Like backboards and hitting walls, tennis ball machines can do more damage to your game than good if you use them the way most people do. Hitting the same shot over and over doesn’t promote consistency, but will fatigue your central nervous system and imprint late, sloppy strokes. Vary your ball machine settings to get the most out of a practice session.
Settings
Ball machines can project balls to the left, right and middle of the court, send them deep and short, and shoot them with no spin, backspin or topspin. Some machines have only one setting, some come with adaptors and some have electronic consoles that let you change settings. Use all of the settings on a ball machine to practice your strokes. If your machine doesn’t give you many options, change your position on the court to vary the balls you hit.
Muscle Memory
Motor skills are learned and stored in the brain, and quality is more important than quantity. If you hit many balls in a row, you will become tired and start hitting with poor footwork and lazy strokes. Your brain will store this information, sending it back to your muscles later when you need to hit the ball. Make sure most of the balls you hit are as close to perfect as possible, taking a break when you begin to tire.
Conditioning Workouts
Some people use backboards and ball machines to get an aerobic workout. Tennis is an anaerobic sport, so aerobic training isn’t appropriate for your game. If you want to use a ball machine for conditioning, train in short, high-intensity bursts of two minutes or less, followed by a break of several minutes. Take a break every five minutes, just as you do in a match, to let your body prepare for the demands of a tennis match.
Use Patterns
Rather than hitting 100 forehands in a row, create shot combinations that look like tennis points. Hit several groundstrokes that make you move left, right, forward and back, working your way into the net to finish the point. To make new technique changes last, start by hitting approximately 20 balls that come to you in exactly the same way. As you get the hang of the new technique, change the ball machine settings to make you move left, right and forward and back to hit the shot. Finish your practice using a random pattern, including balls to strokes you’re not practicing. This will help you practice the new technique the way you’ll use it in a match.
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