Notice also that at contact the arm, specifically the right elbow, is
out in front of my body. The distance in front will vary a bit, but
the arm will only in an emergency be at full extension. At full extension
I have no power,very little ability to alter the path of the racquet
if necessary, and a more difficult eye-hand coordination task due to
the distance between my eyes and the impact point of ball and racquet.
Also the more I reach in any direction the more difficult it becomes
to maintain balance. Poor balance is inevitable on occasion, but in
general the better the balance the better the shot (in extreme cases
the central nervous system will automatically alter limb and body position
to restore balance which can interfere with effective stroking).
On the high volley, notice how in the two frames preceding contact (and
in the frame after) my hand is moving in a straight line. The racquet
travels upward in an arc due to the forearm rotation (supination in
the case of a high backhand volley) necessary to get the racquet head
up into the path of the ball. But look at the path of the hand. There
is nothing complicated in its motion. The hand moves in an almost perfectly
straight line. During the strike phase, the racquet follows that same
path.
On the low volley, since this ball was hit right at me, my hand moves
slightly across my body (from my left to my right) into impact. But
just as with the high volley, in the two frames before contact the
hand still moves in a straight line as viewed from the side angle.
This movement, made possible by the position of my upper arm, gives
me the best chance of making solid contact.
I think the best place to develop solid contact on volleys is by hitting
them gently against a backboard. If you can sustain (dozens of hits
at a minimum) a controlled, medium paced wall-volley from a distance
of just six to ten feet, you will learn the sensation of solid contact.
