Bounce Tennis

Thanks to this recent article I will be trying Bounce Tennis soon with my intermediate and higher level students. I had seen the Djokovic video that inspired the article but had forgotten all about it.

Players play mini tennis (service boxes only) singles or doubles. If you have odd numbers, extra players can wait at net post and feed in when there is an error; King/Queen of the Court style; or when one player reaches X number of points.

Ball must bounce on player's own side before passing over net. That's the only difference between Bounce Tennis and regular mini-tennis. Watch the video if that seems confusing.

Team Triples

Team Triples is a twist on the Triples game, a player favorite. I saw it mentioned in the August 2014 issue of Tennis Industry Magazine. I love their idea of making it a team format for a tournament. I especially love the idea of playing it with orange balls!

To recap how Triples works: there are three players on each end of court forming a triangle - one at the T, and two at the baseline where the singles sideline intersects with the baseline. Players self-feed with a bounce feed. Both sides rotate one position after every point. Full court (including alleys) is played. First team to X wins.

Using a slower ball on a full 78-foot court introduces a fitness element. Having the players self-feed introduces a strategy and directional control element.

The article did not give details about who feeds or how, other than suggesting players feed rather than coaches. When we play regular Triples, I usually feed straight ahead to the player across the net from me at the deuce side baseline. We play first to X, best two out of three, and the players rotate positions after every point, so someone new is always getting the feed. I suggest a similar strategy here so that a different person is serving every point. So consider whomever has rotated into the deuce side baseline position the feeder. Avoid having the player at the T as feeder.

As for scorekeeping, because you are rotating players after every point, I would go with a 'first to X' or rather than a traditional 15-30-40 scoring method. If using a 'first to X' scoring strategy, alternate teams feeding with each new game. If you want to play timed rounds, you don't need to have an end point to the game. Whichever team has the most points at the end of the timed round, wins. But with this scoring strategy, you may want to alternate which team is feeding with every point, so that one team is not feeding the entire timed round.

No need to organize a big tournament to enjoy this activity. Consider using this as a warm-up if you have six or more players in your group. If more than six, that's fine - just have the extras rotating in since there is a rotation after every point and things move pretty quickly.

Volley Control Drill

Lauren Stewart's third suggestion for 2.5 drills is this volley drill. In addition to consistency and backhand skills, she said beginners need to work on their volley skills. You will need some throw down targets.

Players pair up away from the net, facing each other 5-10 feet apart. One partner will be tossing balls for the other to volley. The throw down target should be just in front of the volleying partner as a reminder to take a step forward with each volley (make sure they recover after hitting). First team to get to X in a row, wins. Change roles and repeat.

Note only one ball per team is used. If they miss, they have to chase down their ball. Great for warming up!

Progression

• Use net between partners
• All forehands
• All backhands 
• First ball racquet fed, not hand tossed
• Score resets to zero if any misses

Cardio For Two

This drill is from Cosmin Miholca's site webtennisdrills.com. Excited to try it soon with my students.

Players face each other across the net using only one half of the court. Balls must stay in service boxes; in other words, players are playing straight ahead. One player must allow every ball to bounce before hitting it. The other player must alternate between bounce hits and volleys. Failure to do so will award a point to the other player. First to 7 points wins; then reverse roles.

You could do this cross-court to mix things up a little. 

Return of Doom

Here's a lesson plan to focus on the 2nd most important shot of the game: the return of serve.

I used my Ropezone to divide the court diagonally from ad net to deuce baseline. All players are on opposite baseline. I fed a simulated serve into the deuce service box. We then played 21: players are trying to be the first to get at least 21 points. They get 2 points for returns hit cross court and 1 point for hitting down the line. If they are hitting a lot of net balls, I may choose to deduct one point for any net balls. Anyone landing on 13 points had to go back to zero. First player to 21 wins. Then move Ropezone to opposite corners, move players to ad side and repeat.

