How To Serve & Volley Like Roger Federer

Hey,

it's Ryan from 2MinuteTennis.net.

And in this video,

I'm gonna help you serve and volley like Roger Federer.

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Now,

before we start,

big,

big thank you to Tennis Builder on Instagram.

They allowed me to use this footage.

I put their link in the description below.

Please give a follow to Tennis Builder.

Incredible pro-footage.

So,

the first thing I want to talk about is why you want to serve in volley.

Did you know that Roger Federer,

it's basically a 50/50 if he wins the point at the baseline?

But he wins

well over 60% of the points when he's at the net.

Not even Roger Federer has a clear advantage when he's at the baseline.

So,

getting to the net is so important for your win-loss record,

right?

You want to be able to get to the net,

and one of the ways to get to the net is serving and volleying.

So, the first tip I have for you is to

toss into the court,

so when you're done serving,

you are inside the baseline.

You can see that.

He has moved

inside the court with his left foot by jumping onto his left foot,

since he is right-handed.

Now whether you jump or not,

you just want to toss forward into the court,

so you are leaning

in,

allowing you to get a step in, and

it helps you to get up to the net.

It just brings your momentum toward the net.

So, the first tip to have a greater volley is to

toss into the court,

so you fall into the court or jump into the court.

The second tip is to follow the 1-2-3 split step footwork.

So, I want to show you what this is.

I want you to watch when he lands,

that's step 1.

Step 2,

watch Federer's feet.

Step 3,

and then split.

Now,

this is actually a very advanced

split

step footwork that I'm gonna show you.

But he does two types of split steps—

a basic split step and an advanced split step.

But let's get to the steps first.

He takes 1-2-3 steps,

then split steps,

and you'll notice he split steps in the middle of no man's land.

A lot of players are under the misconception that after they serve,

they've got to get all the way up to the net or well

inside the service line by the time the opponent strikes the return,

and that's just not true.

Unless your opponent is standing way at the back fence

to return serve or your serve is very slow,

and you wouldn't want to serve in volley at that point anyway,

you're not going to be able to get in very far.

So, the proper

place to be when you split step is really in the middle of no man's land.

Now,

the proper timing of the split step is to actually split your feet apart

after they make contact.

So watch the opponent.

I believe that's Diego Schwartzman.

He returns the ball and now Federer split steps.

You want to be basically in the air as your opponent strikes the ball,

and that synchronizes your brain reaction time with your body hitting the ground,

and then it's seamless.

You can move in any direction

you want to go.

Now,

he actually,

Federer uses a very sophisticated split step here

where he's airborne when he notices where he wants to go.

He knows he wants to move to his left the moment he sees this ball,

so he plants his right foot first.

And that allows him to

push his body in that direction

to move slightly out of the way of the ball to hit his first volley.

I wouldn't recommend that type of split step for

someone who is just learning to split step.

On this next volley that Federer's going to hit,

you'll see the more basic split step that you can use really

on all split steps if you're just learning to split step.

Now, the first volley.

This is where people are shocked

at where the pros

make contact with their first volley.

The first volley is generally hit at the service line.

And when you're hitting this volley,

you want to move through it

and you want to hit deep,

whether it's down the middle,

whether it's to the open court,

whether it's to behind them.

You just want to pin the ball deep and keep your opponent back.

And when you volley

deep,

it gets onto your opponent really quickly.

They don't have a lot of time.

So, you can see he moves through this volley,

hits the ball deep,

and now he is

ready for a second ball.

Now,

the first thing

is notice where he's standing.

This is what I call shadowing.

If your opponent is on the left side of the court,

you should be slightly on the left.

If your opponent is on the right side of the court,

then you should be slightly on the right.

You want to stand in the middle of their two best shots.

Well,

the middle of Diego Schwartzman's two best shots down the

line in crosscourt is actually right where Federer is.

He is bisecting

the two best shots that Diego Schwartzman

can hit.

So, when your opponent is on one side and you're at the net,

be slightly on the same side,

and you'll be equidistant to either passing shot they try.

The next idea I want to show you is his split step.

Now, there's the contact right there.

He's making contact.

Notice Federer is in the air.

He is not landing his split step.

You don't want to land before your opponent hits or as they hit.

You want to land just after.

So, what I tell my students is be in the air as your opponent strikes the ball.

This is that more basic and conventional split step.

Watch how Federer is landing

with his feet hitting the ground at the same time.

On the first volley where he was coming up 1-2-3 split step,

you can do the normal conventional basic split step if you're new to split stepping.

It'll be just easier for you to figure out and then you can become more

sophisticated as we saw Federer use that kind of one foot landing split step,

but just land with both feet.

You'll notice again he's in the air.

He sees where the ball is going. Now,

Schwartzman

is over to the left.

So that means all of this court is wide open.

So, Federer hits a short volley.

Now, he's very stylistic here.

He's very nonchalant,

hits the ball very short and wins the point.

You don't necessarily have to be so cute and have the racket just give like this.

You can hold the racket more still and just drop it short.

You don't have to let the racket give and put a ton of backspin on it.

That is very difficult to do.

But these ideas are so simple.

Even though he's doing it at such a high level,

they really are

very simple.

So, let's go over this one more time.

To improve your serve and volley and get to the

net more often so you can win more matches,

toss the ball into the court.

Whether you land by a jump or just step in,

take 1-2-3 steps

and then split step.

And your split step will be in the middle of no man's land.

Move forward to the volley,

and you'll be around the service line hitting that volley.

Hit the volley deep and follow it in,

getting on the same side of the court as your opponent slightly,

slightly on the same side of the court as your

opponent to bisect the down the line and crosscourt.

You're still going to split step by being in the

air as your opponent hits and then landing just after.

That helps you to move in any direction you need to,

even back in case the ball is a lob.

And then,

move quickly at an angle to cut it off and

try to hit the volley short into the open court.

So, if you follow these Federer serving volley tips,

there is no doubt you're gonna gain confidence,

win more matches,

and play much better tennis.

This is Ryan Reidy from 2MinuteTennis.net.

You got this.