Double Trouble

Double Trouble originally was a ball machine drill suggested in TennisPro Magazine by Inaki Balzola, PTR's International Director. It's a great doubles drill for large groups. Players should be able to rally.

One player is at ad side baseline; coach is at same baseline on deuce side. All other players are at the net post. Coach feeds first ball to first player waiting at net post. This player volleys the ball back toward the coach. Coach feeds second ball cross court; same player must run and volley toward player waiting at baseline.

Player at baseline lobs this volley over net player. Net player runs down the lob, returns it with a lob of their own, goes to end of player line. Note baseline player does not have to play this ball. Coach then stars the process all over again with next player waiting in line.

Continue for a set time or until X amount of lobs have been hit by either player; then rotate a different player into the baseline position.

Variation
Eliminate first fed volley; volleying player only gets one ball fed before baseline player returns it with a lob.

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.

Loblolly

Of course I found this on a TX website
a TX loblolly aka mud hole

Another one from Daniel Breag - he did not give it a specific name so I will harken back to my rural roots. So simple - tennis face palm moment.

Four players are in, all at baseline. One end of court can hit nothing but lobs. Great for working on overheads and defending against them. Structure it however you like. For example:

Variations

• First team to X points wins; switch ends; best 2 of 3.
• First team to hit X winning overheads wins.
• First team to hit X unreturned lobs wins. 
• For groups larger than 4, divide into teams, have players rotating in after every point. Timed intervals; team who is ahead at end of time, wins. 

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.

Spiders and Snakes

So apparently the 1973 Skylab
mission has a tennis connection

This is what I deserve for Googling 'snake tennis drill'. . . but this one is a cute idea from . Good for groups of 4-6 or more. Players should be able to rally.
www.ncacoach.org

Two players are designated 'spiders' and are stationed at the net. All others ('snakes') are lined up at the opposite baseline. Snakes play against the two Spiders one vs. two. Coach feeds first ball to Snake #1. Snake #1 cannot lob the first ball. Players play out the point. If Snake wins, Snake moves up to T and gets second ball fed. If Snake wins second point, he/she takes place of one of the Spiders, who now is one of the Snakes. When game is over, Snakes pick up all balls.

Original instructions did not specify which Spider is replaced by Snake who won 2 points in a row. Suggest the Spider who made the error is the one who is now a Snake.

The Snake

This was the only snake pic I could bear
to include. Available here.

The 11-17 PTR certification workshop I attended recently was lead by PTR Master Professional Daniel Breag of St. Marys, GA. He had some great ideas for on court activities, so you will be seeing many of them here in the next few blog posts.

I really hate snakes, but this name makes sense so I will leave it as-is. The concept is simple and can be used for all kinds of shot production. We used it to work on split steps and volleys.

Coach is feeding from service line. Players are lined up across net. One at a time they move up to starting spot (about halfway between service line and net) and split step. Coach feeds out wide to their forehand, where they move to hit a volley, then immediately run to back of line.

If this is working properly, the players are snaking through at a pretty good clip, so it is not as heinous as some of the other dreaded line drills.

50 Ball Rally

I attended a PTR 11-17 certification this workshop and came away with some great drill ideas. This one is from Ashlee Creen, girls tennis coach at Brookland Cayce High School. Great for large groups, but you can make it work with as few as 4 players. Players should be able to volley and rally. No special equipment needed.

Divide players into two teams. Each team selects one player as their King or Queen. King/Queen takes up position at net. All other players on their team are at the opposite baseline. One at a time, they rally straight ahead relay fashion (baseline player hits one ball, then goes to end of line so next player can hit next ball). First team to 50 rallies, wins.

Variations

• If they miss, they don't necessarily have to start over at zero - that is completely up to you. 
• Switching out King/Queen - you can do this after each round of 50, or devise some method of having them switch during play. For example, if net player mis-plays a ball, they have to switch with whomever they were playing against. 
• Limit to specific shots, such as players must hit only backhands, or net player must hit volleys. 

This game generated a high level of enthusiasm, camaraderie and competition. I will def be trying it soon with my own students.