Practicing against a wall

[GarrettReid]

We all have those times where NO ONE wants to play tennis. I was curious if practicing against a wall would be beneficial in anyway?

[masterxfob]

if my strokes are off, i head for the wall or get a consistent hitting partner to do some short court with.

[rk_sports]

A friend practices against the wall as he has some heel injury (reoccurring) ..as that would remove running...which was causing more damage...

Sometimes I use it to warm-up as some of the folks I play with hate to 'waste' time warming up on court

[GarrettReid]

It just seems like I have two kinds of games, the excellent fast paced game I have against my wall and the slow, clumsy game against people. Is there anyway I can bring those two games together? Or make my wall more player like? Lol.

[GetBetterer]

Consistency, and the original version of the ball machine is what the wall provides.

[charliefedererer]

Originally Posted by GarrettReid

It just seems like I have two kinds of games, the excellent fast paced game I have against my wall and the slow, clumsy game against people. Is there anyway I can bring those two games together? Or make my wall more player like? Lol.

Make the wall move you so you can work on your footwork.

The simplest way is to alternate between forehands and backhands.

You can alternate crosscourt and inside out forehands to work on using your killer forehand (if this is your best groundstroke).

You can alternate crosscourt and inside out backhands to work exclusively on your backhand if this is your weaker shot and you want to hit it and work on your footwork at the same time.

You can volley against the wall.

You can play "serve and volley" against the wall.

But most of all... don't just hit the ball so that it keeps coming directly back to you. Make yourself run.

[GarrettReid]

Originally Posted by charliefedererer

Make the wall move you so you can work on your footwork.

The simplest way is to alternate between forehands and backhands.

You can alternate crosscourt and inside out forehands to work on using your killer forehand (if this is your best groundstroke).

You can alternate crosscourt and inside out backhands to work exclusively on your backhand if this is your weaker shot and you want to hit it and work on your footwork at the same time.

You can volley against the wall.

You can play "serve and volley" against the wall.

But most of all... don't just hit the ball so that it keeps coming directly back to you. Make yourself run.

Beautiful advise. I'll defiantly try some of these things out next time I play the wall. Practicing against the wall I really seem to improve my volley (which when I started was laughable) and serves.

[charliefedererer]

Just keep in mind that on the backboard there is tendency to "flatten" out your strokes as you attempt to hit the ball progressively harder. This seems to work great at improving how fast the ball comes back, but when you go to play, you may find you are hitting a lot of balls long. That's because on the wall, you never know how long the ball would have landed if you had hit it that hard during a game. So the key is to retain your form hitting plenty of topspin by swinging low to high on your groundstrokes. On the court, it will only be with topspin that you will be able to smack it, and then have the topspin curve the ball down, keeping it in.

[strontor]

The wall is a great way to warm up, but it is simply no substitute with other players. Playing with others makes you adjust and thats what the wall can't really help with. It's also a pain grabbing for balls when you hit it over the board :P

[Tennis sensation]

hitting against wall is great fun as u can try all the strokes (inside out, serve volley) and in the process u would eventually sharpen your reflexes which would help u in matches

[GetBetterer]

Tennis_sensation:

hitting against wall is great fun as u can try all the strokes (inside out, serve volley) and in the process u would eventually sharpen your reflexes which would help u in matches

How do you practice a serve and volley? o_O

[Netspirit]

^ You serve into the wall and run forward, picking up the ball off the first bounce.

We had this topic a few weeks ago, the OP should try the search feature. Different people expressed a lot of different (and pretty thoughtful) opinions.

In my view, the wall is excellent for practicing overheads, somewhat useful for volleys, a bit useful for aggressive slices, and only so-so for groundstrokes since it can ruin your feeling of court depth/geometry, angles, footwork, spin and timing.

The wall can improve hand-eye coordination (especially after a long break) and assist in grip changes and other experiments.

[GarrettReid]

Originally Posted by strontor

The wall is a great way to warm up, but it is simply no substitute with other players. Playing with others makes you adjust and thats what the wall can't really help with. It's also a pain grabbing for balls when you hit it over the board :P

Well it's not really a "wall". I practice on something more like a racquet ball court so all the balls stay pretty close by.

[longnt80]

A few tips that I find very useful when practice with the wall:

- Let the ball bounce twice so you don't have to rush your take back.

- Hit with more top spin (even spinnier than when you hit on real court with a human partner)

- Aim your ground strokes 2 to 3 meters above the net height.

And of course, practice lots of volley when with the wall!

[Power Player]

Originally Posted by Netspirit

^ You serve into the wall and run forward, picking up the ball off the first bounce.

We had this topic a few weeks ago, the OP should try the search feature. Different people expressed a lot of different (and pretty thoughtful) opinions.

In my view, the wall is excellent for practicing overheads, somewhat useful for volleys, a bit useful for aggressive slices, and only so-so for groundstrokes since it can ruin your feeling of court depth/geometry, angles, footwork, spin and timing.

The wall can improve hand-eye coordination (especially after a long break) and assist in grip changes and other experiments.

Good points. Do you practice the overhead by bouncing the ball off the ground then off the wall?

[HeavyDluxe]

Just a question, thinking ahead to winter (and I hope this isn't a threadjack)...

Has anyone tried to practice theirs strokes in a racquetball court? One 'resort' near me has indoor fitness, racquetball, and tennis. There's not really many people using either the tennis or racquetball courts and I wondered about grooving my strokes over the winter in the cubes. If I had a ball machine, I'd just do it on the courts.

Thoughts?

[HeavyDluxe]

Originally Posted by GarrettReid

Well it's not really a "wall". I practice on something more like a racquet ball court so all the balls stay pretty close by.

Oops... I missed this. Garrett: If is a racquetball court, how's the bounce/speed on the smoother flooring?

[oldskool]

You can do overhead also.

[CoachingMastery]

Some great advice by many here.

However, the wall, like the ball machine and even with a hitting partner can emphasize and develop poor mechanics through many factors.

Because the wall does not "Hit" the ball back, and because the wall is effectively returning the shot as if it were the net, (not giving you the time that the ball would normally take to pass the net, bounce on the other side, and then be returned by an opponent or hitting partner), many players start becoming rushed and end up flicking at the ball to keep it going.

The solution is to make sure you are working on the strokes you are trying to develop rather than just hitting the ball over the painted line that represents the net. Like one person mentioned, players tend to flatten the ball out more against the wall.

Don't be afraid to let the ball bounce twice in working on being back far enough that you are not rushed. Develop the spin you are working on and then the aim.

Put a spot on the wall if you can, (a piece of gum, a dot or a peal-and-stick decal if possible) and hit the correct strokes to this target.

Yes, you can volley against the wall, you can work your overhead, you can work your feet, and you can work your serve and approach. But, if you hit each of these only for the sake of hitting shots against the wall without conscious effort to hit with the strokes you want to master, you will often be developing bad habits that will be difficult to break when you are on the court.

[FloridaAG]

I spent countless hours hitting against a wall in my driveway when I was a kid. It is how I taught myself to play - repetition built my strokes and muscles.

Obviously a huge difference from training on Court - but can be valuable for sure.