Thursday, 11 June 2026 / Published in Kim Birrell, Roland Garros, Swinging Volleys

Roland Garros 2026 – Let’s Talk About Swinging Volleys

G’day,

One specific shot really captured my attention after spending two weeks at Roland Garros this year.

Swinging volleys.

They are the natural antidote against opponents who use height of contact as a weapon. Here are the three distinct scenarios in which I saw high volleys employed.

1: Opponent is moonballing

I saw this both in men’s and women’s matches. One player was hitting very high over the net to push their opponent back. There are basically three options to counter this strategy.

The first is to move way back near the fence to let the ball drop. This is far from ideal, as the opponent can easily control your court position.
Secondly, it is to take it on the rise, which is also tough to get the right timing.
And third is to move forward into “no-man ’s-land” to take it out of the air with a swinging volley. It works extremely well.

2: Opponent hits a lower, defensive lob

It’s not always easy to put the ball away as you come forward to finish at the net. I saw countless times when the approach shot was effective, and the opponent barely reached the ball. They throw up a low lob, and the contact point is going to be head-high standing around the service line. It’s almost impossible to put the ball away with a traditional volley technique. A swinging volley is ideal in this situation.

3: Take advantage of the opponent’s deep position

You have pushed the opponent deep behind the baseline. They try to create more time defensively by hitting the ball slow and high back to you. You don’t give them that time. You move forward from the baseline and feel it’s better to hit a swinging volley than a traditional volley to finish the point.

I watched Kim Birrell’s second-round match against Ukrainian Oleksandra Oliynykova, and it featured all three scenarios. Oliynykova won 6-3, 0-6, 7-6(5) by employing a mix of traditional groundstrokes along with high, heavy shots that Birrell often countered with a swinging volley. Here’s the data from the match.

Birrell Swinging Volleys – Points Won/Lost

Won Point 19 (63%)
Lost Point 11 (37%)
Total = 30

Birrell actually hit a total of 36 swinging volleys in 30 points, as there were six points where she hit two swinging volleys in the same point.

Winning 63% of these points is a solid number, as sometimes you are playing offense to finish, while other times you are just trying to stop the ball from bouncing over your head.

Birrell Swinging Volleys

Forehands = 16 (44%)
Backhands = 20 (56%)
Total = 36

Birrell didn’t care at all if she was hitting a forehand or backhand swinging volley. Just as long as she was not getting pushed around the court with her opponent’s high, heavy balls, and she could also find an effective way to finish standing around the middle of the court.

Birrell Swinging Volley Winners / Errors

Forehand Winners = 7
Forehand Errors = 0

Backhand Winners 4
Backhand Errors = 3

Eleven times (7 FH / 4 BH), Birrell hit an outright winner from a swinging volley. Those are impressive numbers, considering she also only committed three errors (BH). Birrell’s technique is strong with this shot, making sure to drive the ball up to generate power, spin, and an upward swing path to take the net out of play.

Swinging volleys are a genuine weapon at all levels of the game. The next time you are having to deal with high, heavy balls, consider moving forward to take them out of the air rather than moving back near the fence to let them drop.

The practice court is clearly broken. Here’s the proof.

Points are "front loaded". By far the majority of the action, and the winning, takes place in THE FIRST 4 SHOTS. The practice court is full of long rallies. Matches are dominated by short rallies. There is a massive disconnect occurring.

We spend too much time grinding, banging balls up and down the middle of the court – that have no real benefit to winning tennis matches.

There are 3 specific rally lengths in tennis. Here is their percentage breakdown of total points.

0-4 Shots = 70%
5-8 Shots = 20%
9+ Shots = 10%

The First 4 Shots is specifically the serve, return, Serve +1 groundstroke and Return +1 groundstroke. Those are normally the shots that get practiced the least, but matter the most to winning tennis matches.

The net is an extremely high percentage place to be!

If you love playing tennis for fun, spend as much time at the baseline as you like. But if you compete – if the score matters – then you must turn your attention to the net to maximize your potential.

The “herd mentality” in tennis thinks it’s too tough to approach the net in today’s game. The conversation starts with improved string technology, more powerful rackets, and finishes with stronger, faster athletes. The herd think approaching is a relic of the past. The herd is WRONG!

