Steal This Drill: Grab a Bench for Better Depth

Again, much gratitude is due to Roy Coopersmith for suggesting the following drill. The purpose of this drill is to improve the depth of one's groundstrokes. One way to do this would be to place a broomstick or PVC pipe through, or, conversely, an Airzone Training System over the net. This forces the player to aim considerably higher than the net thereby increasing the player's margin for error in a match.

However, one problem with relying strictly on an above-the-net device is that players tend to limit their shots to height while not improving their depth. In other words, there's a risk that the player will develop high, loopy shots that bounce mid-court (and can be easy sitters for the opponent). The goal for a tennis player is to hit high over the net but to also have deep, penetrating shots that put the opponent in a defensive position (or, at least, a position from which they are unable to hurt you). As previously discussed, one of the main strategies in tennis is to hit the ball deep in order to (a) put the opponent in a defensive position and force him to expend his own energy to give pace to the ball; (b) cut down on the angles that he may be able to hit; and (c) put yurself in the best position to control time and space. In order to develop depth, it's not enough to hit the ball high or hard; it's finding the middle ground where you're staying away from the net but also hitting just inside the baseline.

You can develop this comfort zone my placing a plastic bench (chair or pee-wee tennis net) on or around the practice partner's service line (or on both sides of the court - for both players to practice). The players will then rally (baseline points) OVER the net as well as the bench. This simple exercise forces the players to hit not only high, but penetrating shots that explode off the court. Once the players master this drill, they can alternate rallies where one player hits 5-10 deep shots and then a short angle. Doing so would teach the players how to be flexible with their thinking: push the opponent deep; then yank her side-to-side with sharp angles. 

Steal This Drill: The Rainbow Drill

It is said that great minds think alike. As evidenced by the following drill, the same thing can be said about lesser minds as well (just kidding). The following drill is a collaboration between CAtennis.com, Karl Rosenstock and Roy Coopersmith. As it happened, and out of pure coincidence, the three parties discussed covering the following drill on exactly the same date. 

Here's a little background on our co-conspirators:

Karl Rosenstock: Karl is currently the official tennis X-mo cam videographer for USC Tennis and a Contributing Editor for CAtennis.com where he provides video content and articles. These days, Karl is most well known as the tennis slow mo guy insofar as he provides X-Mo cam high speed videography for tennis coaching and keepsake purposes for college tennis, tennis clubs and tennis tournaments. Karl has been a USPTA tennis teaching professional and professional television producer. He has specialties in producing, multi camera studio production and directing, lighting design and studio and remote camera operation. For more information regarding his services, please contact Karl at 415-794-5250.

Roy Coopersmith: Roy is currently the Tennis Director at Pine Bluff Country Club in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. With a tennis career spanning over 4 decades, Roy has done it all and seen it all. He was an accomplished professional, college, open as well as senior player (#6 in Germany in U40s) and, as a coach, he has had the opportunity to coach an impressive list of players including: Philipp Kohlschreiber, Lisa Raymond, Tom Shimada, Jelena Jankovic, Jamea Jackson, Christian Weiss, Toma Walter, Maja Palaversic,  Christina Singer, Kim Couts, Roko Karanusic, Helena Vildova, Nguyen Hoang (2009 Orange Bowl Champion), Josip Mesin, etc. Currently, however, his main focus is on developing the game of his daughter - Niki Coopersmith. Nevertheless, if going to the next level is your goal, Roy has the technical, tactical, mental and physical expertise to assist you.

Rainbow Drill:

Here, at CAtennis.com, we are huge fans of situational-based practice. We feel that if the players have experienced certain pressure situations in practice they will be able to relax and think more clearly in the heat of battle. In the Rainbow Drill, one of the players starts with his racket on the net chord and the other is on the baseline. The coach (or the baseline player) feeds a deep lob over the net-player. The lob should bounce somewhere close to the baseline (even slightly outside of the lines). The net player chases it down and either hits a baseline overhead or a groundstroke. The baseline player must let this ball bounce and the point starts immediately (i.e., if the net player misses the "feed" he loses the point). This drill is not only a fun variation on the ol' baseline game, but it also teaches the players how to hit overheads from less than optimal positions and, also, how to regain the advantage after having lost it. This is particularly important for juniors and female players bacause they may lack the put-away ability from the net. That is, sometimes players get to the net but fail to capitalize on the situation and are forced to "restart" the point if the opponent comes up with a decent lob. This drill will, hopefully, teach the players that losing the upper hand mid-point is not the end of the world. One can regain the advantage with a well placed shot...a shot that must be practiced and mastered. 

