Fence Trap

After scouring over 400 posts on this blog I cannot for the life of me find one on trapping the ball against the back fence to improve service toss and point of contact. How can I have overlooked this? It's a tried-and-true technique for improving serve, no matter the age or ability of the player.

You will need a fence or wall 2-3 feet taller than your player. Stand sideways next to the fence/wall with your non-dominant foot touching the fence/wall and your tossing arm closest to fence/wall. Toss ball as if you were going to hit an overhand serve, so ball needs to be 2-3 feet higher than your head, or about as high as player can reach with racquet. Trap ball against fence with racquet.

Players will soon find this is easier to do with a good quality toss out in front of them (which hopefully they have perfected by doing the Tap N Toss activity). Tossing behind them pretty much makes this impossible.

Once player is comfortable with this, have them turn 180 degrees and face the net, or move to the actual baseline. Visualizing the fence trap activity (now imagining the fence at the baseline), have them try tossing and 'trapping' the ball. Since there is no fence/wall in their way now, they should have a pretty good quality point of contact at the baseline.

Notes: if you are using a fence, avoid the support poles. Very hard on the racquet.

Here's a video of one of my Red Ball students performing the activity:

Also here's a great article from about.com listing some other common-sense strategies for improving the serve.

7 Free Things To Improve Your Junior's Tennis

Anne Pankhurst

More good info from the recent PTR 10 and Under Tennis Conference in Hilton Head. Physiology and instruction guru Anne Pankhurst led a couple different sessions which you will be hearing more about in future blog posts. Anne is a big shot in this field. The Baltimore Ravens recently had her over to consult with them on their junior sports program.

One of Anne's sessions was entitled 'Helping Parents Help Their Kids in Tennis'. She included some great tips on general ABC's (agility, balance, coordination) that will help any child improve in any sport. We have talked about these before in previous blog posts, but they are definitely worth mentioning again. These basic skills are often sadly lacking in today's TV and video game-based sedentary lifestyle. All are simple things you can do with your child at home. All are things your child should be delighted to do. I sometimes call these things 'homework'. That often results in a sour face from my students until they hear just exactly what the 'homework' entails.

Parents often ask me what they can do to help their kids improve their tennis skills outside of our lessons. The easy answer is to take your child out to the neighborhood courts and play. But this is often not an option for some. So here are some beneficial activities that can be done right at home - no courts required!

Here's the Magnificent 7:

• Reaction/tracking - performing some of the 'bounce, catch' and other similar activities shows me the student is focused on the ball and is learning the proper timing and reaction based on what the ball is doing.
• Throwing/catching TO SIDE - very important if you have a tennis player in the family and want to play a game of catch, please have them catch and throw from the side rather than from the belly button. This simulates the proper point of contact when they are hitting the ball. For example, for forehands - out in front racquet distance away (arms outstretched) at 2 o'clock for righties and 10 o'clock for lefties.
• Overhand throwing - just as if they are throwing a football or baseball. This simulates an overhand service motion.
• Running - good footwork and fitness is key in many sports. Tennis is no exception. 
• Jumping - improves footwork, timing.
• Skipping - great for coordination! Skipping is harder than it looks!
• Jump rope - I brought some jump ropes to class recently to use during the warm-up. They were a huge hit. Strongly recommend adding them to your tennis bag of goodies. 

Anne said she tells parents 'don't pay coaches to do [the above activities]'. I understand her point - why waste valuable on-court time on things you can easily take care of at home for free? But let me give you a different perspective: if you see your child's coach including some of these activities, don't despair. This may be the only time some of the other students get to do them. Since they are so critical to physical development, a reasonable amount of time spent on basic athletic skills shows me the coach understands their importance, especially for very young players (8 and under). 

Partner Toss/Catch Variations

Will Hamilton from www.fuzzyyellowballs.com
demonstrating his tossing skills

Tossing and catching skills are central to many sports. In tennis, both progress into making contact with and hitting the ball with the racquet. So the more often your students work on these two basic skills, the quicker they will improve.

These two skills are also wonderful because they require little extra equipment and can be performed off the court (at home) for easy and fun tennis homework assignments. The tossing/catching activities below will require a partner.

Easiest
Rolling - partners face each other a few feet apart. They take turns rolling the ball to each other. Receiving partner must move so that the ball is between their feet when they stop it. Crank it up a notch by adding a ball and having each partner rolling/catching the balls simultaneously.

