Serve and volley in singles play was endangered for a while. It is definitely down but not out - you still see it occasionally. Like the lob, it is a rare event in professional tennis. But to the 99% of us who don't play professionally, and the majority of aging players trending into doubles, it can be useful. So put this drill in your tool box. If players are not using S&V, we don't want it to be because their coaches never taught it to them.
Serve and volley just means you pair a serve with charging into the net to play the next ball from there. Sure, you are taking a risk by leaving the back court open, which is why you want to deploy this at the proper time. But worrying about the 'when' is for another lesson. Attack and Smack is more about the basics of getting into the mindset of moving in behind your serve. This is so often an anomaly to players who are trained to recover and maintain a baseline position.
Your players will need to be advanced beginners or beyond. The concept is simple: server must serve and volley after every serve, or serving team loses point. End of story. Note it is easy to forget the serve and volley aspect until you have played out a few points. We are all so focused on point outcome, and rightly so. But for this game, make sure all players understand the point is lost if the server does not serve and volley, regardless of who actually wins the point.
From The Tennis Drill Book by Tina Hoskins.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Friday, November 2, 2012
Put Your Hitting Wall To Work
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| Our big brown hitting wall |
- the 5 minute challenge - how many rallies can you get in 5 minutes? We are already doing this on an ongoing basis. Results are posted on our Facebook page. Think of it as the hitting wall version of a ladder.
- Ping pong tennis (two players alternating shots)
- Wipeout - group of players hitting relay style, player who misses is out
- Target practice - get out the 3M painter's tape!
Put your underutilized hitting wall to work to keep players busy while they wait to play in your tournament. Or, make the hitting wall the star of your next event!
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Rising Star
Player A stands at the baseline near the sideline. Player B is at the opposite baseline in the center of the court. Player A alternates feeding ball cross court and down the line to Player B. Player B must return all balls to Player A.
As you can see, this game also requires a certain level of fitness, so limit playing time accordingly.
I found this activity in The Tennis Drill Book by Tina Hoskins. I have a link to it on my Amazon store page here.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Monster Doubles
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| Hands down my favorite movie monster |
Traditional doubles formation has one player starting at the baseline on their half of the court (ad or deuce), either serving or receiving serve. Their partner is closer to the net on the other half of the court. So if the server is on deuce side, server's partner is on ad side closer to net and vice versa. Receiver's partner is usually around the service line helping call the serve and ready to react to opponent's net player.
In Australian doubles, player are still on their half of the court (ad or deuce) but shade closer to the middle line. So for example if the server is serving from deuce, they are closer to the hash mark than the singles sideline. Their partner is still up at the net but is closer to the middle of the court on the ad side.
In Monster Doubles, the net player is straddling the line down the middle of the court when their partner is serving. The idea is to cause confusion for the opponents and work on poaching skills. Imperative the net player signal their serving partner EVERY point, letting them know which way they will be moving. This helps the server know which half of the court to cover more quickly. So part of the fun of this game is to let them come up with their own super secret hand signals.
Note: traditionally hand signals are given by the net player to their serving partner with their free hand behind their back. Also, traditionally the server gives a verbal signal to let their partner know they have seen and understood the signal without the net player having to turn around and confirm.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Half-Court Hustle
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| Slow feet need not apply |
One player, or coach, stands at net. Second player stands across net at service line. Net player feeds soft angle volleys, forcing second player to hustle to get the ball. Net player feeds quickly and continuously for one minute before switching roles or rotating in next player.
Progression
Too hard? use a slower ball and hand toss rather than feeding/playing with racquet
Monday, October 29, 2012
10 Ball Singles
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| Feed nice or this could get Messi |
Divide players into two groups. One group is feeding; the other is playing out the point. The object is for each player in the playing group to attain 10 consecutive rallies. Playing singles, first two players begin on baseline. Feeder may feed ball anywhere in court. Player gets one point for every ball hit in play and minus points for any misses. Once one of the playing players has achieved the 10 ball goal, players switch roles and the Feeders are now the Players.
If you have enough courts, two players per court can play this as singles. If you don't have room, use one court and rotate players in each group every point.
Variation
- Coach is feeder; players take turns receiving/playing the fed ball and racking up their points. First to 10 wins.
- Sharpen specific strokes by only awarding points for featured stroke - forehand, backhand, lob, volley, etc.
Friday, October 26, 2012
Choosing the Right Clinic For Your Player
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| The facility is gorgeous, but does the junior program fit your needs? |
The article lists 10 important features of a quality junior tennis program. I wholeheartedly agree with most and have made some of the same points in a couple of earlier blog entries here and here and oh yeah here. I only have two pickies, as we used to say in my writing critique group:
Point #2 of the 10 discusses the number of balls hit during the lesson. They suggest 250-300 balls struck per student as a rule of thumb. I think that's too many for very young players. I would argue 250-300 total balls struck during the class, not per player, is more realistic for players under 7. As the authors note in a different point, tennis instruction is no longer all about 60 minutes of dead ball feeds. Live ball drills and match play reduce the number of balls struck. Even though this is so, these types of activities are more beneficial to the players IMO.
Plus, how on earth can a parent tell how many balls are being struck? I have a second rule of thumb for you. Large ball carts can hold about 300 regulation size balls, so just see how many pickups are done during the lesson. Multiply by 300 and divide by number of students. If they are using the small hoppers, estimate 60 balls.
Point #10 stung a little bit. As a non-traditional instructor coming late to the party, I resent the comment that certifications are 'largely meaningless'. The implication is that any goofball can get certified. While I did not go through a junior development program, and the highest playing level I achieved is 4.0, when I did commit to teaching junior tennis, I went to the trouble and expense of doing it right. I received and maintain my certification. While neither USPTA or PTR is perfect, I think they are on the right track and have the correct goals at center: to provide quality tennis instruction. I would argue if the facility's staff cannot be bothered with becoming certified (said certification achievable by any goofball), one has to wonder why.
Anyway, as I said, I agree with 8 out of the 10 points so be sure to check out the entire article. Thanks CAtennis for a great read.
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