Steal This Drill: Switch!!!

Here's a variation of the 1-on-1 drill known as "corners" where one player stays in one corner and moves his paractice partner side to side. In the standard corners drill, one of the player moves side to side until he tires and then the roles switch allowing the dictating player to move as well. We find the standard drill to be somewhat artificial in that the dictating player's energy level is usually ratcheted back while the other player is moving.

In our version, every 3-4 shots the dictating player yells out "switch!!!!" and the moving player has to direct the shots to the open corner. The dictating player then moves to the open corner from where the game continues. Then, after 2-3-4-5 shots (or even 1), the dictating player yells "switch" again and the moving player directs his shots to the open court. The benefit of this drill is that both of the players are moving and that the moving player is forced to constantly shift the angles of his shots while on the run. The dictating player gets to move as well so this drill is usefull in maintaining a high level of excitement for both players. Furthermore, with both players being forced to move and change the direction of the ball, the drill is a lot more realistic and practical than your standard corners drill. 

A second variation of the corners drill is where the moving player (or coach) yells "switch" and the roles change in the middle of the rally. For example, wherever the moving player happens to be when "switch" is called out, that's his corner and the player who was previously dictating the play is now the runner (hitting all of his shots towards that corner. This is a great drill for practicing in a team format where 3-4 courts can perform the same task and the coach's directive ("Switch") controls all the courts at the same time. 

Steal This Drill: Deep Game Variation

Here's a simple drill for improving one's depth on his or her groundstrokes (credit: the original form of the drill was learned from Peter Smith, current USC coach). At the risk of sounding sexist, this is a particularly useful drill for girls/women because they tend to rely more on depth and penetrating shots to win points whereas men tend to create more openings with spins and angles. Nevertheless, all players can be better off by learning how to master deep shots that land just inside the baseline. 

The rules are as follows: a line is drawn/taped about 6ft inside of the baseline. The player practicing hitting deep has 3 opportunities (i.e., 3 balls) to hit 20 shots inside of the "deep" area. For any ball landing in this area, the player get "+1". For every ball landing between this area and the service line, the player gets a "-1". If the player hits inside of the service line, the player goes back down to 0 (this being the variation on the original drill). If the player is already at 0 or in the negatives and hits inside of the service line, that shot is a "-1". If the principal misses wide or deep, the shot does not count [DNC in the diagram]. If the practices partner misses, than the players re-do the point. 

The players rally until either the principal (i.e., the player practicing hitting deep shots) makes it to +20 or -10. In case of the latter, the principal runs a sprint. The practice partner's job is to be steady and consisent. This is not as much of a movement drill as it is a ball control drill. The principal should be given ample opportunities to make the ball so the practice partner's role is to chase down all the shots and put them back deep and with a decent amount of pace. The practice partner should vary his spins and force the principal to aim deep even on the most diffuclt shots. Try this as a warm-up drill and let us know how it works. 

Steal This Drill: Half Court Battle 2

This is a continuation of a previous drill the focus of which is to develop grit and ball control. In this version, the server plays with some limitations. Briefly, points are played by two players. This can be in a set format or another method of keeping score. The receiver's court is divided (red line) slightly off center. The rules are actually pretty simple. When the server serves into the deuce side (in the diagram, the smallest portion of the court), s/he must hit two shots into the smallest portion of the court before "opening up". The receive can hit anywhere. In this regard, the receiver can dominate the point because he knows where the ball is coming. The server must grit it out by relying on his legs, lungs and ball control. If the server hits it out of the small area, s/he loses the point.

On the ad side (in this case, the larger area), the server must hit 3 consecutive shots into this space before "opening up". Depending on the skill levels of the players, the receiver may or may not have an advantage. Again, the purpose is to have the server grit out a couple of shots.

Many times, the server thinks that he has the advantage only to be surprised by the receiver. It is, therefore, important for a player to know how to rely on his head and heart in order to get back to a balanced position in the middle of the point. The server will most definitely be required to hit the ball high and deep in order to give herself more time to recover and to also prevent the receiver from creating a deadly angle. In all this, the receiver is encourage to pound her shots and keep the pressure on the server. After playing a game, the parties should switch roles. When the players feel like they have mastered this side, they can switch the large area, small area and play the same thing on the other side.