If you’re looking to improve your tennis, then there are lots of great drills out there. We’ve put together some drills the pros use that you can also do to make you a better tennis player.
5 Tennis Drills the Pros Use
1. Cross Court – Down the Line
This is a great drill you can do as part of your warm-up. With a partner, one person hits every ball down the line, while the other plays every ball cross-court. The harder you hit the ball, the more difficult this drill becomes, so you’ve got to work cooperatively and make the rally lasts as long as possible.
This drill gets you running side to side as you would in a competitive match, so it’s a great opportunity to practice your spacing and consistency.
2. 3 of 20
If you mention this drill to anybody who’s played at Sanchez Casal tennis academy it’s bound to bring back some fond memories. This is a tough exercise, but it’s one that forces you to practice good movement and perfect your strokes under pressure.
One person acts as the coach and stands at the net volleying side to side while the baseline player retrieves the balls. The baseline player aims to make twenty balls back to the player at the net, before resting and then repeating a second and third time.
3. Forward V
The Forward V is a simple hand drill you can run with two people. One person acts as the coach and hand feeds balls while the player hits, and you can take turns being player and coach.
Set up with the player on the baseline and the coach between the baseline and service line. The coach then drops a ball inside the court to the player’s forehand side, and the player steps in to play the shot. The player then recovers to the baseline before the coach drops a ball to the backhand side.
For more great beginner drills like this one, check out The Tennis Bros.
4. Reverse V
The Reverse V is similar to the Forward V but rather than practicing stepping into the court, it allows you to practice playing from behind the baseline.
Again, one person acts as the player and the other hand feeds balls as the coach.
The coach will stand just inside the baseline and throw balls deep behind the baseline. The player must move back and get behind the ball before playing the stroke and recovering to the baseline.
5. Fast Return
Returning can be tricky because of how little time you have to relax.
A great way to practice this is by getting your partner to stand on the opposite service line and serve at you. This gives you even less time to prepare and makes you work on keeping short swings and timing the ball. It’s a good way to warm up as it forces you to react quickly and get your eye in.
