Being able to build points and then finish at the net with efficient drive volleys is a must for a player wishing to succeed at club level or make a living on the Tour. But what is a drive volley? A drive volley is a groudstroke made before the bounce of the ball. This shot can be used on either the forehand or the backhand and is the most aggressive of the volleys. The difference between this and other volleys is that the racket head is held lower and the shot is hit with a lot of topspin and power.
When to use this shot? The forehand topspin drive volley can be both a put away shot and a setup shot. After punishing the opposition with penetrating groundstrokes and eliciting a weak reply in the form of a high ball, we can move forward and hit the swing volley and look to finish the point. I do not have any general rules or guidelines as to where the majority of topspin swing volleys should be hit. However, I do believe that players should work on hitting this shot deep to both corners and be able to execute angles. Players should work on hitting this shot from both the midcourt and short court areas. I also strongly suggest working on executing inside out and inside in topspin swing volleys.
Grip: The preferred grips used to execute this volley are the western and semi-western.
Players should be confident, and must not hesitate when moving in to hit this shot.
Contact point Contact should be shoulder high (or slightly above for the confident players). As it is higher it also needs to be further in front than your usual forehand.
Swing You should shorten the backswing by keeping the elbow in close to the body, and the face of your racket should be a little closed. You should accelerate from contact, keeping the wrist quite loose to generate the topspin with a complete follow through. Weight and momentum need to be kept moving forward towards the net to reduce the angles for a return.
Stance I believe that players should be able to execute this shot with neutral stances, semi-open stances, part open stances, and full open stances depending on the situation. When you have time, you can use either neutral or semi-open so that you get more body weight going into the shot toward your intended hitting target. You can use open stance if you have to move a little further to your right to hit the shot (assuming you are right-handed). If you intend to hit down the line and have time, I recommend the neutral stance, and if you have time to set your feet and you want to hit crosscourt, I recommend the semi-open or part open so that the hips and shoulders don’t get locked during the forward part of the swing.