Marat Safin

FRAMES 1 — 3: In 1 we see the racket head is already being shifted over to the side of the body. Take note of the letter V that Marat's forearm and racket shaft make, which keeps the tip of the racket pointing up. In 2 Marat Safin spreads his feet for balance support and in 3 he's bending to the low ball. At this point we don't know that it's a half-volley.

In 4 we can still see the (flattened) letter V being drawn in the air by Safin's forearm and racket shaft. One effect of hitting with such a V on the volley is to keep the hand up and wrist joint locked, which stops the hand (and racket head) flopping about. Keeping the racket head up keeps ball scooping at bay: if your racket head is locked up, you can jab through (if it's dropped below the wrist, you'll most likely dish up a spoon feed volley).

In 4 Marat got a parallel racket down behind the oncoming ball. In 5 he's swept the racket head forward slightly, to meet the bounce. Up until frame 5, the stroke is similar to those in the Pat Rafter and Pete Sampras articles, but in 6 Marat pulls the racket head out of a heavy contact. 'Why?' To soften the blow (compare Marat's absorbavolley) . In 5 (although contact is a touch late) it is still unclear what he'll do with the ball. He chooses to absorb the pace by pulling his racket head out of a heavy contact, producing a drop half-volley

Toggle 5 and 6 again until you have a clear idea of Marat's pull shot: he is pulling the racket head away from a heavy contact. The result? A soft contact, and a dead ball that will plop lifelessly over to the other side of the net. Frames 6 to 9 reinforce the image of Marat's pullback and also show the big fella rising out of his knee bend.