Creating Space on your Volleys with Marcin Rozpedski

We often see players hit volleys and they simply throw their paddle out towards the ball, mostly arming the shot. This leads to inconsistency because there’s a different contact point every time. Advanced players are always using their whole body to hit the shot and working to have a consistent contact point so they can have a stable swing motion that produces a reliable result. In this video we’re joined by our guest pickup ball pro Marcin Rozpedski. Marcin is a national champion and US Open champion so he certainly knows his stuff when it comes to playing winning pickle ball. Marcin is going to share with us a great drill for developing strong and consistent volleys. This is “Creating Space On Your Volleys”, and here’s Marcin to show us how it’s done. Full Transcript: Hey guys! My name is Marcin Rozpedski. I’m here with Jordan Briones. It’s good to see you Jordan and we are here in beautiful Casa Grande, AZ at Nationals and I’ve got a great drill to share with you today. This is more geared towards the advanced players. It’s a tough drill, there’s a lot of footwork, placement, balance, concentration, discipline. So what are we going to do is hit volleys. I’ve done this drill a lot with Morgan Evans. Basically we hit a lot of volleys back and forth right to each others body but we are moving around the ball and making space between our body and the ball. So guys the key to this drill is footwork and using your feet to move you from side to side to basically get out of the way of the oncoming balls so that you have enough space to hit it with your paddle. It seems simple but it’s actually easier said than done. Dealing with balls hit at your body is often more difficult than having to move to the ball because you have to get out of the way and hit at the same time. So, I use sliding footwork to get out of the way of the ball. I don’t hop, I make sure that I slide. There a rhythm to the footwork. Step 1 right, step 2 right, hit, step 1 left, step 3 left, hit and back toward the right again. So basically, what we are doing is the ball should be hit right at each other. And, we are moving our feet and our body around it so we create space. So basically, Jordan is hitting right to me, right at my body and it looks like he is moving me around but I am really moving myself around the ball. I need to create space so therefore I can hit through that ball. It’s important to work on your, placement, footwork, light on your toes, track the ball with your eyes. Those are all skills we are working on in order to get this drill done successfully. I need to find Jordan’s paddle every single time. His paddle is my target. It’s a good drill to warm up and also a good drill to use to sharpen your skill and keep them sharp. It’s a very versatile drill that can be used for different reasons. You can pick up the pace of your rally or slow it down to control the difficulty level of the drill. This will help sharpen your hand eye coordination and also get your reflexes activated. Marcin hold a great tournament at his club, The Lakes in Palm Desert, California. The tournament is sponsored by Engage pickleball and is always a crowd pleaser with lots of the top pros showing up to compete. It’s great and fun event for all in a beautiful setting in the Palm Desert area. We’d like to thank Marcin for being our guest pro today and for sharing this great drill with us. Marcin’s tournament set in beautiful Palm Desert California is one of the most fun and anticipated tournaments of the year. Get our free 3rd shot course here! –> 3rd Shot Drop Course