A conditioning program that incorporates tennis drills is a good way to get in shape and improve your tennis skills. Some drills can be done alone without even hitting a ball, while others require a hitting partner. Another way to get in shape is with heart-pumping, cardio tennis group workouts. These workouts are designed around tennis drills and conducted by tennis professionals.
Service Box Shuffle
This drill works your legs. Stand in the middle of the right service box to start the drill. Get into a ready position: Your knees are bent, you are holding your racket out in front of your body and your weight is evenly balanced on the balls of your feet. Face the net and keep your shoulders and hips facing the net throughout the drill. Shuffle to your right and touch the right service box line with your racket. Shuffle back to the middle and continue to the left to the center service box line. Keep the racket in the same hand and touch this line. Each time you touch a line, this counts as one time. Shuffle between the lines a total of 20 times. Be sure to stay facing the net and in your ready position.
Running the Lines
Running the lines is a good drill to get your feet moving and elevate your heart rate. Stand at the far right side of the baseline where the double's side line ends. Run up this line to the net. Shuffle to your left, across the alley, to the single's side line. Continue to face the net and backpedal along this line to the serve line. Shuffle to your left to the center service line and run to the net. Touch the net, backpedal along the same line to the serve line and shuffle to the left single's side line. Run up this line, touch the net and shuffle across the alley to the left double's side line. Backpedal back to the baseline and shuffle to your right to where you started the drill. This counts as one time. Repeat the drill three more times.
Short Court Drill
With short court drills, instead of using the entire court, you use only the four service boxes. For this drill you will need a partner. Stand in the middle of the court, one step behind the center service line. Have your partner stand in the same spot on his side of the net. One player starts the drill and puts the ball into play by bouncing the ball and hitting it over the net. Each player keeps track of the number of points won. After two points have been played, the other player starts the ball for two points, and so on. As you and your partner hit the ball back and forth over the net, you always hit the ball cross court and he always hits down the line. During the drill, the ball must bounce in the service box. After 10 points, switch roles. You hit down the line and he hits cross court.
Cardio Tennis
If you want to get into shape and burn calories, participate in cardio tennis workouts. These sessions are high-energy workouts conducted by trained tennis professionals. The session consists of a short warm-up, cardio tennis drills and a cool-down activity. During the drill portion, you participate in a variety of forehand, backhand, volley and other drills. These drills are designed to elevate your heart rate. The workout is similar to interval training in that there are periods of intensity and periods of rest. According to the cardio tennis website, you can burn more calories than singles or doubles tennis.
References
- "Tennis: A Professional Guide"; U.S. Professional Tennis Association; 1984
- Cardio Tennis: Home Page
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