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.

The Greatest Doubles Drill Ever Created

Dontcha love the name of this drill? I found it in an article by Greg Moran in TennisPro Magazine. If

Is this drill the GOAT??

you have been reading this blog any time at all, you know I sometimes tinker with the original names of the drills I find. But this one is so confident, how dare I?

You will need at least four players. Two are in traditional doubles receiving position (one at service line, one at baseline). The other two are at the net. Coach is off to the side and begins point by feeding a ball to one of the non-net players. First ball should be hit cooperatively to one of the net players. They are then asked to hit back to the baseline player.

To recap: the first three shots (feed, return of feed, return of return) should be cooperative.

Once the third ball has found its way back to the baseline player, anything goes and things get interesting.

Baseline player should be working on avoiding hitting anything to the net players that may end the point in their favor. Lobs and topspin forehands come in handy here.

Net players are working on moving together as well as anticipating baseline player's shots. Most shots should go back to the baseline player unless they have an opportunity to end the point.

Service line player is in the 'hot seat'. Net players may be targeting them so they need to be alert and focused across the net. Look for an opportunity to poach.

Play to a set number of points and rotate so that all players have a chance to work on all positions. Coach feeds a variety of balls including lobs to start the point to better simulate live doubles play. If you want to include serve practice, have the player at the baseline position serve, and returner must follow ball in to restore the preferred starting setup of having two players at the net on their side.

Net Rush

Net Rush is a direct rip-off of another Jorge Capestany drill. He calls it Triples. I have taken the liberty of renaming it,and Jorge I hope you don't mind. The game I know as Triples is nothing like this. It features three players per side and is already posted here.

Net Rush is a drill designed to improve a doubles player's ability to play the first ball coming back to them after their own serve. It is a hybrid of Rush and Crush and All Position Doubles. Great for four or more players.

Four players take up regular doubles positions on court. One of the baseline players bounce feeds the first ball and point is played out. Feeding player MUST follow the ball in to the net.

After each point, players rotate positions with net players advancing to opposite baseline.

It's virtually impossible to use an individual scoring method with this game (believe me, I've tried). So probably best to just run this on a timed interval with plenty of coaching in between points.

Set at the Net

This drill is from an article in TennisPro magazine by Jorge Capestany, PTR and USPTA Master Professional. I have been fortunate to attend a few of Jorge's presentations at PTR conferences. He knows a ton of great drills and I have included many of them in previous posts.

One player is at the net, playing against two players at the baseline. Coach is also at the baseline safely tucked out of the way, feeding the first ball to net player. Players play out the point, complete a set, and rotate a different player over to the net. This is a great way to work on fitness as well as net play.

Variations

• If you have more than 3 players in clinic, run multiple courts with extra players who are not in the game (yet) feeding from behind the baseline. 
• Full set too long? Try a short set, pro set, or tiebreaker format.
• Only 2 students or small group semi-private? Coach plays in.

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.

Dragon's Gold

Dragon's Gold is a warm-up adapted from ThePhysicalEducator.com. Good for large groups of any
age. You will need a tennis ball and some cones or spots, enough for each player.

Create a large circle with the cones or spots. Divide players into equal teams of 2-3 players each. Each player stands near a spot or cone that is their home base. Teams do not have to stand next to each other - players on a single team can be scattered around the circle.

One player is designated the Dragon and is given a tennis ball (the 'gold') to place on the ground in the middle of the circle. Teams take turn trying to steal the Dragon's gold and return to their base without getting tagged. Dragon's job is to protect the gold by tagging players before they can return to their base. Tagged players must freeze. If all players on a team are tagged before they collect the gold, they return to their bases and it is another team's turn. Play continues until one team successfully captures the gold. If no one can capture the gold, once all teams have had a chance, designate a new Dragon.

Boxed In

This is a simple warm-up for both mind and body. Best with medium to large groups.

Arrange players roughly in a square with Coach in the middle. Players take note of where they are standing relative to the Coach as well as to each other. For example,a player might be facing the coach with Johnny to their right and Susie to their left. Some will be behind, some to the right, some to the left, etc.

Coach spins, then stops. All players must then rearrange themselves so that they are back in their original position relative to the coach as well as to each other.

Variation
Rather than spinning, Coach may move to a different part of the court.