-The players only use the service box and play without rackets.
-Start with an over-arm throw from behind the service line (as if serving) and play out a rally with normal tennis rules.
-When the player catches the ball they can only hold it for 1 second. When the player has the ball they cannot move there feet!
-If the ball bounces they must use under-arm throws. If they catch it before bouncing, they can throw over-arm (as if volleying before bounce!)
-First player to 7 points wins, as in the tie-break.
A tiebreak is a short sprint where every point is worth the same as a break of serve. The players who win them are rarely the ones who hit hardest. Here is how to coach the patterns, habits and scoreboard thinking that win the big points.
Most club players practise the serve on its own and then have no idea what to do with the ball that comes back. Serve plus one is the pattern that turns a good serve into a won point.
Wimbledon has just crowned another champion, and if you watched closely you saw the same thing every year: the best returners quietly won the tournament. Here is how to coach a return that pressures the server rather than just surviving it.