Now that the players have warmed up their returns, let them warm up their serves. Commence time round round robin, singles or doubles. Score game as usual EXCEPT any missed return of serve is GAME OVER. Keep track of games won per player. Player with most wins at end of round robin wins. You could also keep track of how many players lost a game by missing their return. Player with fewest misses wins.

Battle Spots

Battle Spots is a target activity similar to Battle Cones posted here previously. My students and I have a few modifications that we believe improves the game. I saw the original while I was taking the CoachYouthTennis online training sessions.

In both games, the object is to hit your opponents' spots/cones with your ball. I like the Spots version of this game because they are lower profile and less of a trip hazard for younger players. But they are also harder to hit. When we played straight-up Battle Spots with no modifications, it was almost impossible to eliminate all spots. As Ken DeHart has suggested, better to try to be the first player to hit ANY spot, and win. Another problem I had with this game is that players tended to park in front of or on top of their spots to protect them, and would not move to go after balls and play out the point because there was no benefit to winning the point - the motivation was stronger to protect the spots. However, with one simple modification suggested by one of my green ball students, a version of Battle Spots can be played where the first player/team to lose all spots, loses, and everyone is motivated to both play out the point as well as protect their spots.

Here's a recent lesson progression that worked great in orange, green and yellow ball classes recently.

I used a mini-tennis version of Battle Spots for our ball warm-up as follows.

• An equal number of spots are put down on each side of the net. I put them about in the middle of the forecourt. 
• Divide players into two teams. 
• Teams take turn bounce-feeding and playing out the point.
• Object is to be the first team eliminate all of your opponent's spots.
• Spots may be eliminated either by being hit by opponent's ball, OR - here's the modification - whenever a team earns three points. Note: if one team gets three points, other team removes a spot. Team earning three points is reset to zero points. Team removing spots DOES NOT reset to zero and retains however many points they had when opponent got their three. This creates a fun, equalizing see-saw effect.

For added fun and a fitness component, I had both teams playing this game in relay style: player 'hits and gits' - hit one ball, go to end of team line, next player plays next ball. This avoids the dreaded waiting in line syndrome and keeps everyone moving.

After the mini tennis version was completed, we took a water break. I moved the spots back to the T area and we played it again from the baseline.

We played this as relay singles, but it could easily be played as doubles.

Flingerz

My amazing, unparalleled orange ball class came up with this fun warm-up idea recently. They named it, too! You will need some plastic throw-down spots, the kind with a large hole in the center.

Players pair up across the net from each other. One partner is the Flinger. The other is trying to catch the flung spots on the end of their racquet. See who can get the most catches during a set time period, or which team can get X number of catches first. Switch roles, repeat.

Sprint Caterpillar

I saw this warm-up in a video on Steve Smith's site www.tennissmith.com. Works for all ages and abilities.

Set up a cone, just beyond one doubles sideline. Players jog lightly in a line from the opposite
doubles sideline to the cone. As they reach the opposite sideline and head back to where they started, when the last player in line passes the cone (red arrow), that player sprints to the head of the line (green arrow).

Continue until all players have had a chance to be the sprinter.

Rollerball

Bouncy balls cheap at the dollar stores this time of year
photo from coolsciencedad.blogspot.com

Rollerball is a fun warm-up lifted as-is from the CoachYouthTennis site. You will need a large-ish ball such as a rubber, dodge, soccer, or basketball. If you want to see a video of this activity, take the coaching course at CYT and it will appear in lesson 5.

Two players, or two coaches, stand at net posts. They roll the large ball on the ground between them. Meanwhile, all other players are at the baseline, rolling regular tennis balls on the ground toward the net. Object is to hit the larger ball.

When I did this recently, I had six red ball players on court. Two were rolling the large ball; the other four were at the baseline. I gave them 30 second timed periods and had them keep track of how many times they were able to hit the larger ball. We rotated pairs in to roll the large ball. Player at the end of the three rounds with the most hits was our winner.

