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Tennis: Zone dictates the shot

Your tennis drills are extremely useful coaching tools.

Nail, Tennis coach

DESCRIPTION

2 zones are set on player B side (deep corner and angle). Players rally together in cross court direction. Player A can pick one of 2 options. If the player hits deep zone 2 times in a row, he finishes the next ball with a down the line shot. If the player hits an angle zone, he finishes the next ball with a drop shot down the line.

Drill specifications:

1 min and switch

Only 2 players can work on one court so time changes are working perfectly for this type of drill. Rest of the players should perform physical exercises e.g footwork on the ladder or jumping rope while waiting for own turn.

COACHING POINTS

Having an idea in mind while rallying cross court is a necessity to make proper tactical decisions. Building the point means that every ball has a purpose and is connected with the next one. By repeating the same decisions during the practice session players create patterns that can be used automatically during the tournament matches. Giving players the opportunity to pick between two different options (power vs control) is an important step to create responsible and successful athletes. The best players in the world like Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic know a lot of patterns that they are using according to the situation or to the opponent. Having different possibilities and not relying just on one shot is a skill that helps to beat different rivals.

In this drill players work on offensive methods related to the power or control. By setting the zones players have a visual feedback about their accuracy so they can constantly adjust their shots according to the previous ball. Coach should observe which options are chosen more so he can understand each player’s approach. By incorporating 2 different options players start to understand that there are a lot of variations to win the point so if something is going wrong there is also another shot that can lead to the win. Coach should explain to players that each shot needs a purpose so players should never just hit the cross court shot.

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OFTEN USED WITH...

Warm up - throwing and catching:

Players perform regular warm up routines based on running and dynamic stretching. The coach prepares activity stations to improve athletic skills related to the session's theme.

The video is a suggested warm up which involves the coach feeding the ball to the player from the other side of the net. The player then has to catch the ball and throw it back to the coach. To ensure a full warm up vary where you throw the ball.

Forehand Drills

Watch the ball:

The player stands at the net, and the coach feeds balls to the forehand side. The player hits forehand volley with goal to fix the eyes on the point of contact.

Forehand Drills

using the serve advantage:

The player serves wide from the ad side, with the aim of getting the ball to land between two cones in the serving box on the opposite side of the court.

The coach, standing in front of the player, then feeds him/her the ball to their backhand side.

The player then has to run around and hit forehand inside in, with the aim of getting the ball to land between two cones placed in the corner of the deuce side on the other side of the net.

Forehand Drills

Underspin doesn't mean underperformance:

2 players rally together in cross court direction. Player A hits all the balls offensively. Player B hits consistent slice shots to keep the ball low after the bounce.

Drill specifications:

5-10 min per side

With more players on the court coach can use different approaches according to the goals he wants to achieve. If players need repetitions coach can switch both hitting players after particular number of shots (3 each) to make this drill more dynamic. If players lack of physical preparation better solution is to make 2 players work for a 1 minute while others can perform specific fitness drills. At one time 4 players can work on this aspect (2 playing forehands and 2 playing backhands)

Forehand Drills

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