Steal This Drill: Wipe the Mark

If you're the type of player who needs to be more aggressive or play closer to the baseline, try the "wipe the mark" drill. In this drill, one player (practice partner or coach) moves his opponent around the court with medium-paced balls. The object is not to kill the opposing player but to move the ball around with controlled shots. The practicing player (principal) must wipe ten (or more) marks during the rally with his foot. So, wherever the ball bounces on his side, the principal hits the ball and then immediately wipes the mark that was left on his side by the previous ball; and so son until the principal has wiped ten marks. After the players improve at this game, the principal can try to wipe ten consecutive marks. 

This game teaches players to not only anticipate where the ball will land (so that the principal doesn't have to much court to cover between the contact point and the mark) but also builds confidence in standing closer to the bounce (so that the player is only a couple of steps from the ball bounce). Since the ball bounces inside of the baseline, the principal learns to become efficient with his strokes, footwork and balance. Lastly, the since the contact point is usually behind the mark and the principal must step forward in order to wipe it, the principal also learns how to move forward after every shot (thereby, perhaps, transitioning body-weight into the ball) before recovering back to the center. Therefore, this is not only a good drill for hand-to-eye coordination but also for developing aggressive footwork., 

Steal This Drill: Ping Pong Doubles

Here's a fun way to practice your singles game with four (or more) people on the court: ping-pong doubles. In ping-pong, doubles players must alternate shots; so, after the first player on the team hits a ball, the other ball must be struck by her partner or the team loses a point. 

Players can follow the same rules on a tennis court. This game is not only fun but also hard-work (because players must hit and get out of the way - i.e., be constantly in motion). In addition, if the opposing team consists of players with unique qualities (e.g., lefty, touch player, good mover, etc.) one can practice playing points against various types of players without getting accustomed to any particular style. So, if one point is played against a right-handed player with a double-handed backhand, the next point can be played against his partner who may be a lefty with a one-handed backhand (and so on). This stresses the brain a lot more in that you will have to constantly adjust for the situation at hand. 

Another variation of this game allows a team to win 2 points (or more) for every point that the team wins inside of the service line. This is a great way to practice for doubles because the team learns how the two players think and construct points. That is, the team works on building doubles chemistry through singles play. This game also works with more than 4 players on the court and the rallies can be quite elaborate and lengthy.