Drop feeding is amazing when you don't have anyone to play with

[FiReFTW]

When I don't have anyone to play with I started going to practice a bit by miself now, bought around 40 balls and a basket, and made some drills for miself.

I found its quite interesting and quite effective, even when alone, you can really practice the technique, placement and different types of strokes.

A few drills im doing:

1.Crosscourt forehand - Drop feed balls to my forehand and practice crosscourt forehands, medium height topspin ones, higher arc heavy topspin ones, lower height fast paced winner types, angle forehands to the service box at least.
2.Inside out forehand - Drop feed balls to my backhand and then runaround and do inside out forehands, mostly fast paced ones as these type of shots are usually quite aggresive, and also some that are extreme angles.
3.Down the line forehand - Drop feed balls to my forehand and practice down the line forehands, fast paced ones as these are more aggressive type of shots.
4. Wide forehands and defensive shots - Drop feed balls quite fast and wide to my forehand side so I have to run and stretch and practice running forehands and defensive slice forehands.
5.Crosscourt backhand - Drop feed balls to my backhand and practice crosscourt backhands, medium height topspin ones, higher arc heavy topspin ones, lower height fast paced winner types, angle backhands to the service box.
6.Down the line backhand - Drop feed balls to my backhand and practice down the line backhands, pretty fast paced ones as these type of shots are usually very aggressive.
7.Slice backhands and defensive shots - Drop feed balls to my backhand and practice slice backhands with varius types of placements, aggresive deep low skid slices, defensive slices, angled slices that are short and go into the service box at angles
8.Dropshots - A bit closer to the net now, drop feed balls and practice forehand and backhand dropshots with varius placements and types of spins, backspins and some sidespin ones that bounce away from the court
9.Lobs - Drop feed balls at baseline and practice forehand and backhand lobs, varius types of lobs, slice lobs, normal lobs, topspin lobs
10.Attacking short shots - Drop feed balls into the baseline to around the middle of the baseline and attack the ball with the forehand or backhand
11.Overheads - Stand at service box or so, and throw the ball into the air, then either wait for the bounce or hit it from the droping down, and hit overheads with placement either left or right, practice flat overheads aswell as some spin ones with slice and topspin
12.Serve - Of course no self training would be complete without the best drill to do when self training, practicing serves from both sides, 2nd serves and 1st serves, placement and different types of serves, tho the main focus is on the 2nd serve

And that makes for a very effective training, really works great for most shots, the only shots that you really can't practice this way, are the volleys , sadly, but volleys are the only type of shot that really does need pace to really practice, as its the only shot that you don't really swing but more block the incoming shot and redirect it, so you can't really practice that by yourself, unless you have a wall, then you can do some drilling for that, really sucks but o well.

If anyone has any other drill ideas feel free to share.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

That's a great set of drills! Good on ya, mate!

 

[Traffic]

When I don't have anyone to play with I started going to practice a bit by miself now, bought around 40 balls and a basket, and made some drills for miself.

I found its quite interesting and quite effective, even when alone, you can really practice the technique, placement and different types of strokes.

A few drills im doing:

