Monster Doubles

Hands down my favorite
movie monster

Monster Doubles is a variation of Australian doubles. The goal is to introduce or improve on poaching and signalling skills. Best for players 8 and up, advanced beginners or higher. Originally seen in The Tennis Drill Book by Tina Hoskins. I have a link to it on my Amazon store page here.

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.

Half-Court Hustle

Slow feet need not apply

I found this activity in The Tennis Drill Book by Tina Hoskins. It's a great warm-up activity. BTW I have a link to the book on my Amazon store page here.

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

10 Ball Singles

Feed nice or this could get Messi

10 Ball is an exercise in consistency as well as the Golden Rule. As ye feed, so shall ye receive!

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.

Choosing the Right Clinic For Your Player

The facility is gorgeous, but does the junior program fit your needs?

Bless you HootSuite, Twitter, Google Alerts and all other such technology. Thanks to them I have found so many wonderful resources on the Internet. Today's gem is a great article at CAtennis on how to evaluate the various junior tennis group clinics available in your area. You can't tell a book by its cover!

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.

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.

Red Light, Green Light

Red Light, Green Light is great for teaching your youngest players to pay attention to your direction as well as other cues on court.

Players line up on the baseline. When you say Green Light, they move forward toward net. When you say Red Light, they must stop. First one to net wins.

Variations

• Rather than saying Red Light or Green Light, hold up a red or green ball or other item
• To make it a little more challenging, ask them to perform another task as they are moving.
• Have the players balance a ball on their racquet as they are moving forward. Dropped ball = back to the starting line.
• Carry a tennis ball between the knees.
• Carry a tennis ball with a partner, ball wedged between outside of knees, hips, or shoulders