Players are working in the full court and take it in turns to feed the ball in out of their hand.
They are playing the point out as normal but with the stipulation that they are not allowed to hit a winner to win the point! Players must make their best effort to reach balls, it is up to the coach to decide whether they have done this and whether the ball hit was an outright winner - in which case it will not be counted!
Players can play first to 11 points, this can and should take a quite a long time!
Players are looking to be as consistent as possible and manoeuvre their opponent around the court, without necessarily using pace.
Players should be left to work out how to play this drill and how to win at it, some will be better than others, and some might lose patience very quickly!
NB. Do not forget that hard down the middle of the court is a good tactic!
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.
Wimbledon arrives at the end of June and the grass court swing transforms how the game is played. Low bounces, slippery footing, and rewards for forward play demand a different tactical mindset. Here is how to coach it.