1.Crosscourt forehand - Drop feed balls to my forehand and practice crosscourt forehands, medium height topspin ones, higher arc heavy topspin ones, lower height fast paced winner types, angle forehands to the service box at least.
2.Inside out forehand - Drop feed balls to my backhand and then runaround and do inside out forehands, mostly fast paced ones as these type of shots are usually quite aggresive, and also some that are extreme angles.
3.Down the line forehand - Drop feed balls to my forehand and practice down the line forehands, fast paced ones as these are more aggressive type of shots.
4. Wide forehands and defensive shots - Drop feed balls quite fast and wide to my forehand side so I have to run and stretch and practice running forehands and defensive slice forehands.
5.Crosscourt backhand - Drop feed balls to my backhand and practice crosscourt backhands, medium height topspin ones, higher arc heavy topspin ones, lower height fast paced winner types, angle backhands to the service box.
6.Down the line backhand - Drop feed balls to my backhand and practice down the line backhands, pretty fast paced ones as these type of shots are usually very aggressive.
7.Slice backhands and defensive shots - Drop feed balls to my backhand and practice slice backhands with varius types of placements, aggresive deep low skid slices, defensive slices, angled slices that are short and go into the service box at angles
8.Dropshots - A bit closer to the net now, drop feed balls and practice forehand and backhand dropshots with varius placements and types of spins, backspins and some sidespin ones that bounce away from the court
9.Lobs - Drop feed balls at baseline and practice forehand and backhand lobs, varius types of lobs, slice lobs, normal lobs, topspin lobs
10.Attacking short shots - Drop feed balls into the baseline to around the middle of the baseline and attack the ball with the forehand or backhand
11.Overheads - Stand at service box or so, and throw the ball into the air, then either wait for the bounce or hit it from the droping down, and hit overheads with placement either left or right, practice flat overheads aswell as some spin ones with slice and topspin
12.Serve - Of course no self training would be complete without the best drill to do when self training, practicing serves from both sides, 2nd serves and 1st serves, placement and different types of serves, tho the main focus is on the 2nd serve

And that makes for a very effective training, really works great for most shots, the only shots that you really can't practice this way, are the volleys , sadly, but volleys are the only type of shot that really does need pace to really practice, as its the only shot that you don't really swing but more block the incoming shot and redirect it, so you can't really practice that by yourself, unless you have a wall, then you can do some drilling for that, really sucks but o well.

If anyone has any other drill ideas feel free to share.

Sounds like great practice. 40balls and a basket way cheaper than a ball machine!

 

[LeeD]

I also do it when I arrive early to the courts.
Seems to help some, but the array of shots is hard to replicate in point play with an opponent.

 

[Coolio]

 

[NuBas]

Its great supplement to playing against the wall. You can also try throwing the balls further away from you so you can actually scurry to the shot and work on movement. My problem has always been not having enough balls

 

[GuyClinch]

Drop feeding is very underrated - I think because most people are embarrased. Its superior to wall IMHO. I like to do a serve followed by a groundstroke in rapid succession sometimes when I warming up. Good drill IMHO. You do need to able to hold mutiple balls though.

I think that perhaps Coach Kryill's forehand drill is #1 tennis drill of all time - and that again is a drop feed drill.

 

[gallen1999]

I think that perhaps Coach Kryill's forehand drill is #1 tennis drill of all time - and that again is a drop feed drill.

What is this drill? Could you link a video of it?

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

Drop feeding is very underrated - I think because most people are embarrased. Its superior to wall IMHO.

I don't know if it's so much embarrassment as it is laziness: people just don't go out and solo practice. I do see a lot more people hitting against the wall than drop feeding.

But I like the wall for the incoming trajectory, which more closely simulates real play.

Solution: utilize both.

 

[LeeD]

For me, I need to SEE the outgoing ball, feel how it feels, and note where and how it lands. So, drop feeds are good, wall not so, except to warm up.
Keeps the dogs around the courts happy, as I ask the owner's if their dogs need any old flat tennis balls from my bag of 30 balls.

 

[TennisDawg]

For me, I need to SEE the outgoing ball, feel how it feels, and note where and how it lands. So, drop feeds are good, wall not so, except to warm up.
Keeps the dogs around the courts happy, as I ask the owner's if their dogs need any old flat tennis balls from my bag of 30 balls.

I agree I prefer a backboard, but drop feeding is the next best thing.One thing you can do with a wall is practice your volley. I also use the wall or backboard to practice overheads. I hit the ball maybe a foot in front of the backboard and as the ball comes back it it's like a lob. So my routine would be FH, BH,Volleys OHs, then about 50 serves. If you use foam balls it's much easier to work volleys. Great workout.

 

[ByeByePoly]

When I don't have anyone to play with I started going to practice a bit by miself now, bought around 40 balls and a basket, and made some drills for miself.

