Soccer Volley Techniques

Whenever I think about soccer volleys, I always think about Mark Hughes, the former Manchester Utd. Chelsea, Barcelona and Blackburn Rovers player. He moved into management with Wales, Blackburn, Manchester City, Fulham and QPR. Currently looking for his next gig. Go on, youtube him and look at some of the humdingers he scored in the 1980s!

The biggest challenge with soccer volleys is to keep the shot down. Most soccer volleys sail over the crossbar knocking cups of coffee and pies all over the fans in the stadium. However, every now and then one is just caught right and it can literally rip the net off the posts and take the goalies hands with it!

The biggest tip regarding volleys is to relax a little, let the ball drop a little further and ease up a little on the power and focus more on keeping the ball lower than 8 feet!

Here are the Key Factors for the soccer volley:

1. Angle Of Approach. Soccer volleys can be hit with a straight on angle if you are outside the box for example and the ball is cleared to you from a corner. In this example the key is to keep your shoulders square, let the ball drop towards you and to lean into the ball a little on contact. If the ball is coming to you from the side as in a cross, the angle of approach is that the body is positioned sideways to the line of the ball with the front shoulder relaxed and open to permit the kicking leg to swing through smoothly.
2. Placement of Standing foot. The standing foot should always be behind the ball. If is is a volley from the side, the standing foot should be far enough to the side to allow the kicking leg to swing and follow through with ease.
3. As the ball approaches, raise the knee and extend the ankle with the toes pointing downwards.
4. Strike the ball with the instep or laces through the center of the ball.
5. Keep the head down and shoulders square and follow through. If this is a side on volley the body rotates around the standing leg after the ball has been struck.
6. Remember as always, follow up your shot and pick up the pieces!

As always, use the wall to practice your volleys. Simply serve the ball up in the air with your hand and then volley the ball into the wall. Practice straight on and side on volleys with both feet. As you progress you will be able to volley the ball into the wall and then volley the return as well. Test yourself, see how many of these you can do in a row.

Return from Soccer Volley to Shooting 

Return to Soccer Universe HomePage