The volley starts off being the simplest stroke in tennis because you don't have to do any work. Just hold the racquet firmly with the head pointing upwards and the ball will rebound back over the net.

There are all kinds of volleys: punch, drop, angled, drive, jump & evade...but with all this variety there are some don'ts that every tennis player should avoid.

The most common don't is to lay back the wrist and then to snap it forward just before impact. The situation that invites this kind of stroke is when the approaching ball is coming slowly, high and just inviting to be hit for a winner.

Now, instead of being satisfied with an easy put-away volley, the temptation is to add a little more pace by laying the wrist back and then snapping it forward.

This action is almost guaranteed that the ball will either go in the bottom of the net or sail way over the baseline, depending on whether the snap of the wrist was a little too late, or a fraction too early.

...then lower the 2nd racquet. You should be in the ready position.