I found its quite interesting and quite effective, even when alone, you can really practice the technique, placement and different types of strokes.

A few drills im doing:

1.Crosscourt forehand - Drop feed balls to my forehand and practice crosscourt forehands, medium height topspin ones, higher arc heavy topspin ones, lower height fast paced winner types, angle forehands to the service box at least.
2.Inside out forehand - Drop feed balls to my backhand and then runaround and do inside out forehands, mostly fast paced ones as these type of shots are usually quite aggresive, and also some that are extreme angles.
3.Down the line forehand - Drop feed balls to my forehand and practice down the line forehands, fast paced ones as these are more aggressive type of shots.
4. Wide forehands and defensive shots - Drop feed balls quite fast and wide to my forehand side so I have to run and stretch and practice running forehands and defensive slice forehands.
5.Crosscourt backhand - Drop feed balls to my backhand and practice crosscourt backhands, medium height topspin ones, higher arc heavy topspin ones, lower height fast paced winner types, angle backhands to the service box.
6.Down the line backhand - Drop feed balls to my backhand and practice down the line backhands, pretty fast paced ones as these type of shots are usually very aggressive.
7.Slice backhands and defensive shots - Drop feed balls to my backhand and practice slice backhands with varius types of placements, aggresive deep low skid slices, defensive slices, angled slices that are short and go into the service box at angles
8.Dropshots - A bit closer to the net now, drop feed balls and practice forehand and backhand dropshots with varius placements and types of spins, backspins and some sidespin ones that bounce away from the court
9.Lobs - Drop feed balls at baseline and practice forehand and backhand lobs, varius types of lobs, slice lobs, normal lobs, topspin lobs
10.Attacking short shots - Drop feed balls into the baseline to around the middle of the baseline and attack the ball with the forehand or backhand
11.Overheads - Stand at service box or so, and throw the ball into the air, then either wait for the bounce or hit it from the droping down, and hit overheads with placement either left or right, practice flat overheads aswell as some spin ones with slice and topspin
12.Serve - Of course no self training would be complete without the best drill to do when self training, practicing serves from both sides, 2nd serves and 1st serves, placement and different types of serves, tho the main focus is on the 2nd serve

And that makes for a very effective training, really works great for most shots, the only shots that you really can't practice this way, are the volleys , sadly, but volleys are the only type of shot that really does need pace to really practice, as its the only shot that you don't really swing but more block the incoming shot and redirect it, so you can't really practice that by yourself, unless you have a wall, then you can do some drilling for that, really sucks but o well.

If anyone has any other drill ideas feel free to share.

Excellent ... good work. Someone needs to invent a cheap device that helps with overhead practice.

It's ironic that you just posted this. I have been thinking about trying drop feeds to help me finish my transition to a 2hbh. I have a ball machine, and developed a grooved "ball machine" 2hbh. I can hit 50 consecutive decent 2hbhs ... good topspin and placement. This spring/summer was the first time for me to try and transition away from 1hbh in matches (had TE end of last year). It doesn't take long to figure out that your magnificent ball machine isn't all that in match conditions. Short balls, sliced balls, balls dying in front of you in the wind, high bouncing balls, return of serves, on the run .... yada yada yada. If only my opponents would just hit flat, good paced balls to my strike zone.

Obviously my best, and fastest transition will be playing singles matches and accepting the increased UEs as long as it takes. I'm doing that ... 2 to 3 singles a week. The other thing I need to do more is bh cc drills with friends.

The reason I'm commenting on your drop feed drills, was my thought the other day it might help me transition to off pace 2hbhs. You don't have any pace to work with ... you are generating your own. Seems to me this comes close enough to the muscle memory required for off pace, awkward shots. I also think I would try to see if I could up the pace/power on cc FH. It's one thing to set my ball machine at 70+ mph and hit pace on cc fh. Same off pace of an opponent. It's another thing to have a off pace ball sit up deep in your fh corner, and be able to generate your own big pace cc.

