Sunday, August 14, 2011

The Pursuit of Tennis Drills

By William Shelley


Tennis drills are being used by tennis players of all levels. Tennis drills can be used for many reasons. The proper tennis practice drills provide repetition, match experience, and fun. They can also be employed to elevate footwork and endurance. Day after day tennis coaches globally strive to find new tennis drills for beginners along with advanced players. There are two main types of tennis training drills which are used today.

The picture that comes to mind when one thinks of tennis drills is an instructor constantly feeding balls to a group of people. This type of tennis drill is called "dead-ball drill". Despite that it's still used today, it is probably not the most effective way to prepare students for matches. Players only hit one or perhaps a few balls on occasion, and they don't engage in a point. Players who practice "dead-ball drills" excessively perform really poorly in matches. It's mostly because the instructor feeds the balls perfectly to the students. Consistent feeds prevent players from adjusting to various types of balls. "Dead-ball drills" however are the most effective forms of footwork drills. They can keep a large number of players moving if they're designed well. Cardio tennis drills are good examples of the fitness advantage of smartly designed tennis drills. "Dead-ball drills" also are excellent beginner drills because the fastest way to master proper tennis technique in the beginning is by repetition.

The most effective and perhaps most requested kinds of drills are live drills. Usually the instructor or even a player puts the ball in play and the point is played out. Live tennis drills also have a purpose or goal that the players seek to achieve. Often times the goal is to simply win the drill. Other times participants cooperate to reach a common goal like keeping the ball in play for a specific amount of shots. Tennis drill experts debate even today whether competitive or cooperative tennis drills are better. The best answer is probably a good mixture of both types of tennis drills.

The next important characteristic of great tennis drills is simulating match situations. Tennis is really a competitive game in the end where players work to win. Practicing forehand cross courts for two hours just isn't very effective also it's boring. In match situations, the ball never comes at you the same way twice. Tennis players who practice one type of shot will struggle in match situations. There's no replacement for good situational tennis drills.

Properly designed tennis drills can provide the most significant ingredient which is fun. Every tennis coach should aim to make drills game-like and engaging. Boring and mundane tennis drills can drive any player to certain burn-out. It's important for instructors to keep up the attention and interest of students with fresh tennis drills and games. It's always challenging for tennis instructors to come up with new tennis drills time and time again. Tennis coaches are frequently reluctant to share their drills and keep them privately. This is very counterproductive. All tennis pros would really benefit from sharing their knowledge rather than keeping it.




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