Approach Drill

Mining Oliver Stephens' recent article in TennisPro Magazine for all it is worth! Here's a twist on a

dead ball drill that Stephens feels makes it more realistic for working on approaching the net. Players should be able to rally with a variety of shots, so advanced beginner and higher.

Two players begin at the baseline. One bounce-feeds a ball and follows it in to the net. This player's job is to become comfortable following a ball in and works on his/her volleys and overheads.

The other player should hit the first three rallies as follows: two ground strokes, then a defensive lob (ideally playable by net player).

I have tried this drill and like it. I have found my non-feeding players tend to tighten up when they see the opponent charging into the net from the baseline. Teaching opportunity: to have them hit quality ground strokes as if the opponent were still at the baseline.

Six Pack Swinger

Let's just say I had lots of options when
Googling an image to go with this post

This drill appeared in TennisPro magazine. It was suggested as a ball machine drill by Julien Heine. Great for working on volley skills with any size group.

One at a time, players begin at the T. Coach is across the net feeding them six high balls/lobs in succession. First ball must be a swinging volley approach shot. Next four should be volleys alternating forehand and backhand. Last ball should be taken as an overhead.

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. 

Moon Ball

Moon Ball is a fun and useful activity for groups of 6 or more, advanced beginners and up. It will improve lobbing, overhead, and net play skills.

Divide players into teams of 3 or more. Six players at a time are on court, three at each end of court.  If you have odd numbers, that's fine - all will get a chance to rotate in. Two are at the baseline and the third is in the middle of the net. The two players at each baseline may only hit lobs, or 'moon balls'. Coach is at net post feeding first ball to baseline player. Players play out the point. The object is to avoid the net players. The net players may not retreat past the service line.  Rotate positions after every point so that all players have a chance to play both net and lob positions. First team to 21 wins.

Adapted from The Tennis Drill Book by Tina Hoskins.

Overhead Champs

Classic overhead prepartion
Turn and Point

This is a variation of Champs and Chumps, King of the Court, or any other activity where the winner occupies a specified end of the court. It is designed for doubles but can be played as singles if you desire or if numbers dictate.

One end of court is designated as the champions' end. Two players are at champs' end; all others are on the other end, playing two at a time. Pro feeds from behind baseline on champs' end. The first feed is an approach shot. Point is played out. If champs win point, challengers go to end of challenger line. But if the challengers win the point, they move to net and pro gives them an overhead as their second feed. If they also win this point, they get a third lob/overhead. If they win all three points, they are the new champs.

Singles Go

Singles Go has elements of other drills, think Champs and Chumps + Around the World with a little Deep Desperation thrown in for good measure. It will improve your players' overheads, net game, and fitness. Coaches, get your lob feeding skills in order.

One player is selected as first Champ and begins at center of court in net position. All other Challengers are at opposite baseline. One at a time they step in to play singles against the Champ. Feeder/coach feeds first ball to Champ as a high lob.

If Champ wins the point, they stay. Losing Challenger goes to end of Challenger line and next Challenger takes a turn.

If the Champ loses the point, they run to end of Challenger line. The winning Challenger runs to Champ side of court as Feeder is feeding another high lob for them to play.

Variation
I used this drill recently with my green ball players. We were working on backhands in this lesson, so I substituted a backhand feed for the overhead. I also added a point play component, first to 10 points wins. They loved it and begged to play it through the end of the clinic, thirty minutes straight.

From The Tennis Drill Book by Tina Hoskins.

Suicide

Don't let the name scare you off. This is a drill from coach David Edwards-Kiely @dkcoach1 on Twitter. It can be played as singles or doubles. Recommended for advanced beginners and up as players will be expected to be able to hit an overhead as well as volley.

Two (for singles) or four (for doubs) players are on court. One player feeds a lob and his/her side of play comes in and prepares to volley the baby smash the lobbed team will be hitting back to them. Play out the point. That's it!

Coach David recommends playing this will all varieties of balls to mix things up and serve as an equalizer for different levels of players. He says his students love it. Thanks Coach David for the share!

Son of 7-11

Not sure who is challenged more in this game,
the players or the coach!

Here's another version of 7-11 as promised. It is a little more complicated than the serve/return version but is equally valuable in teaching the concepts of attacking and defending. In this version, the defending team must win 11 points before the attacking team wins 7. Thanks Aaron Fox for including this game in his presentation at the 2012 PTR symposium in Orlando.

Set up two teams, either singles or doubles. Designate which is the attacking team and which is defending. Both begin play at baseline. Coach feeds first ball. Aaron's instructions do not indicate which team is fed, just that first ball must be a baseline feed. As you read the instructions I think you will agree with me the attacking team is always getting fed in this game.

Remember, the object of this game is for the defending team to win 11 points before the attacking team wins 7. Here's the kicker: the defending team earns points one for one. Every point they win on court, they earn a point in the game. However the attacking team is scored differently: they must earn THREE points in a row on the court to earn ONE point in the game.

• Keep in mind first fed ball is to baseline. 
• If attacking team wins this point, second fed ball is a volley. 
• If attacking team wins this second point in a row, third fed ball is an overhead. If attacking team wins all three in sequence (baseline, volley, overhead) they earn ONE point. 

As if this weren't complicated enough, there's more. If the third point won by the attacking team is won on an overhead winner, the defending team goes back to ZERO.