To improve your tennis skills, start with shot-making drills, then make stroke changes to better achieve your goals. For example, instead of working on serve power, start working on serve placement under pressure. Use your results to make technique changes. Drilling in game-like situations helps you pinpoint strengths and weaknesses to practice the former and improve the latter. To improve conditioning, work at high intensity for a short time.
Serves
Create serving drills that require you to use the same type of serves you use in a match, under similar pressure. For example, practice serving games, earning points when you hit your target area and losing points when you miss. Start by dividing each service box into three equal widths, representing wide, body and down-the-middle serves. Before each practice point, decide what type of first serve you'll use, and where you'll serve it; you might choose a flat serve down the middle or a slice serve wide. Bounce the ball the same number of times you do during a match. Serve the ball to the area of the court you've chosen and give yourself a point if you make your serve and a fault if you miss. If you miss your first serve, decide on a second serve; you might choose a three-quarter speed topspin serve to the body. If your serve lands in the service box, but not in the one-third of the box you chose, you earn a fault.
Returns
Practice dynamic footwork on returns to improve your ability to cut off angles. Have a partner serve second serves to you while you practice moving forward as she tosses the ball. Just before she makes contact with her toss, land on the balls of your feet. This will allow you to make a quick move in one direction to the ball. If you start receiving with static balance, you will have to make two moves to the ball: forward, then left or right. Increase the speed of the serves you receive as you learn this technique.
Medicine Ball Toss
To improve the speed of your ground strokes, use a medicine ball the way baseball players put weights on bats. Toss a 2 lb. or 3 lb. medicine ball to a partner using the same forehand, backhand and serve motion you use. If you are right-handed, use your right hand to propel the ball for forehand and serve practice, using the same stance, footwork and core rotation. Emphasize your left hand if you have a two-handed backhand, and right hand for a one-handed backhand. After you have tossed the ball six to eight times, have your partner feed six to eight balls to you from his baseline to yours.
When you hit these ground strokes, your central nervous system will be temporarily sensitized to move a 2 lb. or 3 lb. weight, recruiting more muscle power than necessary to swing your lighter racket. This will allow you to swing the racket faster than normal. Repeat this drill three times each practice for the forehand and backhand. If you don't have a partner, practice this for the serve, tossing the ball against a wall or fence before hitting serves.
Spider Drills
To improve your footwork, body balance and conditioning, use the lines of the court to run forward, laterally and backward. Start from the center of the baseline. Run forward to where the right sideline meets the service line and hit a shadow forehand. Recover, running backward with good body balance. Run forward to where the two service boxes meet at the service line and hit another shadow forehand, recovering back to the baseline. Run to the left sideline where it meets the service line, hit a shadow backhand, then recover. Do this for 30 to 60 seconds, then recover 90 seconds or more before repeating the drill. Use different combinations of lines to train this way. You can do these drills with or without a racket.
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