Granada, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
In simple terms, a volley is a strike of the ball that is made whilst it is still up in the air, before it has had the chance to bounce. It is one of the purest and most satisfying skills in the entire game, largely because connecting with a moving ball in mid-air and sending it exactly where you want it to go is far harder than it looks. When it comes off, though, there are few better sights in football, with the ball fizzing off your boot and into the net before the goalkeeper has had the chance to so much as move, getting a goal on the scoreboard and looking cool doing it.
The reason it can be so devastating is all down to the pace you can generate and the lack of time it gives your opponent. Because you’re striking the ball first time rather than taking a touch, there is no opportunity for a defender or a keeper to get themselves set, meaning that even a slightly scuffed volley can end up in the back of the net. Some of the greatest goals ever scored have been volleys, with Marco van Basten’s effort for the Netherlands in the final of the 1988 European Championship and Zinedine Zidane’s strike for Real Madrid in the 2002 Champions League final being examples.
To carry it off, the most important thing is to keep your eye firmly on the ball and to get your body into the right position as it drops towards you. You want to be side-on, using your standing foot to balance yourself as you swing your striking leg through, making contact with the middle of the ball using your laces. Getting your knee over the top of the ball at the moment of contact is what keeps the effort down, because leaning back is the surest way to end up sending it high, wide and not very handsome. Keeping your ankle locked and firm will give you the clean connection you’re after.
There is no getting away from the fact that this is a difficult skill that will take plenty of practice to get right, so don’t be disheartened if your early attempts end up flying off in all sorts of unintended directions. The best way to work on it is to get a friend to throw or chip balls towards you from different angles, allowing you to practise adjusting your body and meeting the ball cleanly time and again. Once you’ve got the technique down, you’ll be able to bring it out during a match, whether that be lashing home a dropping cross or meeting a cleared corner on the edge of the box.