Even if you don't have a partner, you can work on your tennis strokes and fitness using a variety of methods. Ball machines, backboards, weight rooms and cardio workouts can help you -- or hurt your game -- depending on how you do them. Understanding the basics of tennis fitness and stroke practice will help you create effective solo training sessions.
Muscle Work
While some muscle building is helpful for tennis, you should focus on improving your muscular endurance for tennis. Tennis is an anaerobic sport that uses your body's fast-twitch muscle fibers. Before and during your season, use lighter weights and quicker reps. Try circuit training workouts that involve performing 10 to 12 reps of an exercise using about 50 percent maximum weight or resistance. Take one-minute breaks between sets and keep the circuit going for 30 minutes or longer. You can use free weights, a weight machine, dumbbells, resistance bands or calisthenics.
Conditioning
You don't often get tired during a short tennis point -- it's the time between points when you're gasping for breath. Aerobic exercise doesn't train you to recover. For that, you'll need sprint training. Work very hard for 30 to 90 seconds, then take one to two minutes to recover. You can run the straightaway of a track, then walk back before you do another sprint. Use a jump rope, an exercise bike on a lower gear setting or a weight machine with little resistance.
Serve
If you have a bucket of balls, you can improve your serve -- with the right type of training. Mindlessly hitting ball after ball trying to serve aces doesn't prepare you for a match. After you warm up, practice any technique you want to improve. Once you get into a groove, begin playing simulated points. Tell yourself where you're going to the serve the ball, such as wide, into the body or down the middle. Bounce the ball the same number of times you do during a match. If your serve goes where you want it and how you want it, give yourself the point. If you miss, serve a second time. If you serve a three-quarter speed kick second serve to the backhand during a match, serve that during training. Keep score and play a full set, changing sides every other game, just like you would in a match.
Ball Machines
Ball machines let you practice groundstrokes, volleys and overheads using a variety of patterns. Don't hit the same shot over and over -- you'll tire your central nervous system and build lactic acid and other muscle inhibitors in your muscles. If you want to work on one shot, take frequent breaks, use targets and go for quality, rather than quantity.
Backboards
You can do more damage to your game with backboards than any other practice method. You have the time it takes the ball to travel from your baseline to the other baseline and back to you during a match. Because you stand closer to a backboard than to a live opponent, the ball starts coming back to you while you're still recovering from your follow through. You begin hitting rushed, late shots, and if you keep the ball going, you tire your muscles and nervous system, "grooving" late shots. You'll also hit many balls on two bounces, based on the low trajectory of most backboards. Use a backboard sparingly, such as for a quick warmup. Change shots frequently, and hit them higher on the backboard to create a deeper rebound. Take a break as soon as you feel a burning in your muscles.
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