Harder
Tossing - same as above, but have them toss underhanded rather than rolling the ball. No bounce is hardest. If this is too difficult allow one or more bounces, but still have the receiving player moving to catch the ball in the center of the body.

Hardest
These will require coordination!

• Each partner has a ball. One player rolls their ball. The other underhand tosses. Simultaneously!
• One player underhand tosses (catch in air); the other bounce passes (one bounce before catch). Again, simultaneously!
• Still using two balls, but in this variation, one partner has two balls in one hand, and tosses both at the same time to their partner. Partner must catch both balls after one bounce. If this is too hard, allow two bounces. 

Adapted from USTA's QuickStart Tennis guide

Cannon Ball

This may be going a little too far

Cannon Ball is a great activity for your youngest beginners. It's a variation of a toss-catch activity like Cone Catch or 1 Bounce, 2 Bounce. Perfect for warm-ups or homework for any age group.

Coach tosses a ball high in the air and calls out a player's name. Player attempts to catch the ball after at least one bounce. All players and coach count aloud together how many bounces occur before player catches the ball. Continue until all players have had a turn.

Variations

• Use different types of balls - rubber playground balls, beach balls, soccer balls, etc.
• Play with pairs of partners taking turns tossing and catching with each other.

Adapted from USTA's Learn To Rally And Play 

Ball Drop

Ball Drop is a fun activity great for warm-ups and homework. It is great for sharpening focus on the ball and improving quickness and agility. I first saw it demonstrated at a Recreational Coaches Workshop. Appropriate for all ages. You will need two balls and at least two people.

Players face each other 3-5 feet apart. I usually have them face each other across the alley on court. One player has two balls, one in each hand. He/she holds the balls straight out to the side, forming a T shape. They drop one of the balls. The other player must retrieve the ball before it bounces twice.

Progressions

• Too easy? increase the distance between the players.
• Too hard? Toss the ball into the air rather than dropping it, thus giving the retrieving player more time to react and retrieve. Or, allow more than once bounce. 

Tap N Toss

Note: this player is a lefty so she is tossing with her right arm

Tap N Toss is one of two activities I beg my students to use as their regular Tennis Homework (the other is Bounce, Catch). Once my students progress to overhand serves, it is imperative they have a consistent and high quality toss. Tap N Toss is a simple and effective way to acquire one. It can be done indoors with relative ease, so we avoid the excuse of not having a place to practice at home. All they need is a ball or any other item they can toss and catch easily and safely with one hand.

Find a line on the floor, or just imagine one in a space where you can toss and catch safely. Line up at this line as if it were the baseline - face sideways to the 'net' with your non-dominant side closest to the net. Hold the ball in your non-dominant hand. To begin the toss, lightly tap the back of your hand (the hand holding the ball) against the top of your thigh. Extend this arm straight up from your thigh. Arm should be straight - no bends at wrist or elbow. At the top of the extension, lightly toss the ball and catch it with the same hand that tossed it. Watch the ball the entire time, from tap to toss to catch.

That's it. Repeat 10-20 times until you can do this with zero drops. Do not overdo it. Stop if your arm/shoulder feels strain the first few times you try this. The strain should not indicate injury if you are doing this properly; it is just not yet used to doing this motion with this many reps.

Some tips:

• If you are doing this correctly, you should not have to move your feet at all to chase after the ball. 
• The ball should not be tossed a mile into the air. You want it to go about as high as you can reach with your racquet extended out in front of you at about 1 o'clock for righties, 11 o'clock for lefties. 
• Take care not to toss the ball until your arm is at the top of its reach. 
• Lift the ball into the air in a very mechanical, robotic motion. The less movement of elbows and wrists, the better. 
• The less your ball spins as you toss it, the better. Spin introduces more chance of the toss going astray. If your ball is spinning madly, your wrist or fingers are too involved in the tossing motion. 
• Tapping the thigh to start things off keeps your toss arm in alignment, preventing it from wandering around out to the side of the body, often resulting in an over-the-head toss.

Figure 8

Tennis students don't get too far into the basics without getting introduced to the Figure 8 footwork drill. You probably know the one - two spots are on the ground about 3 feet apart. You move around them in a figure 8 pattern with small but quick adjusting steps to improve your footwork. If you're ready to take this activity to the next level, try it with a medicine ball.

