Training/Drills
In my personal experience I have found that doing a 100 ball rally with someone of higher or equal skill level is the fastest way to improvement. More specifically, different types of 100 ball rallies are the quickest way to improve ball control and consistency. For example, you and your partner can aim for 1 set of 100 ball rally at a medium pace, or aim for 5 sets of 20 ball rallies hitting with as much top spin as possible, or aim for 10 sets of 10 consistently hitting with maximum pace. Another drill is aiming to miss. Yes, it may sound weird, however, calibrating your ball feel by purposely missing is very helpful in understanding how to not miss. Another drill is a classic drill known as the X drill. This is a feeding drill which will help you work on neutralizing deep balls and attacking the short ball which would come after it. In order to work on lateral movement and overall fitness, this feeding drill will have the instructor toss the ball into the corners of the court, and it is up to the player to at least get a racquet on it. For every ball touched, that is counted towards your score. The goal is to continue to beat your previous scores.
The array of drills in training drills: 5
- 1, name: 100 ball rally, Frequency: 2 per week, Requirements: partner, Rating: 10/10
- 2, name: Aim to Miss, Frequency: 1 per week, Requirements: coach/ball feeder, Rating: 8/10
- 3, name: X drill, Frequency: 1 per week, Requirements: coach/ball feeder, Rating: 7.5/10
- 4, name: lateral sprint, Frequency: 2 per week, Requirements: coach/ball feeder, Rating: 7/10
- 5, name: baseline game, Frequency: 4 per week , Requirements: partner, Rating: 10/10