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• Marco's Browne wins tennis tourney
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The volley (which is the act of playing the ball in the air prior to the bounce) is a very specific racket skill if one intends to be accurate and consistent.

The full swing volley you see the top players employ — with great success — in the finals of ATP and WTA events should be left to those who are willing to set aside a considerable portion of their lives to develop and integrate that extremely difficult and talent intensive skill.

The volley, for we mere mortals, must be executed with the bottom edge of the racket leading off the ball and a slightly open (that means tilted backward) racket face.

The striking action on the volley is an abrupt racket movement forward and a bit downward through the ball in an effort to impart varying degrees of controlling backspin (generically referred to as slice) depending on the speed of the incoming shot.

Attempting to play the ball prior to the bounce with the racket face in a vertical configuration, rather than slightly open, invites the ball to take the avenue of least resistance and fall downward off of the string bed and into the net no matter how well you time your impact.

The best grip for you to learn the volley is the continental grip because it naturally opens the face slightly.

That grip isn’t taught much anymore except for the serve and overhead but it is the tool that matches the need whenever you are taking the ball out of the air.

If you want to be good at the volley make sure you have the right tool in hand and the continental grip fits the bill.

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Howie Burnett is a member of the United States Professional Tennis Association and tennis director at the Island Country Club on Marco Island. Burnett welcomes questions on strokes, tactics or etiquette. To reach him, call the tennis shop at 394-4464 or e-mail him at islandclubtennis@hotmail.com.