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balance DRILLS
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Balance with coordination Agil...

Player jumps on jump rope using only left leg.Player performs 2 jumps on each side of the line.Player moves forward and at one point starts to moving back.

General

Balanced backhand throw Backha...

Get the player to stand on balance platforms in a close stance. The coach then throws a medicine ball to the backhand side. The player should then imitate a backhand by throwing the ball back to the coach.

General

Balance touch cones Agility & ...

The player stands on the balance platforms. Cones are set around the player, with the player's goal to touch each cone separately without falling off the platforms.Balance platforms work best with this drills. If coaches don't these though use your creativity to find an alternative (stand on a bean bag for example).The important thing is to use something that is SAFE to stand on and ideally forces the kid to test their balance.

General

Balance the right Agility & Fi...

3 cones are set behind the player on the right side. The player takes one ball and jumps backward on right leg toward the cone. The player places the ball on the cone and repeats this pattern to the rest of balls/cones.

General

Balance Throw & Catch Agility ...

Player stands close to the wall on the balance platform. Player throws medicine ball off the ground into the wall. Player tries to keep balance all the time. This exercise is a great tool to improve many physical skills at the same time. Player can work on balance, strength and power during the warm up time.

General

Balanced Crossover Jumps Agili...

Set up 2 hurdles slightly wider than shoulder width apart. Player performs crossover jumps with left leg.Player jumps between the hurdles with right leg and lands on left leg outside the hurdles.Player keep balance on left leg. Right leg is always the leg between the two hurdles.

General

Jumping Balance & Control Agil...

Player stands in the middle of the court. Cones are set up on the right sideline. Player has one ball in hand, performing side jumps on their right leg and puts ball on the cone.

General

Walking On Tennis Balls 117 st...

Put smaller (tennis)balls in a circle so that they cannot roll away. Walk on the balls slowly and try to cross a certain distance.<BR><BR>1.Walk whilst dribbling a ball<BR>2.Pass a ball whilst walking on tennis balls<BR>3.Circle a ball around the body whilst walking

General

Balancing on the outside leg V...

Player stands on his/her right leg on the service line. Coach feeds balls to the player's forehand side. Player hops to the ball on one leg and hits a forehand volley back to the coach.

General

Play from back leg Forehand Dr...

The player stands in square stance and the coach stands in front of the player. The coach feeds balls behind the front leg. The player has to put body weight on back leg and hit forehand while maintaning balance.

General

Stay stable after the serve Se...

Player performs a regular serves. The goal of this exercise is for the player to land on his/her front foot and maintain balance on one leg after the serve. The back foot should be in the air.

General

Difficult backhand volley Voll...

Player stands close to the center. Coach feeds hard ball close to the sideline. Player tries to hit the ball with backhand volley.

General

Arms Prevention Agility & Fitn...

Player uses a resistance band.Player keeps the band in one hand and performs outside move to the side.

General

Gladiator Movement - Tennis Dr...

2 teams. One team has only 2 people who are gladiators. The other 4 have to balance the ball on their racquets and put it in the hoop without being tagged. When they are tagged they have to go back to the bucket to start again. Give them 2 minutes then stop.

General

Learn to use upper body Foreha...

Player takes ready position. Coach throws ball to the forehand side. Player doesn't move legs and hits forehand. Player has to use only upper body to hit the ball.

General

Tennis: Backhand regular + For...

Coach feeds first ball deep to the ad side. Player hits deep backhand cross-court. Coach feeds another ball short to the deuce side. Player moves inside the court and attacks down the line using forehand stroke.

General

Keeping low one leg squat Agil...

Lunge forwards, then take the weight on just the front foot, staying low before bringing the back foot level with the front foot but still off the floor. Arms out in front for balance. Stay balanced on one foot, before bringing the other foot through to become the new front foot in a lunge.

General

Move the defender Backhand Dri...

The coach feeds balls to the backhand. The player alternates hitting deep backhand down the line and short angle backhand cross court.

General

Passing shots Forehand & Backh...

Starting with a feed to either forehand or backhand at random players play their first shot down the line after which the players can play out the point. No lobs allowed.

General

Racket Skills Aspire sport vid...

