In this section, you will discover tennis drills that help players make better decisions regarding shot selection and court coverage when playing singles matches. These drills are perfect for intermediate and advanced-level players.
Short Decision
Player A is behind the service line; he has a tennis ball ready to feed, to begin the point. Player B is on the opposite side and inside the baseline.
Drill:
Each point begins with player A who feeds a ball short inside the opposite service court and then moves up to the net to play the point. As the short ball is fed by A, player B runs up to it and the two play the point out.
So the rally finds both players up at the net: one following behind a short ball and the other chasing and returning it.
Depending on how short and low the ball bounces, player B must quickly decide what kind of shot he will play when he gets to the ball.
The two players play the point out then move back to their initial positions and repeat the drill until one of them wins 5 points; then they switch sides and roles.
Note:
This drill is a singles tactic that teaches the players to make quick decisions and learn the best options that they should apply when dealing with a short ball.
Wide Serve Tactics
Player A is positioned at the baseline, deuce side, ready to serve; a basket of balls is behind him.
The coach is ready to return serve from behind the deuce baseline.
A line of cones divides each service box into two halves: wide and center (see graphic below).
Drill:
Player A will practice serving wide (between the line of cones and singles sideline); if successful, the coach will return. The player will step into the ball and hit it to the open court left by the coach.
Do this until 3-5 successful combinations are achieved, then switch serving to the ad court.
(To place the serve wide the player should use slice serves to the deuce side, and kick or flat for the ad side)
Note:
Through this drill, the player learns to use the wide serve for opening the court and controlling the groundstroke placement to take advantage of the respective opening.
Getting Lobbed
Tactical Purpose:
Learn how to transform a defensive situation into an offensive one, buy time, or just surprise the opponent with an unexpected shot when retrieving a lob.
Set-up:
Player A starts every point from about 9 feet from the net (inside the service line). Player B is at the baseline, ready to move up inside the service court, on the opposite side of player A. The coach (F) is at one of the net posts with a basket of balls ready.
Drill:
The coach will feed one ball, as a lob, over player A (who will let the ball pass over her head without attempting to hit an overhead). Player A will turn around and chase the ball. She will attempt to return the lob, after the ball bounces, with either another high and deep lob or an aggressive groundstroke.
Depending on how deep the lob is and/or how fast player A is to chase/run around the ball, the return can be either an over-the-shoulder lob or an aggressive groundstroke.
As player A chases the ball, player B will move up to the net ready to intercept A’s return.
Once player A returns the ball, the two players will play the point out. The winner gets one point.
The game continues with every point starting with player A getting lobbed by the coach and player B moving up to the net and attacking A’s return.
Play first to win 7 points and then switch roles.
Note:
Player A will have to come up with the best option to not only get herself from a very difficult defensive situation but, if possible, to turn this into an attacking one: either a deep lob close to the opposite baseline or an aggressive groundstroke at the offensive opponent. Of course, her tactic will depend deeply on the depth of the lob sent by the coach and her ability to move behind/around the ball quickly.
Access many more singles tactics tennis drills inside the Tennis Drills and Lesson Plans for Coaches program.