Student performs the footwork as described above. When they get to the forehand or backhand side of the 8, coach tosses them a medicine ball to the FH or BH side. They catch it with both hands, and toss it back from the side with both hands on the ball. This sideways, two-handed throwing simulates the FH and BH swing pattern. Confused? Check out a video of the exercise here. Thanks crazytennismom.com for the tip. You can find her blog there, or follow her on FB, or on Twitter @sandratennismom.

Productive Practice

Elderton is a big wheel in Canadian tennis

The concept of deliberate practice, aka 'practice with a purpose', applies to just about any area of endeavor. Wayne Elderton broke it down for us tennis players in his article here. As tennis coaches we encourage our students to get out there and play as much as possible between lessons. So when you are out there, make the most of your play time. As Wayne says, this means introducing an element of structure and focus to your time on court. In other words, always be working on something.

Narrowing down what to work on can be a challenge. Consider mastering the basics before attempting loftier goals. For example, before you work on a monster kick serve, make sure you can get a respectable first serve in seven times out of ten. Can you give it different types of spin? Can you place it in one of the three main target areas of the service box? Once you master an impressive level of control over any given stroke, it is time to pursue some advanced skills. You have to walk before you can run.

Time is also an issue for many. The spirit is willing to get out on court five times a week, but the schedule just will not allow it. So for those times you can squeeze it in, make the most of it.

• Ball machine - the ball machine can be your best tennis friend. You can hit more balls in 30 minutes on a ball machine than you will in two or three entire doubles matches (3-6 hours). The repetition is invaluable (assuming your are practicing proper technique). Be careful not to overdo the first couple of times you try it. 
• Consider having a friend come along - many ball machines have the option to send balls to multiple locations. So you can work on your forehand while your friend works on their backhand. Plus that reduces the number of balls you each hit by half, thus reducing the chance of overdoing it.
• Have a friend video you as you hit to help make adjustments to your stroke. I am always amazed at how people's perception of their own technique bears little resemblance to reality. Video doesn't lie! A common culprit: the follow through.
• Use the last hopper of balls during each pickup as serving practice. It's a nice break from all that hitting, and the serve can always use some work.
• Hitting Wall - no time or budget for a ball machine? A hitting wall is also your best friend. It is never late. It never misses. If you have never enjoyed the tennis 'zone' you can get into while hitting against a wall, you are missing a treat. Great for forehand, backhand and volley practice. Invite a friend and double the fun. Yes, the garage door is a great substitute if no true hitting wall is available. Pick up some foam balls at your local tennis shop to eliminate dinging up the door. You will be surprised how challenging they can be.

If you are just going out to hit with friends, give yourself permission to work on something, even if it means you may lose the friendly. This is the perfect opportunity to grow as a player. Don't waste the chance. If you really want a challenge, be candid with your opponents and tell them what you are working on. Encourage them to hit to your weak spot. Just be sure your weak spot is no longer your weak spot when you play them for reals!

Sometimes you need to just go out and enjoy tennis without it always being 'work' - you know what they say about all work and no play. But if you indulge yourself too often and your tennis is always 'play', your matches will be a lot more work than you want them to be. Keep your matches enjoyable by including some Purpose in every Practice.

Catch Me

Here's a simple warm-up perfect for young beginners. Great for one player or one dozen. You will need enough room for them to spread out.

Each player has one ball. Player tosses ball high, then catches their own ball after one bounce. Toss should be at least head high. Some players inevitably get into a competition to see who can a) toss the highest and b) actually catch it. That's great - let them!

Variation

• Have a Toss Off where players are eliminated if they drop their ball. Last player left is the winner. Remember, ball toss must be at least head high.
• Toss Off can be a combination of most catches of highest tosses.
• Pairs of players toss/catch to each other.

OverUnder

Easier said than done?

I first saw this deceptively simple warm-up at a recreational coaches workshop. It is definitely a right brain activity, like rubbing your tummy while patting your head.  Coaches, strongly consider practicing this before you demonstrate it to the troops the first time.

Two players face each other. One has two balls. One ball is tossed to the other player underhand. The other is tossed overhand. This occurs more or less simultaneously. Naturally the receiving player is expected to catch each ball. Receiving player then becomes tossing player. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Sounds simple enough until you try it. If it is indeed too simple for you, try the progression of moving sideways across the court while you are tossing.

Stretch Catch

Your students will definitely use
this motion on court

Stretch Catch is included in USTA's QuickStart Tennis recreational coaches resource book for ages 9-10. It's simple and effective, and perfect for Tennis Homework. Since USTA is transitioning away from the QuickStart name, I don't know if these books are still available. To save you the trouble of hunting through their coaching resource page, here's the activity.