Make sure your players:

• stay behind the baseline to roll the tennis balls toward the net
• keep the tennis balls on the ground
• roll with a good quality underhand motion, stepping with opposite foot, hand releasing toward target, very similar to bowling which many of them have done thanks to Wii.

Toe Fencing

Toe Fencing is also from the Quebec PE site. It's a great idea for warm-ups for any size group from 2 players on up. It reminds me of the Gotcha game but doesn't need any bean bags or extra equipment, so hurray!

Pair up players. Pairs hold both of each others' hands about shoulder height. Object is to tag opponent's toes with your toes while of course not letting them tag you!

The site gives a couple of good options for game management: you could either go for highest number of tags in a giving amount of time, or go until someone achieves X number of tags before switching partners.

Tusker Tag

Another fun warm-up variation on tag from the Quebec PE site: Tusker Tag. Best for large groups.

Players pair up. All pairs must hold hands or wrists. One pair is designated Tusker. If you have an uneven number of players, include single player as one of the Tuskers also. Give Tusker team a ball. Commence playing 'tag'. Tusker team tries to tag other pairs with ball. Note they are touching other players with the ball still in hand, not throwing ball at them. When tagged, pair is frozen in place and must raise the hands they are holding up into a bridge shape. They may be unfrozen if any other unfrozen pair runs underneath their 'bridge'.

If any hands/wrists become disconnected, that pair is automatically frozen also.

Object is to tag/freeze all players.

Make this game harder by gradually shrinking the playing space. For example, start by using the entire end of court. Then shrink to back court only. Then to service box. Then alley. Any players stepping outside of boundaries are frozen.

Gotcha!

Gotcha! is an easy and fun tennis warm-up idea from one of my co-workers, Coach Tricia. Tricia is a retired PE teacher and has many great ideas for small and large group activities. 

You will need some bean bags or koosh balls or other soft items that do not bounce or roll, enough for one each. Restrict the game area to a portion of the court based on the size of your group. You want it small enough to make it fun, but large enough to be safe. In this example we were using the service box. 

Play is during a timed interval. When Coach says Go, players try to tag each other on the foot with their bean bags. When they are successful, they call out 'Gotcha!' At the end of the timed interval, player with most Gotchas wins.

Tennis Checkers

Thanks Martyn Collins for tipping me to this site. Lots of fun game ideas here. They call this game Ultimate Sponge Ball so look for that title if you want to see the original instructions. Looking at the game diagram I am reminded of the game of checkers, so pardon my name change. I am a little unclear on a couple of the rules so I am clarifying them on the fly here. Best with groups, good for warm-up.

Divide group into two even teams. If you are playing this on the tennis court, perfect - each time stakes out one end of court. Object of the game is to be the first team to move the ball behind other team's baseline.

• Ball can only be moved by throwing/catching. Players may not run, walk, or otherwise move with the ball. Players who do not have the ball may change positions including moving around net to opponent's end of court when on offense and taking up defensive positions when not.
• Defending team may not move to interfere with a thrown ball - no batting out of the air, jumping up and down, etc. Defender must remain one arm's length plus one racquet length away from opponents. Note this is approximate distance one should be from ball at point of contact.
• Dropped ball or ball thrown out of bounds results in a change of possession. Original game did not say where change of possession should take place, so I am arbitrarily saying baseline of other team.

Here's how I envision this game working: game commences with one player tossing a ball to another teammate to advance the ball toward the opponent's baseline. All players are able to change positions except the person who has the ball. So let's say Player A has the ball. She waits until one of her teammates is ready (Player B), then throws it to them. Player B now must decide which teammate to throw the ball to, standing in place and waiting until her teammates have rearranged themselves and are ready to receive the ball. In the meantime, the defending team can also move around relative to the offense's movements as long as they stay appropriate distance from any player. Defense can play zone or man-to-man, whichever they think will be most effective. So this game should be very dynamic and have kids moving around constantly to either advance or defend their positions.

First team to 7 wins, best two out of three.

