For me, the modern era began with the Jimmy Connors dismantling of Ken Rosewall at Wimbledon in the early 70's.All the great names like Gonzalez, Laver, Newcombe, Hoad, Budge, and Roche are all before my time.
It's not like I don't know who they were. I even have 2 of Pancho's instructional books, and I saw Gonzalez and Laver play in their 60's at exhibition events.
Plus, I have the incredible privilege of hitting with and talking tennis with a great Canadian player, now in his 70's, who played against Don Budge and Maureen Connolly.
When it comes to backhand volleys, you really only hear 2 names -- Tony Roche and Stefan Edberg. McCenroe, Sampras, and Rafter were good volleyers but perhaps a notch down on the backhand side from Roche and Edberg.
What makes a great volley?
Everyone will begin with consistency and placement. But, if there's one word which describes a great volley, to me it's the word stick. To stick a volley is to hit a volley with a sound that can be described as a thud. The ball takes off low, like a rocket, hits the ground, and then scoots unhittably away.
Edberg is the best volleyer I've ever seen. Not only did he gain incredible position on his serve and volley, but he stuck his volleys. Watch this clip a thousand times if you want to learn how to hit a world-class backhand volley
Edberg Backhand Volley
Until next time,
Glenn Sheiner M.D. - author of Insider Tennis Strategies Best Backhand Volley guaranteed to make you a smarter tennis player and take your tennis to the next level. Also, check out the world's top tennis humor screensaver
Tennis Cartoon Screensaver. You can download a trial version for FREE.
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