Blogs

The volley is possibly the most misunderstood of all the strokes in tennis. Conventional teaching espouses “turn, step and block” for the most part, and is the reason most players suffer on this stroke - both forehand and backhand volley. You can rarely even find a pro with great volleys. Let’s face it. When the conversation of great tennis volleyers comes up every pro quickly goes straight to Edberg, Sampras, Henin and Federer. You rarely had ever seen Serena hit anything but a swinging volley (for good reason.)

There is a particular body motion in almost every sport or physical activity that a gifted athlete performs intuitively. They know it by ‘feel’, or as being ‘in the zone’. People call them a ‘natural athlete’. But this specific body motion goes completely unseen by those of us watching. Even many coaches, trainers, and instructors can’t identify it... the Figure 8: mother-form of all natural movement

For eight years I thought I was inept. I was taking lessons but I couldn’t get a handle on the backhand. If I had not come across Jack Broudy’s program I would probably have quit the sport a while back and have taken up pickle ball or knitting or God knows what. Broudy’s instruction focusing on the Core Fundamentals of the Non-linear Game — using a precise rotational motion of the core as a basis for efficient, effortless hitting — has helped my game immensely. It’s inspired. Groundbreaking. A breath of fresh air.

I’ve played tennis my entire life and I can tell you from experience that tips (and drills) alone don’t work. For example, “Get your elbow up higher on serve” or “unit turn on the forehand” and “extend out to the hit” are all reasonable commands in any typical lesson, but they are in and of themselves woefully incomplete – and therefore prove basically useless to most players looking to improve. At worst, the tip is just bad advice. More often, a tip is incomplete, rendering it relatively useless, unless it is in context with the entirety of the stroke – and will not help you with the improvement you’re hoping to achieve.

My entire life changed once I discovered the true essence of the natural athlete (in all sports,) and the natural-looking tennis player. It wasn’t trying to string together countless tips, but a real study of a few basic principles. And man, was it worth it! Not only for my game but for my students, including hundreds of kids that went on to play college ball and several on the pro tour today.