Steal This Drill: Dynamic Cross-Courts

Next time you're drilling with your practice partner and s/he suggests doing cross-courts, throw this dynamic drill into the mix. In this drill, player One (red) hits 2 cross-courts and the third shot down-the-line. Player Two (blue) hits only cross-court. 

The benefits of this drill include not only learning to change the direction of the ball but also working on consistency and rhythm. Because the game of tennis is not static, a drill where players are static (i.e. basic cross courts) is not as ueful as one where players move the ball around and learn how to control the ball from various court positions and to generate angles while on the move. 

Incorporating this drill into your workouts is also important because, many times, this is exactly how points are constructed: you push the opponent, with 1-2-3 cross-court shots, into a corner and then flatten out the ball down the line. However, the foundation for this drill comes from control, feel, footwork and repetition in motion. 

To work on more consistency, consider changing the direction of the ball after more cross-courts: e.g. 4 or 5. Another variation is for the players to not have a strict pattern but for one of the players (or coach) to yell "switch" before one player changes the direction of the ball. In addition, the players can do ths drill down the line and change direction cross court. Similar to other drills discussed here, the players can also start the drill off with a serve or play points. Master this drill and you will be more confident that you can put any shot on your side of the court into any place on your opponent's side of the court ("from anywhere to anywhere"). 

Steal This Drill: Catch the Return

Are you the type of player who can serve his way out of trouble but have some difficulties when it comes to breaking your opponent's serve?! If so, this drill may be helpful. One of the keys to successful returns is to rely on the feet more than the racket. The return should be attacked and, yet, too many players rely on the racket rather than the shoes to get them to the ball. They are reactive as opposed to being proactive. The problem with this attitude is that the further back you intend to make contact the greater the distance that you have to cover. This distance is not only measured left-to-right but also up-and-down (since a good server's ball can really bounce high if you let it). 

To assist you with the concept of attacking the ball with your feet, put the racket down and grab a baseball glove (or two - one for each hand). Have your coach or practice partner mix up serves keeping them as far away from you as possible. Have her slide serves out wide; kick them to your backhand or hammer them into your belly button. Your goal is to move forward and catch as many balls around your waist as possible. By moving forward (like a team handball goalie: video below), you will learn to cut off angles and to do less with the racket and more with the feet. In the process, you will learn how to adjust your positioning by being light but quick and explosive.

When you master 10-15 good catches in a row, switch things up by alternating regular returns with catches. Transfer the skills from the catching to the returning and learn to use more of your opponent's pace and angles against her. By being a proactive returner, you will put yourself in a better position for break opportunities. 

Steal This Drill: Figure 8 Game with Serve

I should probably start making videos of certain entries, but unfortunately, I don't have a single volunteer to film me because I hit with my players!  I'll work on it.  In this Steal The Drill, we want to take the ever so popular (dreadful to most) Figure 8 drill to another level with added variations.  For those of you who don't know what a Figure 8 drill is, it is where one person goes crosscourt and the other person goes DTL (down the line).  

In my variation, the server is serving the entire time in a game to 15.  The server must go crosscourt and the returner must go down-the-line (except on the return where the returner can go anywhere).  Once the return is in play, the server can rip the first ball crosscourt for a winner.  Since everyone knows the figure 8 pattern and where the next ball is going, the game can be played at match speed.  

I love this drill for several reasons:

1) Working on your serves during practice instead at the end of practice.  Too often we practice serves standing around, saved for the end of practice.  The problem is serves should be practiced when you are tired, huffing and puffing.  

2) Everyone knows where the ball is going, therefore you can work on your anticipation and defense.  It should be very difficult for anyone to hit a winner since you know their next move.  

3) Forces you to use the entire court and hit the ball in a way that will not hurt you on the next shot.  For example, if you are changing the direction of your FH to go DTL and you are in a slightly poor position off the court and behind the baseline- you should hit your FH in a way that gives you a play in tracking down the next shot.  

4) Builds mental toughness.  There are no easy points if both people are hustling and willing to make shots on the run.  Can you play when there are no obvious way to win a point?  Can you play when your heartrate is up?  

Added variation: 1 person goes 2 Crosscourts and 1 DTL while the other person only goes Crosscourt.    

Steal This Drill: Confusing The Feet

One of my goals as a coach is to confuse the feet and make it unpredictable like it were match.  One way of accomplishing that is to feed the ball in a way (bounce ball) that makes them feel uncomfortable.  Just like in a match, you don't know what is coming.  Nobody knows, so you gotta be on alert.  This drill forces you to be quick, ready to dance, ready to pounce on an unpredictable ball to the open court.  The bounce ball off a live ball creates a heavy ball, one that is bouncing away from the player OR into the player- this requires impeccable footwork to hit a penetrating ball into the open court.  In this drill I am rather tame, but you can ratchet up the intensity by feeding the first ball deep after she was short in the court, forcing her to move up and back more visciously.  She must let the first ball drop.  

A good way to know if you are training a softie (one who needs things to be perfect) is to whip out this drill. The softie wants to be fed out of the basket, talk about the technical ins and outs of the forehand follow through, as if that were the main issue.  The tough cookies get up to the challenge, try to manhandle the ball before the spin takes a hold of them.  Tennis is extremely unpredictable!  The ball is never where you want it or expect it, so from a mental standpoint, this is a great drill.  Different strokes for different folks, so the goal is to work on your footwork and be accurate with the ball, however that works for you.  Coordination is a very personal thing.  

This variation is called "One To Me, One Away."  Be creative, you can have a player hit 10 balls in a row to you where you mix up bounce balls or regular volleys.  Again, the theme is to confuse their feet, see if they can be speedy around the court, like a CountryWide Mortgage Officer closing a deal on a 26 year old with bad credit.  

Steal This Drill: Russian Warm-Up Drill

Are you the type of player who jumps straight into baseline-to-baseline rallies only to find yourself searching for rhythm and feel 15 minutes into the workout? If so, look to warm up your arms, feet and eyes by first rallying up-close with your practice partner (i.e., service line to service line). You will see and feel the ball gradually and then you can back up to the baseline. However, before jumping straight into a baseline slugfest, see if you can master this following warm-up drill (we call it "The Russian Warm Drill" because it has been brought to our attention by Ms. Elena Bovina). 

In this drill, two players rally from their respective service lines. After a few strokes, one of the players backs up towards his or her baseline. The player who reaches the baseline first must still aim her shots inside of the practice partner's service line; conversely, the service line player must punch his groundstrokes from inside the service line to just inside of the opposing baseline. After a few strokes, the service line player starts retreating towards his own baseline while the initial baseline player proceeds to move forward. The key to this drill is to keep the distance between the players constant so that neither has to step too far and too fast backwards or forwards to retrieve the practice partner's shot. This drill is great for practicing touch, dipping shots and also punching half-volleys deep. 

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