Kaptain Karl said:Just getting on the court and hitting isn't good practicing. You have to practice with purpose.
That is right on the mark. I see many players who like to "hit" and then they collapse during a match. On the other hand, the people I play with (myself also) don't want to play a regular set after a busy day. So I came up with something which is yielding good results - after 10 minutes of hitting, one guy starts serving and we play thru the point. He gets 2 serves only per side so he has to take the second serve seriously. He then continues serving till he is tired, and then the other guy repeats. The continuous serving helps in improving the serve more than serving one game at a time, specially when you have limited time at your disposal. This way, no one wins or loses, we get our exercise, we get our serves practised (which is the main losing point for recreational players), the returns are not to the center as during hitting but we try to actually win the point by placing the ball, and we quit whenever we want. When I play the rare match, like WTT, this experience translates over.
Also, before a match, I get there a little early and practise only my serve. I don't need a partner, and after 20 serves or so, I am ready. I have seen others warm with baseline shots, and only a few serves. The baseline shots really don't improve as they are technique-limited, and in the match, they mess up the serves and get frustrated. If you have limited time, just work on your serve.