Seriously ... good work. Don't serve to many balls ... pretty easy to overwork a shoulder with practice balls. The Pro Penn Marathon are more expensive, but they will keep bouncing forever.

 

[5263]

When I don't have anyone to play with I started going to practice a bit by miself now, bought around 40 balls and a basket, and made some drills for miself.

I found its quite interesting and quite effective, even when alone, you can really practice the technique, placement and different types of strokes.

If anyone has any other drill ideas feel free to share.

No reason you can't do the Spanish X drills or a version of it.

 

[FiReFTW]

No reason you can't do the Spanish X drills or a version of it.

Awesome idea!

 

[TennisDawg]

lol

Excellent ... good work. Someone needs to invent a cheap device that helps with overhead practice.

It's ironic that you just posted this. I have been thinking about trying drop feeds to help me finish my transition to a 2hbh. I have a ball machine, and developed a grooved "ball machine" 2hbh. I can hit 50 consecutive decent 2hbhs ... good topspin and placement. This spring/summer was the first time for me to try and transition away from 1hbh in matches (had TE end of last year). It doesn't take long to figure out that your magnificent ball machine isn't all that in match conditions. Short balls, sliced balls, balls dying in front of you in the wind, high bouncing balls, return of serves, on the run .... yada yada yada. If only my opponents would just hit flat, good paced balls to my strike zone.

Obviously my best, and fastest transition will be playing singles matches and accepting the increased UEs as long as it takes. I'm doing that ... 2 to 3 singles a week. The other thing I need to do more is bh cc drills with friends.

The reason I'm commenting on your drop feed drills, was my thought the other day it might help me transition to off pace 2hbhs. You don't have any pace to work with ... you are generating your own. Seems to me this comes close enough to the muscle memory required for off pace, awkward shots. I also think I would try to see if I could up the pace/power on cc FH. It's one thing to set my ball machine at 70+ mph and hit pace on cc fh. Same off pace of an opponent. It's another thing to have a off pace ball sit up deep in your fh corner, and be able to generate your own big pace cc.

Seriously ... good work. Don't serve to many balls ... pretty easy to overwork a shoulder with practice balls. The Pro Penn Marathon are more expensive, but they will keep bouncing forever.

Find a backboard hit the ball as if you are serving just a foot or so in front of the backboard. The ball comes back like a lob. You can hit anoverhead and work on your setup. Just hit the ball back as an overhead again just in front of the backboard, This is a great workout.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

lol

Find a backboard hit the ball as if you are serving just a foot or so in front of the backboard. The ball comes back like a lob. You can hit anoverhead and work on your setup. Just hit the ball back as an overhead again just in front of the backboard, This is a great workout.

This is a common way volleyball players warm up their shoulder. It also tests your control.

 

[SinjinCooper]

No reason you can't do the Spanish X drills or a version of it.

Exactly. Another great thing about the Spanish X is that the least athletic person in the world can be your feeder. Wives and kids are great for this with minimal explanation, and maybe some headphones to help stave off boredom. Slightly worse feeds only serve to up the challenge level. You don't need Emilio Sanchez out there.

A great drop feed conditioning drill if you're alone and only have one can of balls.

• Take a side court so you can hit into the corners
• Start in the center at neutral baseline position
• Feed yourself a wide forehand (to be hit crosscourt, into the corner)
• Then a mid-backcourt backhand (to be hit DTL as an approach shot, into the corner)
• Then a service-line forehand putaway (to be hit crosscourt, into the corner)
• Then run/jog to retrieve the three balls (which should be close together, since you hit them all into the same corner) and repeat going the other direction, reversing the forehands and backhands

Highly functional, and great conditioning, if you push yourself. You can take a few steps, then feed, or once you get comfortable, can toss from a distance and force yourself to adjust. The side-to-side nature of it actually adds a little element of verisimilitude to your tosses, since balls arriving in that pattern would be coming from crosscourt anyway.

