The coach rallies with a player. The player has to alternate hitting backhands with a racquet and throwing the ball with a hand.
As kids get more skilful with a racquet, coaches have to try implement rally drills. Kids see on TV that tennis is about 2 players hitting across the net so we have to also implement this kind of drills to keep it real. Rally doesn't have to mean hitting because it can also be performed in form of throwing or rolling. Creativity of a coach is the only limitation.
In this drill the player works on many physical skills at the same time. Because the player has to alternate hitting and throwing, there are requirements that she has to meet in pretty short time. Coordination (getting the racquet from the ground and hitting), ball perception (observing the ball), footwork (positioning to the ball) and many other technical and tactical skills can be developed in this simple exercise. To make it even more interesting, the coach can set the number of shots in a row needed to advance to the next level.
"It is not only useful for staff who are experienced but a valuable tool for those subject staff who have to take teams."
The variety of sessions across sports - sometimes we steal session ideas from one sport and use them with another.
As we enter the business end of the competition, we take a look at the remaining eight teams and the key talking points surrounding each side.