Volley is basically an airborne strike in football, where you strike the ball before it settles on the ground. Sounds simple perhaps, but this requires a lot of practice to get your timing and technique right. This post introduces individual drills as well as group exercises for receiving a cross and volleying it into the goal.

For the first exercise, drop the ball in front of you and as it bounces, shoot at goal. Ensure you stay on your toes throughout so you’re ready to engage. Once you get comfortable with this, practise tossing the ball high in the air, wait for it to bounce to a level where you can engage, adjust your body position (upper part of your body above the ball), and volley. This requires some amount of judgement to be accurate in your volley, so be patient as you learn this skill.

Next, we move on to half volley, where you connect with the ball much closer to the ground. Practise this in similar fashion to the full volley, by tossing the ball high in the air, but this time wait for it to bounce a few times and when it is closer to the ground, that’s when you engage and volley towards the goal.

The next exercise is basically a cross and volley, which is of utmost importance in a game situation. A partner will cross the ball over to you, and before it lands on the ground, adjust your position and engage the ball while it is still airborne. Repeat this from the other side, striking with your left foot and volleying.

You also have the option of striking with the inside of the foot rather than the lace part of the boot. This is usually done in situations where you feel the ball is coming with sufficient power and all you need to do is guide it towards the goal, leveraging the momentum it is already carrying.

One thing to remember in volleying is that scoring is paramount, so if you are not able to do a direct volley, you need to control the ball using your thigh or chest before aiming and shooting at goal. That ends your tutorial on volleying, what remains is for you to practise these exercises on the field, keep improving your skills steadily, until you get comfortable with the technique. The next post deals with heading the ball in football, so keep reading and learning.