Tennis: Air depth variation

DESCRIPTION

The player starts behind the service line and the coach feeds high ball to the forehand side. The player executes forehand drive deep cross-court and moves to the net. The coach feeds another ball to forehand side and the player then finishes with forehand stop-volley cross-court.

COACHING POINTS

Modern game is based mostly on baseline shots so it is not surprising that players have solid forehands and backhands. If you are limited only to these 2 shots, you have a chance to win only against players who have weaker baseline game. If your players want to beat also the rest of their opponents, you have to add more skills and weapons into your game. One of the areas that is neglected is the transition game. By being able to take advantage of weaker shots and come to the net, players have a big weapon that many good baseliners won't be able to overcome.

In this drill, the player works on transition scenario. A lot of good defensive players hit a high ball whenever they are in trouble. This is a good tactic because it gives them more time to recover. If players are able to move inside and take this ball with forehand drive, they will put a lot of pressure on defensive player and this decision will make their rival to put more risk into the next defensive shot. The coach has to explain to players that they should always follow to the net after a good offensive drive, because if the ball will come back they have a much bigger chance to hit a winner with volley. Being aware of this fact is the first step of implementing good transition game. The second part is practice. If both things are done, the coach should encourage players to use this strategy while competing.