The coach throws an easy ball to the player who hits a forehand shot back to the coach. The Coach then throws the ball back again but this time the player hits a forehand shot to the open space (deuce side) where the cones are situated.
Control is a primary skill in tennis and it has to be incorporated from the first tennis lesson. Using a small court demands plenty of control to achieve success so coaches have to emphasise this ability every time. In this exercise, the coach's role (catching the ball) can guarantee high perception of success (big motivation for kids) because he can catch the ball even when it is not going inside the court. One important note: put as many colourful targets into the area to make kids interested because they love colors and prizes.
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.
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