Home | Hazard | Partner | Junior | Basic

Tennis Anyone?

Practice efficiently and effectively

Having goals are important if you want to improve your tennis game, and one of the most basic is learning to decisively place the ball where you want it to go. But many players make the mistake of simply hitting balls with no consideration of placement. Here’s an easy drill that will help you overcome that problem.

court.jpg

Assign numbers to the four quarters of the tennis court. The deuce service box is #1, the rectangle behind the deuce service court is #2, the area behind the ad court service box is #3 and the ad service court is #4. Whenever a ball comes over the net and before it bounces on your side, call out to yourself or to your coach or practice partner which box you intend to hit the ball into.

return1.jpg

It’s important that you make your choice before the ball lands; if you wait until afterwards, there’s a good chance that the ball will make the decision for you. Plus, deciding early allows you to put aside the thought of your target and focus instead on the position you need to be in to direct the ball to the place where you want it to go which is key. Do this drill regularly and soon the action will become a reflexive and unconscious process, and you’ll be putting your shots on a dime—or at least a quarter.