The coach stands on the baseline in the deuce corner with racquet stretched to the right side. The player serves wide using slice serve. The goal is to hit the ball inside the service box and avoid the coach's racquet.
Most of the time placement of the serve is more important than power. Knowing how our ball can create advantage from the first shot is a big strength that players can use at any level. Being able to differ first and second serves keep our opponent's guessing so we can expect more mistakes and increased number of easy returns.
In this drill, the player works on service placement. Having feedback like coach's position and racquet is an easy tool that keeps players motivated and more focused on the target. Serving many balls in a row can be a boring actions so coaches have to make sure that players have visible goals to achieve. To make it competitive, the coach can give points for successful serves or play to a given number of good serves.
From sensor-equipped rackets to AI-powered coaching, technology is making tennis training more precise than ever. Here's what actually works.
On-court coaching is now fully legal. Here's how to deliver advice that actually helps during those crucial 90-second changeovers.
On-court coaching is now fully legal, technology continues to advance, and the ATP calendar evolves. Here's what tennis coaches need to know for 2026.