The Reset Volley: Transition Zone Techniques and Drills

Key Points

• Try and take pace off the ball, ideally hitting it back into the kitchen
• From the athletic stance, hit the ball out in front try and use your body as a spring to take pace off the ball
• The reset volley grip strength should be around a 4 or 5
• LEVEL ONE: Reset Volley Drill
• Let the ball bounce and tap it up once as a “reset”, and then let the ball bounce again and tap it to your partner
• LEVEL TWO: Reset Volley Drill
• Let the ball bounce and tap it up, and then without letting the ball bounce again, tap it over the net
• LEVEL THREE: Reset Volley Drill
• Tap the ball up without letting it bounce first, and then tap again over the net
• Gradually increase the pace as you get better at the drill, mixing up forehands and backhands
• Use the reset if you're losing the firefights at the net and your opponent is better at speeding up, or maybe they don’t like the soft ball
• Resetting and keeping the ball low in the kitchen zone can get the rally back to neutral and force your opponent to make an error
• Transition Zone Reset Drill:
• One player is attacking while the other player tries to reset the ball back into the kitchen zone
• Move forward and back to the net from the transition zone or 3/4 court