Steal this Drill: Variations on the Old Two-on-One Drill

Here's a little variation to try when you're doing two-on-ones. Generally, in the 2-on-1 drill, one of the players does all of the hitting and running and it seem like the other players are just barely hitting a shot and then standing around. Sure, the coach can push the players to move their feet but, eventually, the whole concept breaks down when the drill sergeant isn't looking and players are back to standing on their heels.

Instead of trying the same-old, same-old and expecting a different result, place two targets (be them wrist-bands, athletic tape, plastic lines, cones, etc) about 6 feet inside the baseline and 4 feet from each side line. The two players hit down the line (or cross-court) and then SPRINT IN AND TOUCH THE TARGET and pedal back (FIG 2 BELOW). In turn, the single player hits the opposite of the two-player team (i.e., cross-court or down-the line) and aims for the same target (so the target serves as both a point for the player to aim to as well as a spot towards which the two players must run to). The key to this drill is that while the single player moves side-to-side, the two players move forward and back so everybody is getting the benefit of running and hitting although in a different direction.

Conversely (FIG 1 BELOW), have the same set-up as above but put one of the two-player team at the net (the other at the baseline). The two-players hit down the line; the single player hits cross court. However, in this variation, the net player hits the volley and backpedals, touches the cone/target and then sprints IN again to make contact with the volley inside the service line. This is an AWESOME way for the players to practice their first volleys. 

Another variation on the 2-on-1 drill is where the two players do most of the moving. The drill is cross-courts (or down-the-line). The two players line up on one half of the court, one behind the other. A cone is placed about 1 foot (or more) in front of the baseline T or slightly into the other half of the court. The single player (or coach) feeds the ball to one of the two guys. This player hits the ball back and then sprints forward and around the cone. The other player then steps in, hits the next shot, sprints in and rounds the cone. If the players are practicing backhands, the two-player team rounds the cone clockwise. If the players are hitting cross-court forehands, the players are rounding the cone counter-clockwise. Many players have done this drill when the ball was fed to them but there's no reason why it can't be done in a live-ball setting. The key is to focus on control and movement. The same concept can be done down the line and the cone can be moved around. It's an awesome way to develop ball control and RECOVERY.

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The purposes of the 2-on-1 drill is, obviously, to make sure that the single player (i.e., the "one") learns to both move and move the ball around. In tennis, changing the direction of a moving ball (movement #1), while you are in motion (movement #2) with a moving object - the racket (movement #3) is one of the most critical components to understand and master. However, nothing irks me more as a coach than seeing the 2 players loaf around waiting for their turn to get a workout. Although I agree that the primary purpose of the 2-on-1 is to provide the single player with a good workout, the drill often breaks down because the "two" players' minds wander or their feet stop moving.

Above, we have covered things such as hitting the ball and running in and touching the cone. Again the cone can be inside the baseline (serving, also, as a target for the shots of the "one"), at the center T (thereby teaching the "two" to hit and recover) or anywhere else for that matter (e.g. 10 feet behind the baseline or even at the intersection of the baseline and the singles/doubles sideline). The concept, here, is of course, to keep ALL players hitting and moving and to also keep the minds of the "two" players focused on specific tasks in between strokes. In addition to hit-and-recover drills, the players can also include other devices to maintain the intensity of the work-out. For example, there's nothing stopping the "two" players from doing kangaroo jumps (e.g. 2-3), high knee running in place, split-lunges, squat jumps, etc. in between strokes.

Buddy System

Maybe because we're a developed nation (with greater per capita disposable income than other countries) so we don't need to, or perhaps because we are becoming increasingly anti-social, it seems that nowadays not too many juniors participate in group- or split lessons. Unless they are corralled at some high-priced academy, it seems like every developing player has his or her own private coach; one player leaves his lesson before the other player comes in for training. 

Although private training is beneficial for focusing on certain aspects of the player's game, I've found that the best way to train is by having 2 (sometimes 3) players on the court at the same time. Both the Navy Seals and the French Foreign Legion incorporates buddy-system training in their regimen. These elite units have found that a two-member unit is best for building morale, support and healthy competition. After all, seeing someone going through tough training alongside you makes it easier to deal with the pain.

Tennis players can benefit from the buddy system by incorporating a few 2-on-1 (i.e., two players + coach) practices in their weekly workouts. A lot of weaker/softer players, particularly, will be helped by this system when couple with a somewhat more advanced player (although not too much older as this could be intimidating and overwhelming for the weaker player). The concept is that the players will think "if HE can do it, then so can I". In addition, the players - if they care about tennis and are somewhat more competitive in nature - will push each other by always trying to outdo one another in the drills and various patterns.

Furthermore, after the drill portion of the practice, the players can play points and the coach can watch and critique the playing (rather than moving on to the next lesson). In addition, other benefits include that the payers can play twice as long for the same amount of money and, lastly, that the players will bond and become more involved in each other's development (for purposes of training on their own, warming on before matches or cheering each other on during tournaments). So find someone your own age and comparable skill and see if you can incorporate some shared practices into your normal workout routine. Done right, you will see your level improve exponentially. 

Mix Things Up in Practice in Order to Better Understand Basic Concepts

Sometimes it's frustrating to go through the same drills and concepts over and over again and not make any progress. It's not always the player's fault and it doesn't have to be the coach's fault either. The communication process takes place through various "filters" in that what the coach thinks is not always what he says, what he says is not always what the player hears, and what the player fears is not always what the player understands. So even with a two-person team, it's lot like playing telephone. Often times, coaches are advised to tell the players the same things but in different ways since not everybody associates a sequence comprised of the same terms in exactly the same way.