Player and coach (or other partner) face each other about five feet apart. Coach tosses ball underhand to player. Toss should be to forehand or backhand side, not directly to player. Player should lean to left or right to catch ball in air while maintaining good balance. Player should remain facing forward rather than turning to side to catch ball.

Progression
Too easy? Stand farther apart and/or toss ball farther from player.
Too hard? Let ball bounce before player has to catch it.

Tap Up

Nice tap up!

Once your players are able to self-rally (tap ball into air, let bounce on ground, repeat), they are ready for Tap Up. Two players play inside a single service box. They rally with each other by tapping the ball up into the air. Ball must bounce each time, and must bounce within said service box. First to however many points you choose is the winner.

The purpose of this game is to create an awareness of the value of being able to move the ball away from the opponent. Note blocking out or otherwise interfering with the opposing player is not allowed.

Progressions
Easier: have players toss ball up and catch barehanded rather than using their racquets.
Harder: introduce the net into the equation - players play across the net from each other.

Two Ball Toss

I found this drill through a LinkedIn post by Alan Wright of CETA Tennis. Players attempt this individually so it is great for small or odd numbers of players.

Player performs a regular overhand serve with one important difference: he/she tosses TWO balls instead of one. Hit one as a serve; then after the other ball has bounced once, hit it with a forehand. The link has a handy video which explains it well.

This looks like a great activity for focus and coordination. Mr. Wright adds it encourages a proper toss high and out front. In his video a very advanced player is performing the activity. I am curious to try it with my advanced beginner juniors.

One Bounce, Two Bounce

One Bounce, Two Bounce is a great warm-up activity for very young students. I found it at the Coaching Resources page at USTA.com and tried it out. I have used a variation of this game before with very good results. Does 1B2B measure up? In a word, Yes.

My dog is great at catching tennis balls
but her underhand toss is TERRIBLE

This is a simple activity. Players work together in pairs. One tosses a ball to the other. Before tossing, player calls out either 'one bounce' or 'two bounces'. Catching player then catches ball after either one or two bounces. They take turns being the tosser or the catcher.

That's it.

Before you judge, hold on a sec. Sure, this is very basic and simple. But that's why you should like it, especially for players age 5-7.  I am fond of racquetless warm-ups so maybe this is a personal bias.

• For one thing, all you need is one ball and two players (or a player and a coach/parent). So this also makes a great homework assignment. Wait - you don't give homework? We'll talk about that in another blog post. :)
• Secondly, you are going to insist they toss underhanded. Two benefits of this: 
• They will benefit from this throwing motion when they start learning a bounce serve and a forehand. 
• Many young players are not particularly good at tossing a ball underhanded at a target, which will come in very handy as they progress in tennis. So they are getting an additional benefit here even if they are not the one catching the ball. Use the opportunity to teach them a smooth toss, release toward target, step with opposite foot, shift weight from back to front, etc. 
• On the catching side, this is a great activity for teaching them to track the ball. As soon as the tossing player calls out 'one bounce' or 'two bounces', you can see the gears start spinning, the focus ratchets up, and their body language says 'pounce'. Love it!
• As simple as this may seem, my younger players really enjoy this. The tossing players enjoy being in charge when they decide how many bounces. They also enjoy making it a challenge for the catcher by tossing it higher, farther, etc. Let's face it - they like it when the catcher cannot catch their ball! (BTW the first bounce must land in playable area)

To wrap up: it's simple, it builds good fundamentals, and the kids enjoy it. What's not to like??

I mentioned I originally learned this activity with some variations, and here they are.

You know I am kidding about
this 'cone', right??

I was working a summer camp and the kids on my court were 8-10 year-olds. Rather than have kids tossing to each other, I had them all on the far side of the net, behind the full court baseline. Using yellow balls, I called a player's name and the number of bounces allowed. Then I fed the ball super high using my racquet. Important to call out the player's name first to avoid a mad rush to the ball and possible injuries related thereto. The older kids enjoy this version as it is a challenge to time a ball hit very high into the air. After the first round, where everyone has had a chance to catch a ball, I let each player tell ME how many bounces they would like. This allows them to challenge themselves (or not) rather than have me doing all the dictating.