 

[Boogslice]

What is this drill? Could you link a video of it?

I think they mean this one:

 

[Boogslice]

Its great supplement to playing against the wall. You can also try throwing the balls further away from you so you can actually scurry to the shot and work on movement. My problem has always been not having enough balls

I do something similar to this and OP's #4. Drop feeding corner to corner on the baseline, running to hit defensive fh crosscourt, then feeding the other way and hitting defensive bh crosscourt, then going back to fh but this time down the line, then back to bh down the line. If I'm using a basket of ball I keep it a few feet behind the center of the baseline so I can grab a couple balls as I pass.

I'm sure I look crazy while doing this but it's worth it, if only for the aerobic workout.

 

[ByeByePoly]

lol

Find a backboard hit the ball as if you are serving just a foot or so in front of the backboard. The ball comes back like a lob. You can hit anoverhead and work on your setup. Just hit the ball back as an overhead again just in front of the backboard, This is a great workout.

That would be a good workout, but it's not the repetitions I want. My overhead is usually a very low UE stroke. My go to overhead is toward the opponents ad court with some pronation. When I change racquets (I did), and when I had time off (8 months from TE), I notice some timing issues with serving and overheads. I'm not going to serve practice balls post TE, so I'm letting serving work itself out by playing matches. And it is... timing coming along in the last 2 months. As serving improves, generally overhead timing follows. The difference is in a match, you serve the entire match. Depending on my singles opponent, I might hit a lot of overheads, or very few. So what I would like to do on my own ... say in my ball machine sessions is hit "enough" overheads" to keep the timing sharp, but not enough to wake up that TE. In a singles match, I would hit overheads from the service line, to say half way from it to baseline on the fly generally. If the wind is blowing it around a lot... might bounce it. So ideally I would like lobs to be launched from the baseline ... with the first overheads hit from my service line. After a certain number ... than deeper than the service line. And finally ... let the ball bounce in front of the baseline, and hit overheads from the baseline. That's the overheads in a match, and in the case of overheads, the tracking and launch angle are a big part of the shot. Although the backboard drill is a good ... for my purposes, I want a short set, more concise practice.

I keep imagining some kind of pneumatic tube ... simple and cheap enough (say $50) that would feed you lobs so you could practice overheads by yourself. Something simple like load up 20 balls, a tube that could be adjusted for angles, speed adjustment ... yada yada yada. Walk to the other side, hit your 20 overheads ... rinse and repeat.

 

[Spanglish72]

Interestingly I found my Daughter does so much better when we rally with each other when she is the one who starts the rally from a dropped ball.

When I start the rally she usually sprays her second or third ball, When she starts it we rally for much longer before one of us makes an error.

I think the sensation of creating the pace, topspin and depth off of the dropped ball gives her more feedback for a good FH stroke.

When the first ball of the rally is coming at her from over the net she isn't as dialed in to how much pace, topspin and depth she needs to create.

So now she initiates all our practice rallies from a dropped ball & our practice sessions are much more enjoyable for the both of us

 

[mcs1970]

Drop feeds and a couple of hours on the court are my therapy since I can't afford shrinks. Works wonders all the time.

 

[mbm0912]

also really forces you to develop your own power/technique from RHS

 

[mbm0912]

Drop feeds and a couple of hours on the court are my therapy since I can't afford shrinks. Works wonders all the time.

I need therapy after a lot of my hitting sessions..

 

[ubercat]

@FiReFTW you mentioned fast paced drop feeds. How do u do that?

 

[Kobble]

I used to do something similar. If you can't take control of the point, move your opponent, or hit winners reliably from balls like that, you will have a much harder time moving past 3.5 NTRP. Essentially, you will see alot of those types of balls from that level.

 

[Pandora Mikado]

When I don't have anyone to play with I started going to practice a bit by miself now, bought around 40 balls and a basket, and made some drills for miself.

I found its quite interesting and quite effective, even when alone, you can really practice the technique, placement and different types of strokes.

