Whether you have a low-cost tennis ball machine with few features, or a more expensive machine that offers preprogrammed, computer-generated workout patterns, you can perform a variety of beneficial drills to improve your game. Standing in one spot, hitting the same shot 50 times in a row may actually degrade your stroke skills, since you'll fatigue your central nervous system and muscles and begin to "groove" late hits. Move around the court when you use a ball machine for effective practice.
Spider Drills
Tennis players change direction during points, and at different angles to the ball. If you can program your machine, set it to have you run left, right, forward and backward to simulate the running you do during your match. For example, run to your right to hit a forehand, then forward and to your left on a 45-degree angle to the ball to hit a backhand. Backpedal to the center of the baseline before running forward and to the right to hit a forehand. Finish running along the baseline to your left to hit a backhand.
Closing Drill
Learn to play short balls and attack the net with a pattern that moves you side to side, then into the middle of the court, finishing the pattern with a volley or volleys. If your machine permits, finish with an overhead. If your machine does not have a computer, set the machine to oscillate left to right, keeping balls closer together, about six feet apart in width, landing around the service line. Start at the baseline, moving forward and to your left to hit the short ball with a backhand approach shot, then move to your right to play a midcourt, forehand volley. Close the net and finish with two volleys. Reverse the pattern.
Sprint Training Drill
Create exercise drills that improve your anaerobic conditioning. This requires high-intensity work for less than 30 seconds with 90 seconds of rest between points. Space ball feeds apart so that they mimic the time it takes for a shot to go from one baseline to the next and back again, allowing you to recover properly to get in position for the next shot, the same as in a match. Running frantically after fast-paced feeds creates tired, late, flailing strokes. Start at the baseline and set the machine to feed a very wide ball to the sideline. Recover to the center, then play the next ball very wide to the opposite sideline. Create spider drills that give you more time to recover, including balls that land only a few feet over the net, requiring you to run far forward, then backpedaling to the baseline. Be sure to include several directional changes--don't just run side to side for 30 seconds.
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