Other variations:

• For very young players, or for homework, you don't necessarily have to do this across the net. But adding the net as a barrier is a perfect way to increase the difficulty once the basics are mastered.
• I often offer the option of catching the ball in a cone rather than bare hands - makes it easier and adds a little flash.
• This summer I played a version where 3 bounces was an option. I had the players take turn bounce feeding the balls. 

Talk to the Ball

So I'm reading some comments on the evolve9 discussion group at LinkedIn. For those of you who don't know, evolve9 is a European-based (England, I believe) tennis instruction organization specializing in young players. The discussion was about the use of training aids on the court. Lots of good info. Lord knows there are lots of training aids out there and it is useful to have recommendations (or warnings) from other instructors. But out of all the training aids you could spend your money on, fellow by the name of Brett Lennard chimes in with his two cents, saying his favorite tools are the players' own eyes and mouth. He is a fan of the exercise where you ask the player to say 'bounce' when the ball bounces; 'hit' when they hit the ball; and he adds one that I have not used: have them say 'split' when their opponent hits the ball. This last is to remind them to perform the 'split step' which we will cover in another blog post.

I agree with Brett and all the other coaches who use this tried-and-true technique. I find it especially useful for brand-new players, right up there with learning the parts of the court and the four basic strokes (forehand, backhand, volley, serve). Bounce-Hit performs two important functions.

• It helps the player focus on the ball
• It helps the player understand the variations in rhythm that they can control as they progress; specifically when we progress to hitting early aka 'taking the ball on the rise', we can refer to our Bounce, Hit days. Bounce . . . . . Hit! becomes Bounce-Hit!

oh and here's a third one

• It has legs. Lots of older players still say Bounce, Hit! in their heads when they play. 

how about a fourth

• Anecdotal evidence only, but when I give my students a secondary activity paired with hitting the ball, most students hit the ball much better. Not sure why, maybe because the left brain is now occupied with saying Bounce, Hit! and the right brain can take over the hitting process.

For my very young players, we start this activity as a group. I drop a ball and we all say Bounce! together. I give them homework where they drop the ball themselves, say Bounce, then Catch when they catch it. Catch is soon replaced by Hit when they have a racquet in their hands and either I am feeding the ball or they are bounce feeding themselves.

Variations
Still using the concept of speaking or reacting verbally to an action on the court:

• Count out loud the number of rallies. Full disclosure: I still do this in my head (usually) when I play. I have a little bit of an adult ADD problem, and this really helps me focus on what is going on during the point as opposed to what  groceries I need to pick up at Piggly Wiggly, wondering if I remembered to put the clothes in the dryer before I left that morning, whether I should use I-20 or 378 due to traffic conditions on the way home, etc.
• I have some students studying Spanish and Chinese so sometimes we count in a different language. When possible, I like to customize my lessons to integrate my students' interests outside of tennis.

Pork Chop . . . I Mean, Ball Chase

Mmmmmmm . . . pork chop!

I love this homework activity because it is simple and it works for all ages and levels. I also like any activity that encourages watching for the ball like a junkyard dog eyes up a pork chop.

This activity requires two people.

• One person stands 3-4 feet behind the other.
• Front person stands with feet shoulder width apart or wider.
• Rear person rolls tennis ball on ground so that it passes through front person's feet.
• As soon as front person spies ball, he/she chases and captures it as soon as possible.
• Alternate chaser/roller.

For a larger group activity, have the kids line up to do this. First person in line is first chaser. Second person is first roller. First chaser goes to end of line after capturing ball. Repeat at least once through entire group but you will probably find they want to keep going and going and going . . .

Increase the difficulty by rolling the ball faster or putting a limit on the distance the ball must be retrieved by.

Ball Toss

This is a simple but useful three progression warmup. All you will need is some tennis balls.

Partners start a few feet apart in the open court, tossing ball underhand to each other. One bounce, then catch. Work on controlling the toss and keeping the body in front of the ball. You want them to catch it with both hands in the center of the body so that they are repositioning themselves relative to the ball. This translates well into setting up/preparing to hit. For younger players, it helps reinforce the 'one bounce' principle they will need when they start to rally and play.

Variation

• Add a target on the ground such as a hula hoop or a spot for them to aim their toss/bounce
• Have partners take a step back after each successful catch. If you have enough pairs, last team making successful catches wins.

Progression

• Add a barrier between partners - move to net and toss must now go over net before first bounce.
• Toss while side shuffling across court facing each other across net.
• Perform same series using racquet to feed ball rather than tossing underhand.