A few drills im doing:

1.Crosscourt forehand - Drop feed balls to my forehand and practice crosscourt forehands, medium height topspin ones, higher arc heavy topspin ones, lower height fast paced winner types, angle forehands to the service box at least.
2.Inside out forehand - Drop feed balls to my backhand and then runaround and do inside out forehands, mostly fast paced ones as these type of shots are usually quite aggresive, and also some that are extreme angles.
3.Down the line forehand - Drop feed balls to my forehand and practice down the line forehands, fast paced ones as these are more aggressive type of shots.
4. Wide forehands and defensive shots - Drop feed balls quite fast and wide to my forehand side so I have to run and stretch and practice running forehands and defensive slice forehands.
5.Crosscourt backhand - Drop feed balls to my backhand and practice crosscourt backhands, medium height topspin ones, higher arc heavy topspin ones, lower height fast paced winner types, angle backhands to the service box.
6.Down the line backhand - Drop feed balls to my backhand and practice down the line backhands, pretty fast paced ones as these type of shots are usually very aggressive.
7.Slice backhands and defensive shots - Drop feed balls to my backhand and practice slice backhands with varius types of placements, aggresive deep low skid slices, defensive slices, angled slices that are short and go into the service box at angles
8.Dropshots - A bit closer to the net now, drop feed balls and practice forehand and backhand dropshots with varius placements and types of spins, backspins and some sidespin ones that bounce away from the court
9.Lobs - Drop feed balls at baseline and practice forehand and backhand lobs, varius types of lobs, slice lobs, normal lobs, topspin lobs
10.Attacking short shots - Drop feed balls into the baseline to around the middle of the baseline and attack the ball with the forehand or backhand
11.Overheads - Stand at service box or so, and throw the ball into the air, then either wait for the bounce or hit it from the droping down, and hit overheads with placement either left or right, practice flat overheads aswell as some spin ones with slice and topspin
12.Serve - Of course no self training would be complete without the best drill to do when self training, practicing serves from both sides, 2nd serves and 1st serves, placement and different types of serves, tho the main focus is on the 2nd serve

And that makes for a very effective training, really works great for most shots, the only shots that you really can't practice this way, are the volleys , sadly, but volleys are the only type of shot that really does need pace to really practice, as its the only shot that you don't really swing but more block the incoming shot and redirect it, so you can't really practice that by yourself, unless you have a wall, then you can do some drilling for that, really sucks but o well.

If anyone has any other drill ideas feel free to share.

A great drill is walking groundstrokes as you drop feed. This helps with rhythm, coordination and spacing.

The idea is you start at one end of the court and while walking try to hit your target zone.

Many people will pause before their drop feed as they traverse from one end to the other. If you learn how to do with without a pause, it will simulate a rally more accurately.

Can do this also with slices, from baseline walk to the net while drop feeding.

Also, especially with serve, same thing.

 

[FiReFTW]

@FiReFTW you mentioned fast paced drop feeds. How do u do that?

I meant shots not drop feeds, practicing different shots.. like high net clearance heavy spin, fast paced winner type shots etc..

 

[ubercat]

I found a great new setting for the cheap aRse self trainer. Cricket nets. I'm guessing you have the same thing for baseball in the states.

Basically it's a big fenced rectangle that's open on one side. Marvellous for grooving shots cause you don't have to run far to pick up the balls. Now if only I could find a tennis wall like that I would be in cheap ass Heaven.

BTW I do have a coach so I'm not saying it's any substitute.

 

[ubercat]

@Pandora Mikado that sounds a super drill. If you have time to video that sometime that would be awesome. I would love some way to practice walking foot work especially on the return of serve.

 

[FRV]

No one to play with = serve practice time

 

[Pandora Mikado]

@Pandora Mikado that sounds a super drill. If you have time to video that sometime that would be awesome. I would love some way to practice walking foot work especially on the return of serve.

Can do! I am visiting a friend at the moment and we often train together. Will take some footage and put up tomorrow.