Take, for example, a basic concept such as "stepping in". It's not unreasonable to think that players hear this on a day-in and day-out basis. For the most part, they understand what it means - use the forward momentum of the body to hit the ball. That is, don't wait for the ball to come to you; go to it. Simple enough. But is it, really?! A lot of players tend to "step in" but leave their bodies behind. It seems as if the legs are going forwards, but the body doesn't follow suit resulting in the upper body leaning backwards - thereby sending the ball flying. In these cases, I remind the players that "stepping in" is not good enough; they must also "lean in". So I have them grasp this concept by stepping in and then leaning against the fence (or wall). Similarly, I try to demonstrate that by stepping in and leaning back, you can be thrown off balance with the tip of a finger. In other words, these players come to understand that stepping in is not enough; they have to also manipulate their weight into the ball. 

Again, a lot of times coaches repeat the same things over and over again expecting the correct result with every player. Some people are more intuitive than others so they more readily understand the basic concepts. Other players, however, need to be coached in a different manner. On many occasions, I put players in a swimming pool (with a plastic bag over an old racket) in order for them to understand how the ball is supposed to "dip" below the level of the ball, and then "push through the water" towards the contact point. When dealing with players who lack acceleration, I sometimes have them alternate between pulling rubber bands (or surgical tubing) or throwing medicine balls and hitting groundstrokes. Or, to practice volleys, have the players alternate between using foam baseball bats and tennis racket (to correct over-swinging). 

This is really not that new of a concept. Many players have been taught to serve by throwing wooden rackets over the net (or on a grass field) before hitting serves. However, it seems that the artistry of figuring out different ways to "get to" the player has been lost or diluted over time. Ultimately, tennis is fun and learning it should not be a monotonous burden. Try mixing things up in order to develop a better understanding of the basic concepts. 

Incorporate Objective, Periodic Testing in your Preparation

I am sometimes approached by a parent who would like me to help her child improve a certain part of the game (be it the serve, forehand, backhand, etc.). This is great as there are few things that give me as much pleasure as assisting an eager youngster in achieving his objectives. So we warm up, break a sweat and start following the marching order. We take a look at this part of the player's game, start tweaking the stroke a little bit and, at the end, I make some suggestions for improving. Most of the time, I hear back that my input has been helpful but that the stroke still broke down in the match. So we either go back to the drawing board or the player moves to a different coach like a bee from flower to flower.

Short of more repetition, one overlooked method is the inclusion of objective testing in the player's practices. For example, say that the player wants to improve the serve. Great; which part? Power, accuracy, spin, depth? Same with forehand, backhand and volleys. Which component of the shot needs, in the parent/player's opinion, improvement? Without identifying this goal, how do we know when we've achieved it? Much like track athlete wouldn't come to a coach and tell him that he needs to run "better", you cannot tell a tennis coach that the serve "needs to get better". 

We need to first dissect the problem and then remedy it accordingly. Take, for example, the serve. If you want to increase speed, you have to start taking radar gun readings. We need to see if the serve is getting faster and that's one way of doing (actually, it's pretty much the only way). Unfortunately, a lot of players don't like to have their feelings hurt, so they'd rather be blissfully ignorant of the actual speed of their serve as opposed to measuring it objectively and see where they stand against their peers and rest of the world.

Also, let's assume that the player wants to work on accuracy/placement. In order to be accurate, we need a target - initially it will be big; subsequently it will be smaller. So, for a serve, we put together a large circle of targets and see how many times the ball lands in it (given a set number of serves - e.g., 20). Then, we practice for a few weeks and go back to the testing. Again, we use 20 balls and see if the player's improved. Assuming s/he has, we make the circle smaller and test again. We keep track of number to be used as comparison for next time. 

Objective testing is the best method to determine your level of improvement. Of course, matches are method of measuring improvement as well, however, since the opponents are getting better also, that comparison is somewhat of a moving target. Test against yourself in order to track your development from day to day. 

Learn From History

To paraphrase the philosopher Santayana, those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it with all its mistakes, its agonies, its false turns. It is amazing to see sometimes, however, the multitude of players who fail to learn from their past matches (or matches played in the past by other players). One of the best training tools is the video-camera. Unfortunately, a lot of parents seem to tape their kids' matches for scrap-booking purpose rather than using is as a teaching aid. In terms of learning, you can learn a lot more by watching yourself play and hit the ball than staring blankly at some chart containing raw numbers. 

Are you really going to learn from a matrix showing unforced errors?! Think about it. Do those number tell you WHERE the ball was when you missed it? Will the chart tell you HOW the opponent's shot came (fast, high, spin, angle)? Will the chart tell you WHEN you made the error (important point or regular play)? Will the chart tell you the LENGTH of the point before you missed it (maybe there's nothing wrong with the stroke or the play but you were simply exhausted)? The answer is NO. However, you will be in a better position to dissect your match by watching a tape of it. You can fast forward or rewind to your heart's content and analyze all the aspects of the match. How you missed; how you hit a winner; what was going through your mind; what you were trying to accomplish; your opponent's likes/dislikes; favorable patterns or plays; problem areas; etc. 

A good way to study your matches is by placing a videocamera on top of the fence (center) so that you can view the whole court. When watching it, place a small piece of scotch tape on the TV screen right around the service line "T". Try to follow the ball in comparison to this tape (i.e. the middle of the court). How many times did you hit it away from the middle? How many times did you go for winners when the previous ball was in the middle of the court? How many times did you fail to go for an offensive shot when you had the open court? Where is you opponent standing in comparison to your shots? Try to refine or synthesize some patterns (both positives and negatives) and seek to improve upon them in practice. You will notice that if you have something to compare your shots to, certain "plays" or patterns will be readily apparent. You will be in a better position to anticipate them in the future if you learn from the past.