how to improve shots with 2 people?

[AndyMan]

so me and my dad play almost everyday and we play best 2 out of 3 sets but the thing is, although we are slowly improving by seeing what works and what doesn't its more or less the same thing. we have a ball machine but if we both go to play it seems pointless for one of us to be using the ball machine and the other just sitting there. any suggestions?

[Kyle7286]

The best thing to do if you want to hone your skills is to hit at that ball machine. Only doing practice matches will hardly improve your shots.

Since you guys only have one machine.. I can only imagine take turns every 30 mins. Practice back hand and have your dad coach you on how your form is. Then switch roles and you coach him on his form. Practice one shot for a while, cool off. Practice another shot. I usually go Back hand for 15 mins.. Forehand 15 mins.. switch switch. Then at the end of practice, do a set or best 2/3.

-Brandon

[forehandshanker]

There are lots of good ideas in the book

USTA, Tennis Tactics: Winning Patterns of Play (ISBN 0880114991).

Besides introducing some specific combinations of shots, it introduces some drills. The drills can be done off of live balls or a machine.

The drills don't have to be done verbatim, as you can use your imagination to simulate match situations. Some things that work off a machine is to point the machine in a specific direction to work on defending specific shots. E.g. put the machine in the deuce side of the court and work on a drill to defend a FH DTL. Part of the drill maybe for the drillee to always recover toward his deuce side assuming he has tried to reply to the FH DTL with a BH CC.

[Geezer Guy]

Two guys, one machine: One guy hits while the other guy picks up balls. Then change roles.

Two guys, no machine. Work on your strokes. Practice hitting forehand cross-court with each other. Then practice backhand cross-court. Then do each down the line. Instead of working against each other, work together to see how long you can keep the rally going. This will build consistency and help you hone your strokes. You can also do serve and return practice as well. Instead of playing 3 sets, practice for an hour or so and then just play 1 set.

It's nice the two of you can work together on this.

[Blake0]

A couple drills you could do;
Play points out to 21, cross court only. Then switch sides. Consistency.

1 person is allowed to hit anywhere on the court, other person can only hit on 1 side (duece or ad) in points to 21. Works consistency for 1, and moving opponent around for other. Switch sides/who does what.

You and your opponent play to 21, but you must have a rally of atleast 5 balls before you can start being aggressive. Works on consistency.

Play points to 21, every ball must go past service line, basically the back half of the court is in, everything else is out. Works on depth.

This 1 is something i made up for fun..but give it a try? Play first to 11 points, only way you can win a point is by hitting winners of any type (dropshot, overhead,volley, forehand, backhand but opponent shouldnt be able to touch before second bounce). Hitting forced errors is neutral (noone gets points. Unforced errors means you loose a point. If a person gets to -5, the game is automatically over. There are some loopholes to cheat, but its trying to help you learn how to set up points and open up the court and stuff.