In this drill, player works on consistency, control and directional change using a backhand stroke. By feeding and hitting with player, coach creates a much more interesting environment where player is motivated to work hard for longer periods. This method makes every ball different so player has to adapt all the time and can't allow himself to lose focus. Coach can change pace, depth and power of own strokes to challenge player's backhand and see if he can maintain good control over the ball in specific situations. Coach should also give specific a task for the exercise e.g not to hit any ball to the coach into the net or to hit given number of balls into the cross-court zone to take focus and motivation to the highest level.
A tiebreak is a short sprint where every point is worth the same as a break of serve. The players who win them are rarely the ones who hit hardest. Here is how to coach the patterns, habits and scoreboard thinking that win the big points.
Most club players practise the serve on its own and then have no idea what to do with the ball that comes back. Serve plus one is the pattern that turns a good serve into a won point.
Wimbledon has just crowned another champion, and if you watched closely you saw the same thing every year: the best returners quietly won the tournament. Here is how to coach a return that pressures the server rather than just surviving it.
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