No one to play with = serve practice time

Indeed!

 

[Pandora Mikado]

@Pandora Mikado that sounds a super drill. If you have time to video that sometime that would be awesome. I would love some way to practice walking foot work especially on the return of serve.

Below from @TennisDawg is a great drill for ROS!



ROS, in my opinion, should be a high percentage return, allowing you to get into the rally, though others may disagree with this approach.

1. Have a square target on your backboard/wall.
2. After your overhead/serve (below exercise from @TennisDawg ) hustle into position to put your groundstroke into the wall/backboard square target.
3. When you consistently groove that ROS into the target area, keep going for more on the ROS.

I encourage students to play points this way, starting off their own serve against the wall/backboard.

After serve, they need to get 3 into the target in the "rally" to get a point. This encourages patience, consistency and has an element of pressure.

lol

Find a backboard hit the ball as if you are serving just a foot or so in front of the backboard. The ball comes back like a lob. You can hit anoverhead and work on your setup. Just hit the ball back as an overhead again just in front of the backboard, This is a great workout.

 

[tennishabit]

When I don't have anyone to play with I started going to practice a bit by miself now, bought around 40 balls and a basket, and made some drills for miself.

I found its quite interesting and quite effective, even when alone, you can really practice the technique, placement and different types of strokes.

A few drills im doing:

1.Crosscourt forehand - Drop feed balls to my forehand and practice crosscourt forehands, medium height topspin ones, higher arc heavy topspin ones, lower height fast paced winner types, angle forehands to the service box at least.
2.Inside out forehand - Drop feed balls to my backhand and then runaround and do inside out forehands, mostly fast paced ones as these type of shots are usually quite aggresive, and also some that are extreme angles.
3.Down the line forehand - Drop feed balls to my forehand and practice down the line forehands, fast paced ones as these are more aggressive type of shots.
4. Wide forehands and defensive shots - Drop feed balls quite fast and wide to my forehand side so I have to run and stretch and practice running forehands and defensive slice forehands.
5.Crosscourt backhand - Drop feed balls to my backhand and practice crosscourt backhands, medium height topspin ones, higher arc heavy topspin ones, lower height fast paced winner types, angle backhands to the service box.
6.Down the line backhand - Drop feed balls to my backhand and practice down the line backhands, pretty fast paced ones as these type of shots are usually very aggressive.
7.Slice backhands and defensive shots - Drop feed balls to my backhand and practice slice backhands with varius types of placements, aggresive deep low skid slices, defensive slices, angled slices that are short and go into the service box at angles
8.Dropshots - A bit closer to the net now, drop feed balls and practice forehand and backhand dropshots with varius placements and types of spins, backspins and some sidespin ones that bounce away from the court
9.Lobs - Drop feed balls at baseline and practice forehand and backhand lobs, varius types of lobs, slice lobs, normal lobs, topspin lobs
10.Attacking short shots - Drop feed balls into the baseline to around the middle of the baseline and attack the ball with the forehand or backhand
11.Overheads - Stand at service box or so, and throw the ball into the air, then either wait for the bounce or hit it from the droping down, and hit overheads with placement either left or right, practice flat overheads aswell as some spin ones with slice and topspin
12.Serve - Of course no self training would be complete without the best drill to do when self training, practicing serves from both sides, 2nd serves and 1st serves, placement and different types of serves, tho the main focus is on the 2nd serve

And that makes for a very effective training, really works great for most shots, the only shots that you really can't practice this way, are the volleys , sadly, but volleys are the only type of shot that really does need pace to really practice, as its the only shot that you don't really swing but more block the incoming shot and redirect it, so you can't really practice that by yourself, unless you have a wall, then you can do some drilling for that, really sucks but o well.

If anyone has any other drill ideas feel free to share.

did a few self-dropping but no fun. any wall/backboard will b 000s x better. the best wall's 15-degree inclined/tilted 1s but very hard to find.............lucky i got 1 only 2 min walk from home.....................