Tennis Drill: Caterpillar
This is a fun tennis drill for young players to develop quick lateral movement and ball tracking.
How “Caterpillar” Works
The young players form a single-file line behind the baseline, on the same side as the coach.
The coach grabs 10-20 balls and begins rolling them one by one, side to side towards the baseline, while the kids shuffle sideways, allowing the balls to pass between their feet.
If one of the players touches the ball with their feet, they go to the end of the line – the last player in line runs the most.
This is a fun drill to train lateral movement and ball tracking, such necessary skills for young players.
This is part of My Daddy / My Coach, which you can find inside the How To Teach Tennis course, with the full progression and many more tips and drills.
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Equipment for this lesson
Tennis ball machine
Feeds the same ball every time, so players can groove a stroke like this one without a partner.
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