Each child has a racket and tennis ball and, dependent on ability, balances the ball around the edge of the racket, ups, downs, alternates (twist racket between hits).

General

Backhand medicine ball throw d...

Player sits sideways on the ground with legs in the air, and the coach throws the ball to the left side.The player catches the ball, turns upper body and throws the ball back.

General

Backhand quick shadows Forehan...

2 cones are set on the ad side.Player runs to the side cone as fast as possible and hits backhand using open stance.Player recovers and runs again to the front cone hitting backhand using close stance.

General

Dungeons Junior Tennis - Tenni...

Intention: Explore tactical development- &quot;Over and In&quot; and &quot;Hitting into space&quot; Each player starts the game with 3 lives (can be amended depending on time). Players at the front of the line take it in turns to hit a ball fed to them by the coach.  The players keep their lives if they successfully execute the shot by hitting the ball over and in. The player loses a life in one of the following ways: Hitting the ball out. Hitting the ball into the net. Hitting the ball after more than one bounce. Missing the ball.  Once the player has lost all 3 lives they are in the dungeon (coaches side of the net). If the coach or another player in the dungeon catches the ball without a bounce, the player loses a life. The only way out of the dungeon is to catch a shot from another player before it bounces, thus gaining one life.  The player with the most lives remaining at the end of the game is the winner.  

General

Bicep curls Agility & Fitness ...

Player needs 2 dumbells, one for each hand. Weight to be determined by the player.Player performs biceps curls at the same time by folding arm in at the elbow and moving hand toward bicep. Controlled movement

General

Drop And Run Movement - Tennis...

The player stands in one corner of the court, with the coach on the opposite side of the baseline. The coach drops the ball from shoulder height and the player must sprint across the baseline and hit the ball, before returning to their starting position.

General

Controlled wide ball Backhand ...

The coach stands in front of the player. The coach throws difficult ball to the backhand corner, the player then sprints, slides and hits neutral/defensive ball.More and more players are able to really hit the ball from the baseline so there are many situations during the match when we are under time pressure. Being able to survive these critical moments can be a deciding factor about who will win the match so players have to work in these conditions during practice session to develop automatic responses.

General

Shoulder rotation in Agility &...

Attach a resistance band to the net post.Hold band with right arm facing away from the net post.Bring right arm to shoulder height, out to the side, bent at the elbow so that the hand is in front off to the right.Keeping the elbow to shoulder steady and level, hinge at the elbow to raise the forearm to above the elbow.Slowly lower and repeat 10 times on each side.The band is working against the player as the rotate their shoulder in.

General

Around the World

Rally with the coach in a round robin system. Players hit one shot and then run to the back of the queue. For variation use one racquet. After each shot players must pass the racquet on to the next player.

Coordination / Fun Games

Chip and Charge

Player 1 only has one serve. Player 2 returns and follows it into the net to volley or smash. The server should not be allowed to lob the first shot. Player 2 should aim for either a deep return or cross court. Play out the points and first to seven points is the winner.

Serve and Return

Ground strokes under pressure

-Feeder hits first ball to forehand alley.-The second ball if fed to backhand alley.-The third feed goes deep to the forehand side.

Forehand & Backhand Drill

Hitting on the Run

There are 2 lines of players starting at the middle of the baseline. The coach feeds wide balls alternately to each side. Players hit one shot down the line and then return to the opposite line.

Forehand & Backhand Drill

Lob Game

-The game has two teams of four players each.-Each team consists of two lobbers and two smashers.The smashers must stand in their respective service courts.-Points are scored every time a lob falls between the base line and the service line.The baseliners must hit the ball after one bounce. Points are lost as in normal tennis.-First team to 5 wins.-The baseliners and the smashers swop over for the next game.

Lob

Taking the ball early

-Both players have cones approx 2 meters in front of base line (depending on players skill level.-Players gain a point each time they hit between the cone and the base line. -One of the players has to stay on or inside the baseline. -With more advanced players both have to play on or inside the baseline.-First player to 11 points wins the game.-To make the drill easier it can be played on one half of the court and later progressed to full court. -The game can also be started with a second serve.

