Put It Into Practice: The High Volley With Tania Bailey

Tania has a supreme knowledge of the game, having both played and coached within the very upper echelons of the sport. She started her illustrious career as a fantastic junior player, winning the World u19 Championships before successfully transferring her skills to the senior ranks when she joined the PSA tour in 1998. Going on to reach a high of number 4 in the PSA world rankings, she was also a British champion and 2-time doubles medalist in the Commonwealth Games (silver in Manchester ‘02, and bronze in Melbourne ‘06).

Now one of the very best coaches in the UK, Tania brings all her knowledge and experience to bear on this brand new playlist examining the technical details of how best to take on those high lifted balls that cause a lot of players so many difficulties.

Players who hit a lot of very accurate lifted shots can be a nightmare to play against, as they rain down lob after lob upon their ever-increasingly frustrated opponent! It’s also a shot that many junior players really struggle with, particularly when receiving serve – at that level, whole matches can literally be decided on being able to effectively return the lob serve.

In the videos, Tania drills down into both the technical and tactical elements of the high volley shot, looking at the importance of racket preparation and tracking the ball from a technique standpoint, whilst also addressing the why’s and the how’s of its usage within a game. There are also two practical videos within the series that take a detailed look at how best to incorporate the practice of the shot into a solo training session.

The aim of this blog is to give you some ideas of the best drills and practices you can use to start working on the primary fundamentals of the high volley and help you become more confident and consistent in playing this shot within a match. Once you start to assimilate some of the technical and tactical aspects that Tania discusses, you’ll begin to feel a real significant improvement in your ability to deal with those high balls that much more effectively.

We’ve put together a selection of brand new solo and pairs sessions for you to try, built around the main points covered by Tania in the playlist. Watch through the videos first and then click through the links to the integrated sessions below to check them out, and discover how developing your technique on the high volley can turn what is many people’s weakness into an actual strength.

Put it into practice

Solo session

Try this sample solo session, constructed around some of the technical elements discussed by Tania in the playlist.

Pairs session

Use this pairs session to practice some of the elements introduced by Tania, within a more realistic rally specific environment.

Fitness session

Developing stronger foundations will help improve your position on the ball, as well as aiding your balance and stability – crucial aspects in being able to play a good high volley. Try this challenging bodyweight session to help increase your strength fundamentals.

Related content

Backhand volley fundamentals with Jethro Binns

In this series, Jethro focuses exclusively on the fundamentals of the backhand volley and explains what you need to do in order to be able to hit the ball consistently but to also give yourself options

The forehand volley with Peter Nicol

Peter Nicol introduces the forehand volley by highlighting some technical points of the shot whilst also emphasising the need to take the ball early.

Let us know how you get on with the sessions, we’d love to hear your feedback!