Learn the half volley: timing after the bounce, locked ankle, knee over the ball – with the DFB instep-shot model and a biomechanics study on volley kicking.
The honest answer up front: The half volley or drop kick is a shot you strike at exactly the moment the ball rises from the ground after bouncing. So you are not shooting the stationary ball and not the ball in the air, but the ball just above the turf. That is hard because you cannot wind up the timing: the ball bounces and you have a blink of an eye.
I found no study on the half volley itself. What research offers is a neighbour: a study of 15 experienced players who volleyed a ball at four heights (0, 25, 50 and 75 cm) showed which body movements generate foot speed [1]. I would place the half volley between the ground and the volley situation, but that is my own classification, not a study finding. So let us transfer carefully (TRANSFER).
One term up front: in outfield play, “drop kick” means the half volley. The goalkeeper’s drop kick for a goal kick is the same technique from the hand (practice). How long does it take? Expect several training sessions until the first strikes feel clean (experience value).
When does it occur in a match? Whenever a ball drops towards you from the air and cannot be caught or taken on the chest, for example after a cross, a rebound or a long pass. If you can half-volley, you lose no time with a control and shoot while the defence is still organising itself (practical experience).
Drop the ball from hip height and hit it with the full instep immediately after it bounces. The DFB describes the full-instep shot like this: press the toes down, hit the ball in the middle with the full instep, fix the ankle and swing the leg through [3].
Milestone: 8 out of 10 balls are hit cleanly with the instep, not with the toe.
Shoot at a cone goal 10 m away. The aim is a low shot. In the volley study the contribution of hip speed decreased the higher the ball was [1]. With a ball close to the ground your aim is a low shot (practice).
Milestone: 6 out of 10 shots on target, 4 of them low.
Your partner throws the ball in an arc from 5 m. You shoot after it bounces.
Milestone: 6 out of 10 feeds are hit, 4 land on the goal.
Run in two to three steps and shoot. For the full-instep shot the DFB names the run-up, planting the standing foot next to the ball and the backswing [3]. Watch the position of the standing foot relative to the ball (practice).
Milestone: 5 out of 10 shots with a run-up are clean.
Your partner crosses, the ball bounces once and you shoot. That is how the half volley appears in a match.
Milestone: 4 out of 10 attempts on goal.
In the half volley your leg swings through, often close to an opponent. Under the Laws of the Game, any action that threatens injury to someone while trying to play the ball is playing in a dangerous manner [4]. Practise without an opponent first. Warm up: FIFA 11+ reduced the injury rate by 39% in a meta-analysis (four trials) [5]. This guide explains and motivates; it does not replace supervised training.
Bring the knee over the ball. When the ball is still flat after bouncing, you shoot with the knee above it at the centre, and the ball stays low (practical experience). A review describes that research looks not only at the kicking leg but also at run-up, standing leg, pelvis and upper body [2]. So work on the whole chain (practice).
A half volley (drop kick) is a shot you strike directly after the ball bounces, when it rises from the ground again. I found no study on the half volley itself.
In a volley you strike the ball in the air; in a half volley just after it bounces. A volley study examined balls at 0 to 75 cm height [1].
Usually the knee is not over the ball or the upper body is too far back (practical experience). For the full-instep shot the DFB names toes pressed down and a fixed foot as the basis [3].
Drop the ball from your hands and shoot after it bounces. Then against a wall or at a cone goal. Increase the run-up first, then the throw-in feed.
Rather not. You need a safe full-instep shot and a feel for timing. It belongs to the intermediate level.
Learning the Chip Shot: Lift the Ball in a High Arc Over the Goalkeeper and Into the Net