3/11 Ball Striking- Half Volleys Into The Ground

Why waste time proving over and over how great you are, when you could be getting better?Why hide deficiencies instead of overcoming them?  Why look for friends or partners who will just shore up your self-esteem instead of ones who will also challenge you to grow? Why Seek out the tried and true, instead of experiences that will stretch you.

The passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even (or especially) when it's not going well, is the hallmark of the growth mindset.  This is the mindset that allows people to thrive during some of the most challenging times in their lives.

-Carol Dweck

Today we worked on hitting half volleys into the ground.  We found this to be very difficult for almost every girl.  The thing that I enjoyed the most was that, even though they struggled with the shot, they worked hard at it and took great pleasure when they did hit a good one. 

The main reason for the difficulty was that most of the girls are used to having their foot come from the ground and directly go to the ball to strike it.  In order for them to hit the volley into the ground, we needed the girls to bring their leg up, about hip high, first and then go forward for the volley.  This little change in motion was new and it made the timing and other aspects hard.

Key Points:
-Start facing sideways so you can get your whole body into the shot
-Bring your foot up first, not forward
-Coil your upper body like a top by bringing your arms back, like you're going to hit a baseball and then snap them down first, letting your leg and body follow them
-Snap your leg down
-Keep your toe pointed and ankle locked