Rally Drills

Touch and Smash

-Player touches net with racket then coach puts up the lob. The player hits the smash into the back 1/4 of the court.-On the second feed the player lets the ball bounce before the smash.

Smash Drills

Under pressure ground strokes

-Rally until a mistake is made by the baseliner.-Baseliners swap out on mistakes.-Volley player swaps after 2-3 minutes.

Rally Drills

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balance SESSIONS
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Body and racquet under control

Develop balance and early footwork to maintain control of the body and racket head when hitting to all parts of the court.

The wrong-footing tactic - Play the ball back-behind!

Use the inside-out forehand to get your opponent off balance by playing the ball into the space behind!

Punchy Volleying With Accuracy and Intent

Put some punch in your players' volleys and have them closing down the angle to put pressure on their opposition as they go on the attack!

New Approach to Backhand Rally

Approach the backhand by starting with the fundamentals. Get players movement up to scratch to be in the best position to make an effective stroke.

Win more points with forehand

Develop your player's forehand into a powerful shot with this session, helping them gain the advantage!

Play With Intent

Get your players feeling confident while hitting volleys from different areas on the court...

Learning The Backhand Half Volley

To learn the basics of a backhand half-volley shot at the net and make it an automatic response for players dealing with shots at their legs.

Better Footwork Creates a Stronger Game

In a match, every ground stroke is played off a different variety of footwork movements. A fine technique is built upon the ability to take an effective position on court to play the stroke. Therefore develop your players reaction times and their footwork with a focus on their technique and tactical positioning.

Master open stance with forehand stroke

Don?t let your forehand get predictable. Leave your opponent guessing with an open stance to give you the chance to hit it wherever you like!

Improve Footwork in all Areas

Get your players aware of their positioning on the court so they move effectively to make every ball with a strong, composed technique, from lobs to returns of serve.

Forehand introduction to clay-court season

Work on your player’s movement on clay courts with this forehand session, so they can reach the shot and pull off the big groundstroke

Hitting and Moving: Playing on the run

High intensity, backline rallying Session - Designed to get your players moving around the court and playing shots at full stretch!

Controlling the depth of the ball

Mix your player?s game up and work on their depth when hitting different shots - from the backhand volley to the inside-out forehand. Stun their opponents with variety!

Nail the Approach Shot

Work on your player's approach shots and coming to the net with this plan. Get them sprinting to the ball and hitting it out of reach down the line!

Come Alive at the Net!

Encourage your players to play positive tennis by coming into the net. This plan will develop your player’s ability to volley at the net, plucking the ball out of thin air!

Target oriented practice for kids

Improve your player’s accuracy with simple target games, which will leave them with a smile on their face!
balance ANSWERS
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Tips on serve and volley. | Sp...

How to stay balanced for first volley

Dilip Coach, India

Warm ups and the ABC | Sportpl...

What does the A B C stand for when doing the warm ups Asked using Sportplan Mobile App

Kate mcbain Coach, England

Use The middle of The court | ...

How to best use The middle of The court?

Costel Coravu Coach, Romania

re The Art of Feeding

I received your email on 'The Art of Feeding' and like to read your suggestions of drills. When looking at your suggested drills on this newsletter, I would like to ask for a bit of clarification on the coaching point 'as players move sideways they must take last step towards ball at contact'. I thought that the player must have stopped before making contact with the ball. Do you mean that the player's balance takes him into another step at contact? I'm really interested in your drills and plan to make a purchase in the near future. Best wishes, Nick-submitted by email

Sportplan Team Coach, United Kingdom

How do you beat someone who is clearly inferior but?

How do you beat someone who is clearly inferior but just keeps the ball in play?

Archived User Coach

I am about to do my level 1 coaching course and just?

I am about to do my level 1 coaching course and just recieved an email about the structure of the course and came across techniques of ABC.<br /><br />My guess is that is stands for, Agility, Balance, Co-ordiantion but im not 100% sure, could someone please let me know.<br /><br />D

Archived User Coach

How to teach single and double-handed backhands to U10s?

teaching single and doublehanded backhands to under 10s

Archived User Coach

split step

what is this

Deborah Hooks Coach, United States

high ball

hi what is the best drill to improve high ball contact point and footwork.

samala ashok Coach, India

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