Tennis Drills to Improve Agility and Strokes

Top spin drill

One of the best forehand topspin drills is this.

-the player stands close to halfway between the net and the service line

-the coach stands on the other side of the net and gently hits the tennis ball over the net towards the player’s forehand side

-the ball must bounce lower than the net height.

-the player steps toward the ball using either a closed, semi-open or open stance to play a firmly hit forehand shot that has to get over the net and go somewhere near the baseline.

By setting this forehand tennis drill up in this way, the drill makes the player have to hit a topspin backhand with the right technique as otherwise it’s impossible for the ball to clear the net and land inside the baseline.

The faster the swing speed the more difficult this drill becomes. Only highly advanced players are able to generate lots of topspin while still keeping enough control to get the ball to land in. However, this drill is designed to enable the player to develop this ability. To do the backhand version of this it is the same method but the coach hits to the backhand side.

Volley drills

Another drill to develop new players and kids forehand and backhand volleys is a simple drill, that is called “Two Touch” designed to develop the forehand and backhand volleys, as well as touch and general racket and ball skills is as follows:

-the player stands in one of the service boxes between the net and the service line

-the coach stands in the opposite service box on the other side of the net

-the coach starts the rally by gently volleying the ball to the player

-the player must bounce the ball off his or her strings, and then play back to the coach on the second hit

-the coach repeats the process and both players keep the rally going as long as they can

Agility drill

A good drill to improve agility is shown in the picture below.

The player should stand at one end of the ladder, and then,

-quickly place the foot closer to the side of the ladder into the first box

-the second foot then follows the first foot into the same box

-the first foot straight away steps sideways and forwards out of the box, nearby to the ladder’s second box

-the is repeated until the last box in the ladder is reached

-perform 3-5 times again

Speed developing drill

This drill is great for developing quick movements with speed.

-the player stands on the baseline where it meets either the singles or doubles sideline

-player then jumps forwards and sideways with one leg across the doubles alley

-do this straight away upon contact with the ground, the player jumps forwards and sideways back across the alley and repeats the process all the way to the net. From the starting point, try and reach the net with 12 contacts

-repeat the exercise three times with 1-2 minutes rest between each one