Jennifer Lucore, national champion pickleball player, offers her advice on the forehand volley. Of course, the first thing she emphasizes is to “get the ball in the court.”
Assuming the ready position with paddle held high and realizing that the ball is coming to the forehand while you are at the nonvolley zone line, these are the steps she advises one to use:
- Keep your eyes and head steady
- Align the face of the paddle with the ball early
- Adjust the paddle rotation in accord with the height of the ball in relation to the net
- Hit the ball well in front of you
- Propel the ball forward and rotate your shoulders through the ball to impart the power with trunk rotation
- Finish of the stroke is toward the opposite shoulder with a tight rotation; no wide, loopy rotation
- Maintain a firm wrist and keep the paddle head above the wrist in a cocked fashion.
There is a video on Jennifer Lucore’s website demonstrating the above steps and giving a bit more detail. You can view both at the link below: