Practicing drills with your tennis coach might not be the most interesting way to improve your technique, but it has been proven that with constant repetition that the brain learns to accept new things.
One of the first shots you have to master is groundstroke shots, these are the bread and butter of any player’s game and unfortunately there is no easy way to learn but practice.
In this blog we discuss some general groundstroke drills that can be useful to include in your coaching sessions.
20 Balls Deep Cross-Court
Every player needs to be able to play a cross-court ball, the deeper the more successful. One of the best drills to learn this technique is the 20-ball cross-court deep drill.
Get your partner to feed you balls alternating between the backhand and forehand. The goal is for you to hit 20 balls in a row cross-court past the service line without missing. Every time you miss you start again at zero.
Baseline Game to Eleven
Baseline drills are a little more popular with players as there is a little more variety than cross- court drills. Get your partner or coach to feed balls, then you hit the first ball cross-court and then both players then play out the point. Alternate the feeding so you utilise both backhand and forehand.
This drill will lead to plenty of groundstroke rallies and therefore it is great for improving your baseline game.
Utilising A Higher Net
Most amateur games are either won or lost by unforced errors, the player that hits more unforced errors will mostly win. Coaches often say that the net is your biggest enemy on the court.
To work on this, it is a good idea to bring a higher net into your practice sessions. The easiest way of doing this is to tie two poles to the net stanchions then tie some rope between them. This will give you a visual goal to hit over, make sure you use a colour that is easy to see.
With the new higher net you can now practice rallying over it, you can even play points with it. Doing this on a regular basis will improve your game immensely.
Points for Depth
Put a line between the service line and the baseline to divide the backcourt into two areas. Ever ball that bounces behind that line counts two points, and every ball that lands behind the service line but in front of the new line counts for 1 point. Any balls landing in the service box do not count, now play to either 50 or 100.
This drill is excellent to develop depth into your game. Following these drills will without doubt be of benefit to your tennis technique and in turn will make you a better player.
