Four Square Jr.

Four Square is a ball machine drill by Inaki Balzola in a recent issue of Tennis Pro magazine. If you

don't have access to a ball machine, YOU are the ball machine :)

Balls are fed from the T. Feeds alternate between ad and deuce baseline. Players are on opposite baseline in two lines (deuce and ad). Place a cone or spot at the hash mark between them.

Opposite end of court is divided into four spaces. Ad service box is #1. Deuce service box is #2. Ad back court is #3. Deuce back court is #4.

Each player in line hits four balls, recovering to touch cone target after every hit. Player cannot hit into the same numbered square twice in a row. Player gets one point for every square hit, unless they hit the same square twice in a row, in which case they get ZERO points for that turn.

Play for a set time period or until machine/hopper is empty. Player with most points wins.

Variations

• Subtract a point for hitting into the net.
• Points earned equal square hit into. 1 point for square 1, 2 points for square 2, etc.
• Extra points, or instant winner, for hitting all four squares in order 1-2-3-4.
• All shots must be forehands, backhands, slice, topspin, whatever you want to work on that day.

Breakout

No, it's not Ebola, or acne. Breakout is my own mash-up of Jailbreak and Net Monster.

All players begin on one baseline. Coach feeds ball to one player at a time. If player misses, he/she comes over to coach's side and plays at the net. If net player hits a winner, he/she is back in line.

You can accommodate 5-6 players at net safely on 60- or 78-foot court; 4-5 on 36-foot court max. If you get more than this, don't do it - it isn't safe. Just have the extra players wait until a spot opens up for them when another player hits a winner and rejoins the line.

Goal is to be the last player standing on the original end (not the net side) and hit a ball in that is not intercepted by the net players.

Consistency Rally

Here's another rally drill from Lauren Stewart at The Woodlands. Again, suggested for 2.5 players but perfect for beginners of all ages. Another trait of 2.5 players is that they lack consistency. There's a drill for that. :)

Players pair up with a partner across the net and cross court. Play within the singles lines. Pairs/teams earn one point for every five ball rally achieved. First team to 5 points, wins. Switch sides (not ends) so players can get proficient on both sides of court.

If you have odd numbers of players, divide into teams and have them rotating in for whoever makes the error.

Progression
Play within service boxes with red or orange balls for easiest or for a good warm-up.
Start on 60 foot court with orange ball; progress to full court with green, then yellow balls.
Allow alleys. Two points for any ball landing in alley.

Backhand Rally

Here's the first of several drills from the recent USTA South Carolina coaches workshop at Cayce

Tennis & Fitness Center. This one is from Lauren Stewart, tennis pro at The Woodlands in Columbia SC.

Lauren's presentation was about drills for womens' teams of various levels. But I found all could easily be adapted for junior players.

Lauren had her drills organized by playing level: 2.5, 3.0-3.5, and 4.0. She said 2.5s often struggle with or avoid hitting their backhands, so she suggested this drill to build skill and confidence.

Partners pair up across the net from each other, behind the service line. One player may only hit backhands. The other may hit any shot they like. Players rally straight ahead. Ball must land in service box. If the designated backhand hitter hits something other than a backhand, that's a point for the other player. First to X points wins. Round Two: switch to hitting cross court.

Progression: move farther back or switch to a faster ball. For examply if you are hitting orange ball, change to green.

The Case For No Cut

Lots of great info from the USTA South Carolina tennis coaches workshop I attended recently. New drills forthcoming. In the meantime I am taking a moment for a brief rant about 'no cut' tennis teams. If you are not into rants, just be patient and new drills will be posted over the next few days.

Rant Commences Here

When the workshop broke for lunch, I was fortunate to be sitting at a table with lots of great tennis folks

These fun portraits happen when you get
inducted into the SC Tennis Hall of Fame

including Barbara Jones from St. George SC and some of her pals who have done amazing things getting youth tennis going there. SC Tennis Hall of Famer Bernie McGuire also joined us. Bernie is the tennis coach at a private school called Hammond in Columbia, SC. I had never met Bernie in person, but had worked with him by proxy, coordinating a friendly with some of his players last fall through his assistant, Bob Crab. I introduced myself and we talked about Hammond a little bit. He mentioned he had 71 girls on his no cut tennis team.

Seventy. One.

While that is sinking in, let me 'splain. In case you are not familiar with 'no cut', it's exactly what it sounds like. No one is cut. Anyone can join the team, regardless of skill level. USTA has an official No Cut program and encourages schools to participate because obviously this has the potential to increase the tennis playing population. But in my experience, schools are reluctant to embrace no cut. Last year another coach (who will remain nameless) summed it up when she said she didn't like no cut because they didn't have enough coaches to handle large groups of kids. Okay, I get that. But she also had some tasteless remarks about the skill levels of the kids that no cut attracts. She basically didn't have the personality or patience to coach beginners, is what it boiled down to. She'd rather just cut them.

With this conversation in mind, I asked Coach Bernie how he handles staggering numbers like 71 kids on a team. He said he just recruits volunteer coaches through parents, friends and staff members who have tennis skills. And that was that. No complex methods or explanations. No whining or complaining. Just asks for help, finds help, finds a way to not turn away 50 kids who want to play tennis.

Doesn't that sound simple? Yeah, but you and I both know it's never that simple. It's a lot of work. But if you have what it takes, the rewards are worth it. Reach out to your state USTA reps, your local tennis professionals, parents, staff, neighbors. Ask for resources. Ask for help. Put a racquet in a kid's hand. The magic of no cut is providing an outlet for kids to play a sport whose main roadblock to playing a sport is the dread of being cut, of being told you're not good enough. High school has enough soul-devouring experiences over four years. Anxiety over making a sports team, which is supposed to be about playing a GAME for crying out loud, supposed to be FUN, should not be one of them.

And all you parents out there worried a no cut team will dilute the coaching talent too much and your little Andy Roddick wannabe won't get his share of coaching time - you and I both know the junior development coaching does not occur on the high school courts, so get over it. If you don't know that, and you're depending on the high school team experience to get your player to Wimbledon, you don't know much about tennis. You're doing it wrong.

Rant Concludes Here

So props to Coach Bernie and all the other great no cut high school teams out there. I'm impressed. You're doing it right.

Photo from USTA Midwest section No Cut page