AVERAGE WIN %
Baseline = 46%
Net = 66%

Data from ALL Grand Slams provides the facts about approach and volley, and the data is crystal clear – it’s immensely better than staying back at the baseline, grinding for a living.

The baseline is a tough place to create separation. Here's how to do it.

At the 2012 US Open, only 7 men and 14 women had a winning percentage from the baseline. At Wimbledon 2016, Andy Murray won the title only winning 52% of his baseline points - and he is one of the very best at it in the world!

Num3ers deeply explores the data that rules points, especially from the back of the court. Take a "deep dive" into all three rally lengths (0-4, 5-8, 9+), and winner and errors totals from the elite level of our game. The numbers will shock you!

All 4 Grand Slams

Forcing Errors = 41% Men / 37% Women
Winners = 32% Men / 29% Women
Unforced Errors = 27% Men / 34% Women

Num3ers is very much like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. It's about bringing together different data sets together to create the big picture.

Every recorded match from the 2015 Australian Open - Rd2 to the final.

There is a lot happening on a doubles court. Situations and strategies are constantly being adjusted to create mis-matches with court position. It's hard to keep track of - until now. Dou8les Num3ers is the most comprehensive analysis of doubles data in our sport. The focus is on how a point ends, and it's broken down eight ways to Sunday. Specifically, you find critical information on:

Winners rise to the #1 way a point ends (over forced & unforced errors)

- The last shot of the rally is overwhelmingly struck at the net.
- Center Window: the most important part of a doubles court to control.
- Stephen Huss: an in-depth interview on Wimbledon's Centre Court with the 2005 Wimbledon Doubles Champion.

Dou8les Num3ers leaves no stone unturned. Percentage breakdowns of how often the server or receiver hits the last shot highlight the dramatic influence of the serve. The last shot of the rally is significant, and is broken down into the following categories: volleys, overheads, passing shots, lobs and groundstrokes.

When you play a match, you actually play two matches.

When you walk out onto a tennis court, there are two matches that you are about to play. The first is during the point - a part of the match that you have spent a lot of time preparing for on the practice court. But there is a second match, that takes place in the 20 seconds between the points. This is where the mental and emotional aspects of our sport kick in.

Let's face it, there will be adversity in almost every tennis match that you play. The storm clouds are coming. How bug they are, and how long they last for, are up to you.

Between the points is very tennis specific. It provides a roadmap for the 20 seconds between the points, teaching how to handle the adversity that will surely come, and how to build on the successes that will also be present. Your mind is your biggest asset in a match, and Between the Points takes your hand off the self destruct button and stops you beating yourself.

You don't have to be good at everything, but you have got to be good at something.

You can break tennis down into four key elements - serving, returning, rallying and approaching. Each part has specific patterns of play that consistently deliver higher winning percentages than the others. No more guessing. No more opinions. All facets of our sport are covered in this exceptional product, clearly outlining what patterns to gravitate to, and how to best construct the practice court. Data comes primarily from the 2015 Australian Open.

Building Blocks

MEN = 70% errors / 30% winners
WOMEN = 74% errors / 26% winners

Forcing errors is the best way to construct a point.
You can simply break tennis down into primary and secondary patterns of play - and they are all covered here. Primary patterns include serve and return direction, forehands v backhands, and the best way to approach the net. Secondary patterns include drop shots, serve & volley and 1st volley options. If you play tournaments, this product will greatly help you simplify the singles court.

The conversation starts & ends with the Center Window.

The doubles court is like an hourglass. There are two big ends, but a small neck in the middle where all the action happens. Once you learn the power of the Center Window, where you stand to start the point will take on a lot more significance.

Doubles is a lot more about situations, with four people on the court all "dancing" with one another. Learn all the best doubles patterns, broken down for the server, returner, server's partner and the returner's partner.

Doubles Situations

The "J" - the most ideal movement for the returner's partner to attack the net.

The "V" - a better way of understanding where the server's partner should move to.

Volley Targets - there are four main areas to attack. Know which ones are higher percentage. Beach Volleyball - the idea of a "setter" and "spiker" is ideal for the doubles court.

There are certain parts of the court that the ball travels to a lot, and other low percentage areas that you really don't want to cover at all - like the alley! In general, the serving team wants to keep the ball in the middle of the court as much as possible (to help the server's partner), while the returning team benefits from hitting wider and creating more chaos in the point.