Coach feeds 2 balls to the player's deuce side down the line. Standing on the base line, the player moves to their right to meet the ball on their forehand side. The player then returns the ball hitting forehand cross court to the corner of the deuce side between cones. he/she then moves back to the centre of the base line. The coach then feeds the next ball on the players deuce side service line. The player moves foreward and returns using a forehand cross court short to the corner of the deuce side. using a forehand cross court shot, returns the ball between the cones set up on the cross court shot side.
1 Point for both shots crosscourt. Highest score wins after 1 basket. Bonus 2 points for hitting the cone.
Coaching Points
Progression
For players who have a good fitness level, the coach can modify the drill by adding recovery to the center after each shot to see how players hit when they are tired.
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.