[erik-the-red]

Normally, I use a semi-western grip to hit my forehand from the baseline and a semi-western / continental (left hand / right hand) girp to hit my backhand.

But, what grip adjustments, if any, should I make in order to hit a swing volley?

Thanks in advance.

[jole]

I hit my swinging volleys, mainly forehands heh, with the exact same grips as I hit normally from the baseline. It just feels right to me that way.

I volley with a continental grip, but if I tried to hit a swinging forehand volley with a continental grip I'd probably sky the ball out of the court. Only time I hit non volleys with a continental grip are low balls that I chip back, that are tough to get under with a semi-western grip.

[Paialii]

Originally Posted by erik-the-red

Normally, I use a semi-western grip to hit my forehand from the baseline and a semi-western / continental (left hand / right hand) girp to hit my backhand.

But, what grip adjustments, if any, should I make in order to hit a swing volley?

Thanks in advance.

I think some may have a different answer to this than me, but I'm going by what I was taught when I was nine and started using a swinging volley as an aggressive shot rather than a regular volley.

Firstly, let me say that swinging volleys originated when baseline players wanted to use their strokes at the net and not just at the baseline. The heavy hitters like Agassi, Seles, and the Williams sisters helped make the shot popular.

I was taught to use my regular forehand or backhand grip to hit a complete swinging volley. You're hitting a groundstroke, except it's not bouncing, hence the name swinging volley. The mistake that so many make with this shot is that they just want to hit it and don't think about keeping it in the court. When you go for the swinging volley, start your racquet up high as if you were taking a high forehand/backhand from the baseline. You want to brush up under the ball but accelerate your racquet over the ball, closing your racquet face as you leave the ball as you would for, say, a high aggressive forehand or backhand. When you're that close to the net, you either have to put an excessive amount of topspin on the ball, or swing at it at a higher point in the air, swinging down more, however this will usually end up having the ball land in the net.

To practice this shot, stand at the net and have a hitting partner or coach stand at the baseline (or service line) and start with them feeding you a somewhat high (not quite high enough for an overhead, unless you want it tha thigh) and slow ball. Try the shot, starting soft, until you get the hang of it.

To summarize, I would use the same grip as you normally would for your forehand or backhand, and same technique except you must accelerate under and over the ball. I hope this helped.

*Edited to add: It's so much easier for me to give instruction in real life. I help coach little kids when I can (my dad's a pro coach), but coaching online is a totally different story*

[WestMeister]

*Edited to add: It's so much easier for me to give instruction in real life. I help coach little kids when I can (my dad's a pro coach), but coaching online is a totally different story*

True that...

What I usually do is go into full-western mode and rip over the ball, making sure it drops fast with a ton of topspin. I only do this on my forehand side. With backhands... I just volley them normally. I haven't mastered a swinging backhand volley yet. I guess because I use two hands. Don't know if I can. I think I'll try it this weekend. Just hope it's not raining, though.

[Paialii]

Originally Posted by WestMeister

True that...

What I usually do is go into full-western mode and rip over the ball, making sure it drops fast with a ton of topspin. I only do this on my forehand side. With backhands... I just volley them normally. I haven't mastered a swinging backhand volley yet. I guess because I use two hands. Don't know if I can. I think I'll try it this weekend. Just hope it's not raining, though.

Rain has been pretty common here lately, so it's forced me and my family to play indoors, which I don't care for. As for the backhand swinging volley, if I were you I'd try to find a video clip of Venus/Serena Williams or Maria Sharapova and mimmick their form. I execute my backhand swinging volleys the same way.

It can be a fun shot, especially when your opponent is expecting just a simple volley that they might be able to track down. I never was one for finesse.