here! For volleys, it's always preferable to use the opposite foot as it will decrease the reaction time and extends the reach, yet if the ball is too far away, the front foot lands before hitting the ball. And yes it looks awkward and rough, but that's how a good deal of shots are at pro levels. These two videos are not similar for the most part. In the first one, the ball is six feet further from the second video (their split steps are not at the same place). Plus the college players split step is obviously very amateure. If the opponent had hit down the line, it would've been a winner.

Looks like Sousa rushed, so he got himself stretched out instead of taking the correct footwork.

no offense but you have some nerve comparing a college kid with a professional tennis player, that would be like comparing a F1 driver with a go kart driver. The professional used the correct footwork and as a mater of fact he covered a lot more court than the college player.

U make me laugh = a good player must hit the ball well with any situation including any footwork

Don’t agree with either.

You are not correct. Neither volley is executed correctly, although the Stanford player is close. If you have time( you are not stretched out on a decent passing shot) You should in this volley plant the right foot at the exact time you make contact with ball. Your language is confusing with the "last foot to land" . If you plant with your crossover foot at exact time you volley , YOUR FRONT FOOT is the last foot to land. The Pros volley was terrible, but the Standard volley was a little late with his right foot. Further, many times the volleyer only has time for 1 step which should be a crossover step planted while hitting volley. Watch pro double players to learn how to volley. There was plenty of time for both these players to make this volley correctly