How do I get myself to swing through the ball?

Question:

Why do I have such a hard time swinging all the way through? I don't know why, but I never do, I have like this fear of hitting the net. Is there anything I can do to help myself?

Answer:

What I've noticed about players that have a hard time swinging through is they are in the habit of trying to hit the ball up over the net instead of hitting the ball down. I think most people that have this problem were shorter when they started playing and just got in the habit of contacting the ball in a way to hit the ball up and over the net.

The first thing you should do is work on contacting the ball better.

If you aren't swinging through, I really doubt you are making the ball spin. You want to contact the ball in a way that creates topspin. Topspin is when the ball spins and drops down into the court after you contact it.

Get on platform at the net and work on hitting the ball down over the net creating topspin. You want to spike the ball at a downward angle. Put targets on the ground at the sharpest angle possible. For example, work your way closer and closer to spiking the ball inside the 10 foot line.

It may also help to hit over passes down into the court. The key here is to get in the habit of hitting the ball downward. Most players won't swing through when hitting over passes, but the key here is to learn to spike the ball downward.

If you don't have a platform, you can just lower the net so you can just stand and spike down.

After you get good at spiking downward, try to spike a set. Again, make the goal to spike at a very sharp angle down into the court.

I would also practice a topspin jump serve. Most floaters are done by not swing through the ball. If you practice a topspin jump serve, this will help you get in the habit of following through.

Most players that have really good topspin swing through every time. So make sure you work on creating topspin.