If this is too difficult, allow one bounce or use a bigger ball.

Mr. Wolf

Perfect book to accompany
this game

Thanks to Martyn Collins for sending this website my way. I will be R&D'ing* heavily the next few posts to convert some of the fun game ideas into tennis activities.

The original is entitled, "What Time Is It, Mr. Wolf?" but I can already see where that will be too long for my younger students. Game names are important to the success of an activity. If you have some activities that seem like they should be fun but aren't quite working, make sure they have a fun name. If they don't have a name, make one up. If it involves scary animals like sharks or wolves, all the better!

This game is best for larger groups. One player is selected as the Wolf. The Wolf stands with his/her back to the rest of the group. If you are playing this on a full size tennis court, have the Wolf at the net and all others behind the baseline.

Players in the large group take turns calling out, "What time is it, Mr. Wolf?" Each time Wolf answers, players take a step closer to Wolf. Remember, Wolf has his/her back to the group so cannot see how close they are. Wolf answers each question with a time. Time can be completely made up, like ''two thirty" or "eleven fifteen". Eventually however, Wolf will answer, "Dinner time!", turn, and chase the players. First player tagged before reaching the safe zone behind the baseline is the new Wolf.

You may have to dictate how large of a step should be taken after each of Wolf's answers - giant step, baby step, regular step, etc.

*ripping off and duplicating

4 Stroke Challenge

4 Stroke Challenge is great for any level. I use it both as a warm-up as well as a point competition activity.

Warm-up version
Players begin at service line. You can have one line or two depending on your feeding prowess and the size of the group. Each player is fed four balls from coach in this order: forehand, backhand, volley, overhead. Then they rotate out and next player is in for their four.

It gives me a chance to do two important things. 1)They get used to the idea of following a ball in
(the backhand, in this case) for a volley. 2) We get to tweak the overhead, and they get used to hitting a high ball out of the air.

Keep the feeds at a lively pace, keep them on their toes and paying attention to keep the line moving.

Point Competition
Once you feel they are warmed up, change the rotation so that after a player completes their four shots, they come over to other side of court. The four shots are still fed, but now they play out the point each time. You may have to move your feeding location if you have been feeding from on court.

One point awarded to winning player each time, so every rotation, a total of four points will be earned by someone. I don't give second chances on the feed. If they miss the feed, point goes to opponent. Player with most points when hopper is empty, wins.

This could be played as singles or as doubles. If you play it as doubles, you have a couple of scoring options.

• Switch to a golf score format. Points awarded to player making error; player with lowest score when hopper is empty, wins.
• Award all players 10 points when you begin. Subtract points for errors. Player with most remaining points when hopper is empty, wins.

Son of 5 Points

Last year I wrote about an activity called 5 Points. This is an update, inspired by an article in TennisPro magazine by Amy Pazahanick . It talks about the difference between hard skills and soft skills, which I also mentioned in the 5 Points post. So this reincarnation of 5 Points emphasizes hard skills for those days when you need to get back to basics and hit a ton of balls to hone technique. Best with small groups. Also I am going to present this activity as part of an entire lesson (as opposed to one activity during the lesson) centered around the number 5.

Begin with a dynamic warm-up as follows:
All players set their racquets down on the court along the doubles sideline. Allow plenty of room between racquets. All players then go to far sideline and put a pile of 5 balls down directly across court from their racquets. When Coach says 'go', players move one ball at a time from their pile onto their racquet, using a medium jog. This is a warm-up, not a race. After all balls are on racquet, repeat activity with one big difference: instead of medium jog, all players are now facing the net and side shuffling rather than medium jog. Remember, this is a warm-up, not a race. Balls should be replaced into hopper. Look for good form on side shuffle -  no galloping; eyes across net.

Once warm-up is complete, Son of 5 Points can begin as follows.

One player is on one side of net; all others are on other side. Coach hand-feeds five balls to the individual player. One point is earned for every ball hit into play. Players across net can also earn balls if they can catch one in the air or after one bounce. After 5 balls are fed, players rotate and a new player is now the hitter.

