The next step is to see how decisive movement can help beginners develop the basic skills for volleying. While you watch the next the exercise remember the saying, player should volley with their feet, not with their hands. This means that successful volleying depends upon successful footwork. Take a look.
Folks, what do you think we are going to transition to? What does this start looking like? Absolutely, and you are going to see an extra transition though. Let's do a couple of more, start at the service line or little bit inside of it, little inside of the service line, little bit more, that's it. You want to get up to arm length to the net, see if you can throw it to them, and they move forward. The way we go. That's it.
One more time. Keep it on there. One more time. I know you can succeed on this one. Way to go. You got it.
Not to prolong this point too much, but I think it is worth looking at the same players transition to volleying with regular balls.
My opinion on this whole thing is a lot of us teach; let's hold out just for a second, a lot of us teach tennis, at least the volleying by thinking racquet instead of feet, and that's what these guys are doing. But what I would like you to do is think that you volley with your feet more than with your racquet.
Here we go. Ready? See, I am volleying with my feet, all the way in. Let's have you touch that net, because that's what we did with the scar. Way to go. Let's hit all the way in, one more time.
And now while we are on the topic of decision making and beginners, let's move to an exercise for beginners using a simple ball machine and balls of different colors. Take a quick glance at this one.
What we are going to do is we are going to use the machine to toss some balls, and every time you get a colored ball, which is orange and yellow, you hit cross court. Let's put a numbered cone there so we can at least designate it. Could you help me? So put the one in the cross court box, right in the middle of the service box, and two over there, right here. The number has to face this way, and trim them down a little bit.
Now with or without colored balls you can use the numbers also which we will show in a minute, but this gives you an idea. What you are going to do is hit the number one. When? When you are having yellow balls, and hit two when you have the one that's orange and yellow. Ready?
This is just a very simple machine. You guys coaching her. That was to number one, that will be simpler. Hey guys, all of you, let's coach her, come on.
Which way is she hitting? You have got two more. Good girl! One more. Jason, you are on.
Jason's up. Sarah, well done. Everyone I want you to applaud, you guys working with her.
Now, for beginners, step forward. That type of thing that you can do over and over again, with more advanced players, with a larger ball machine, you can say okay, when it's orange and yellow they get backspin, when it's solid yellow they get topspin. You can say they go for a winner -- and try to visualize this when it's dropped, you can do it with lots of overheads. Cross court down the line.
Infinite number of variations, service returns. How many has he hit folks? Last one. Paulina. Good girl, she is a lefty. Over the net, and now it is going up. Right down the middle, indecision. Who knows? Good girl. Last one. Well done!
If you are like me that one concept of using different color balls to create decision making games and drills could fill up a whole book of ideas. This first section was designed to share creative ways to get even beginning level players involved in developing decision making skills.
In the next section we will move forward to the next level, namely, helping players make their decisions earlier and earlier. Let's move on.
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