These drills are all possible with the help of just one other person. The great things is, both players benefit from the training in most cases as well. No one has to pretend they are an instructor for too long.
Cross Court Forehands
Even though it’s commonly referred to as crosscourt forehands, this is just going from side to side on the deuce court. If a right-hander and a left-hander are practicing together, the appropriate stroke has its focus to hit crosscourt.
Not only does this work with consistency on a certain stroke, but overall control as well. Players know what is coming, and they can begin to focus on putting balls in the right spots. It makes some players a bit uncomfortable at first, but it pays off to learn how to use crosscourt angles appropriately.
- Start in the same formation as serving in the deuce court
- Feed the ball to the opponent, working on hitting deep groundstrokes crosscourt using forehands.
- Play points out to add a different element to the drill.
20 Ball Rally
This is one of the best ways to work on shot control and endurance as well. To be a successful tennis player, there must be a way to keep up with long rallies. It only takes a few of these to really tire out even the most in-shape players.
Make sure to take some time between each rally, but a proper amount as well. Try to simulate match play as much as possible. It makes no sense to do this once, and then sit down to drink some water and rest. Do these in sets of four or more, and then have the opportunity to take a slight breather
- Line up in the middle of the court near the baseline.
- Feed the ball to the opponent, playing out the point.
- Focus on hitting balls in with high-percentage strokes.
- After reaching 20, both players try to win the point.
