The coach stands in front of the player and feeds the ball to the forehand side. The player moves to the ball, slides and hits forehand.
Sliding to the ball is crucial while playing during clay-court season. This movement is the most effective because it allows to get to difficult balls, hit them and quickly recover after the shot. Sliding as a movement requires good technical components but the player has to be ready to execute these actions also from the physical perspective. Without strength, balance and coordination, it is impossible to run and slide before the shot.
In this drill, the player works on sliding to the side while hitting forehand. The player has to remember to start the action with cross-over step to not make additional steps before sliding. Second thing that is crucial is putting weight on right leg to allow sliding and maintain balance through the shot. Many repetitions are needed to ingrain this new habit and make it automatic for the future matches.
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.
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