I start with forehands from the service line, then move back to baseline; then switch to backhands from the service line, and finish with backhands from the baseline. By this time, the hopper should be getting empty. Once it is empty, pick up all balls. Players keep their scores - we are not done yet!

Repeat activity with one difference: non-fed players are now hitting balls back rather than catching balls with their hands. Maximum two players returning at a time; others waiting to rotate in. Points awarded for every rally. So the points earned could be pretty high if you have some long rallies. Have your players responsible for keeping their own scores as this is nigh on impossible doing yourself if you have more than 3-4 players. Player with most points at end of second hopper emptying is the winner. Pay attention to hitting order and number of rotations so that all players get the same number of opportunities hitting.

Before picking up balls now, have all players retire to one side of court and warm up serves with balls on that side of court. By the time all of these balls are served to other side, all players should be plenty warmed up and ready to finish the lesson with some match play.

Mountain Climb

Mountain Climb is Daniel Breag's version of Uptown/Downtown. But I like his addition of different types of balls at the various stations.

Players are distributed among as many courts as you have available. They play singles across the net from each other. Half courts are okay/encouraged. Small ball/mini tennis okay also. Points are played out; winner of best 2 of 3 moves 'up' a court and non-winner moves 'down'. Which is up/down is determined prior to play.

Since each court has different types of balls, typically the slowest balls will be on the lowest court. Balls will increase in compression until you get to the highest court. So for example if you have three half courts playing, first court could be orange ball; then green ball; then yellow ball would be the highest court and ultimate goal.

Players at highest court when activity is finished are the winners.

Smashmouth

This is such a fun game from PTR Master Professional Daniel Breag. Simple and action-packed. Plus, I like the name.

Four players at service lines. One starts the point with a bounce feed. Point is played out. Ball must stay within service boxes. Each player serves 4 times. Team with most points after 16 serves is the winner.

Full disclosure: Daniel said a couple different times that this was a 32 point game, so either my math skills are lacking (likely) or I misunderstood his instructions (also likely). In any case, this activity is great for a warm-up, great for quick hands, great for working on volleys and using the continental grip.

If you have more than 4 players but only one court, divide them into teams and have them rotate after every 4 points/feeds.

Variations

• Make it harder by restricting strokes - all volleys, all backhands, etc.
• Start play with a 'drop' ball - feeder places ball on racquet, then gently rolls it onto other side of net to begin point.

Hit Or Miss

After months of stealing other pros' drills, today I have one that I made up spur-of-the-moment yesterday. Great warm-up for any size group, any ability. No special equipment needed. Yes, there is the dreaded 'line' of players waiting to hit, but this goes quickly.

Players line up at service line or baseline, however you prefer to warm up. Coach feeds balls to players from net post area.  If player hits safely, he/she goes to end of line. However if he/she hits out or into net, ALL players run to opposite end of court, re-form line, and continue activity. Repeat for every miss. Yes this means Coach needs to switch sides also so be prepared. Coach may feed wherever they want to adjust the challenge accordingly. Go for as long as you want or until players are sufficiently warmed up.

Group Of

Group Of is a warm-up activity best for medium to large groups. It is similar to Musical Chairs without the music.

Scatter racquets around the tennis court. Give each player one tennis ball. Players move about the court. Leader calls out a number. Players must form a group of that size around one of the racquets as soon as possible, and place their ball on the racquet, forming their 'group'. So for example if the leader calls out '3', all players must form a group of three players/balls at one of the racquets. Any players unable to form a group may perform a challenge activity such as jumping jacks, chicken dance, touchdown dance, donkey kicks, something silly but not demeaning.

Players must select a different racquet location each round to avoid having them hang out at a single location the whole time.

Variations

• Players must move around the court in a designated fashion such as running, skipping, hopping, etc.
• Players have a designated amount of time to form their group.