Getting the most out of the wall

[hyperthom007]

I'm quite new to tennis. Haven't taken the sport in only 4 months, I was wondering how do I improve by playing against the wall? Where should I stand? Half court away from wall or full court away? What should I take note when practising?

Thanks a million for reading this post!

 

[JohnBUK]

Wall practice

Firstly, and most importantly, only practice what you've been taught! If you practice the wrong technique you'll build up muscle memory for the wrong thing! Generally if you've been playing 4 months I would practice ground strokes purely to "groove" the technique. So, stand sufficiently far away from the wall so the rebound doesn't come at you too quickly - hit it after the second bounce if necessary. Do NOT try and hit the ball too hard - remember, the objective is to groove the stroke not to get the rebound perfect! If the wall has a net painted then that is self explanatory but some have a line drawn a couple of feet or so above the "net" to indicate if the ball is being hit "long". Repeat, have a lesson, say the forehand drive, and then ask the pro this question. Good luck.

 

[mel56]

More wall suggestions

Good advise from JohnBUK. Heres a few more suggestions.

1. Drop and hit only at first! If you just want to practice new strokes, then just drop and hit the shot your practicing and then catch it and repeat this process at first. Do not try to sustain the rally! (When you drop the ball toss it up similar to a service toss, so that it bounces up high and then you wait for it to drop. Why? So you have plenty of time and your not rushed) After you feel your stroke is ready then try to sustain the rally but as soon as you lose ball control or form, catch it and start over.

2. Develop a feed shot. This shot is similar to a tennis pros easy feed. (Feed shot = No spin, high 7 to 8 ft from the ground, and slow to medium speed. should provide you with an easy ball to hit.) The idea is to hit your easy feed shot against the wall, then hit the shot your working on, then hit the easy feed and try to repeat this pattern. Remember once you lose ball control or form stop the rally and start over.

 

[10s talk]

* stand 35+ feet from the wall

* let the ball bounce twice ( this gives you the true timing of the strokes )

 

[orangeblood]

http://www.tennisserver.com/turbo/turbo.html

I found this pretty useful.

 

[king of swing]

there is this one drill/thing that my coach has us do to improve on the basics. stand like 3 feet away and drop the ball and start hitting focusing on getting good contact on the center of the racket and to make sure you move your feet as much as possible to completely balance your self for the next shot. use as little backswing a possible Once you get comfortable w/ this then start backing away from the wall on each shot until you are hitting full length shots. the come closer to the wall and the back away again and so on and so forth. and if you want a challenge, when you get close to the wall again then try to volley to the wall (don't let the ball touch the ground) and the back up again.