Good drills for Beginners, Intermediate, and Advanced Players

[Maximagq]

Hi, so I am applying for a coaching position at UCLA rec and am going to have an informal interview on Thursday. I am going to have to demonstrate how I would teach a class of each skill level and I have some ideas for drills, but having never formally "coached" (I'm only a hitting partner), I am a bit nervous that I won't be able to teach well. Does anyone here have advice and drills that I can try to implement? Much appreciated.

 

[fruitytennis1]

If you haven't really taught before, I would worry more about your feeding skills. For example, if you've never fed from a basket off the side of the court, it'll feel unnatural

 

[Maximagq]

Will definitely practice feeding. It's hard to get a good height feed since I haven't fed from an angle, correct.

 

[Topspin Shot]

Don't hit topspin feeds. Use the continental grip.

 

[Supertegwyn]

Don't hit topspin feeds. Use the continental grip.

This. When I started coaching I always feed with topspin, moving to continental made a world of difference. Some drills you can use depending on the size of the group:

Wave: two at the net two at the baseline, feed a ball to the baseline player and play. If the ball hits the ground on the volleyers side they move back and the baseliners move to the net. Repeat

100 ball drill: with the other play rally 100 balls in with cumulative scoring, try and keep the rally going for as long as possible. Vary it up with cross court only forehand only etc.

Butterfly drill:
One person can only hit down the line one person can only hit cross court

I have more if you are interested

 

[Maximagq]

Definitely interested and awesome drills, thanks!

 

[Supertegwyn]

When I get home I'll sit down and write a big list; typing this out on my phone is difficult enough as it is haha

 

[Maximagq]

Hey man, thanks for taking the time to do this. I really appreciate it

 

[southend]

The Book: Nick Bollettieri's Junior Tennis
Book has drills broken down into seven types of drills:
1-4 for basic groundstrokes;
5-8 for combination groundstrokes;
9-15 for volleys
16-19 for groundstroke and volley combinations;
20-22 for overheads;
23 for the basic serve;
24-26 advanced drills.

I can loan you the book.

 

[AZHDExperience]

Volley game:
2 "champions" on your side of the net at the baseline. You feed from a bit behind the baseline. Have teams of 2 (or 1) on the other side at the baseline .

Feed a short ball and have the team on the other side hit and approach and play the point out with the champions.
If they lose rotate teams on the other side.
If they win the point feed them a volley.
Repeat with overhead.

 

[Supertegwyn]

Oops I totally forgot about this; did everything go down well?

 

[Ash_Smith]

I'm going to say it again... there are no "good generic drills"!

For a drill to be effective (good) it has to be designed to create the environment or situation required to identify a skill deficit or improve skill acquisition. Basically - build drills around what you see, not what you think a good drill might be.

 

[Chotobaka]

Volley game:
2 "champions" on your side of the net at the baseline. You feed from a bit behind the baseline. Have teams of 2 (or 1) on the other side at the baseline .

Feed a short ball and have the team on the other side hit and approach and play the point out with the champions.
If they lose rotate teams on the other side.
If they win the point feed them a volley.
Repeat with overhead.

A variation of this is to start with two people at net on one side and two at the baseline on the other. Feed the baseline players who attempt to pass the net players while playing out the point. Rotate in and out on a predetermined number of misses on both sides (depending on the total number of players). The net players should win the vast majority of the points.

 

[tennis_balla]

I'm going to say it again... there are no "good generic drills"!

For a drill to be effective (good) it has to be designed to create the environment or situation required to identify a skill deficit or improve skill acquisition. Basically - build drills around what you see, not what you think a good drill might be.

Today I was coaching a kid who's got a really big backswing on his forehand and couldn't grasp what I was trying to change. So I made him stand just in front of the back fence and hand fed him balls so he feels how short he needs to be otherwise he'll damage his racket. It worked and we went from there once he felt how to shorten it and got a point of reference. I've never done that type of "drill" before but it worked for him.

Gotta be Johnny on the Spot on court when coaching that's for sure.

 

[Ash_Smith]

^^^ Exactly, pretty much all my coaching is Constraints Led right now (give or take any low hanging fruit for which I will be more directive) as I feel that leads to the fastest skill acquisition.

 

[tennis_balla]

Yup, agreed.

 

[Chotobaka]

Today I was coaching a kid who's got a really big backswing on his forehand and couldn't grasp what I was trying to change. So I made him stand just in front of the back fence and hand fed him balls so he feels how short he needs to be otherwise he'll damage his racket. It worked and we went from there once he felt how to shorten it and got a point of reference. I've never done that type of "drill" before but it worked for him.

Gotta be Johnny on the Spot on court when coaching that's for sure.

Seems like a kinder, gentler version of "Asteroids", which involves rapidly feeding ball after ball at a player who is positioned right in front of the fence to get in the habit of not taking a backswing on volleys. Amazing how instinctive it becomes when things move really quickly.

 

[ProgressoR]

Today I was coaching a kid who's got a really big backswing on his forehand and couldn't grasp what I was trying to change. So I made him stand just in front of the back fence and hand fed him balls so he feels how short he needs to be otherwise he'll damage his racket. It worked and we went from there once he felt how to shorten it and got a point of reference. I've never done that type of "drill" before but it worked for him.

Gotta be Johnny on the Spot on court when coaching that's for sure.

That sounds like a good generic drill to encourage more compact back swings.

I need a drill for the same thing but on the backhand, I seem to like taking a big luxurious back swing and so I struggle sometimes when I need to shorten it and I do not know how. It is a 1H.

 

[Raul_SJ]

I'm going to say it again... there are no "good generic drills"!

For a drill to be effective (good) it has to be designed to create the environment or situation required to identify a skill deficit or improve skill acquisition. Basically - build drills around what you see, not what you think a good drill might be.

How about the "Bounce Hit" drill?

Bounce – Hit

The legendary drill from Gallwey. The goal is to say "bounce" when the ball bounces on your side and "hit" when you hit it. This requires you to focus really well on the ball and the moments of impact. Hence no other disturbing thoughts enter your consciousness.

It's also one of the best drills for beginners since their biggest problem is not technique but judging the ball. When they focus on bounce-hit their brain gets the fullest and clearest information about ball flight which they store and accumulate.

- See more at: http://www.**************.com/inner-game-tennis-drills.html#sthash.9CXs3WLv.dpuf

 

[Ash_Smith]

^^^How about it? It is a drill which is designed to help a specific issue and is similar in nature to Oscar's 5 count from the bounce concept and many other variations.

It is only one of the best drills for beginners if the beginners in question have issues with timing and possibly perception (although I don't see this as a particularly helpful drill when it comes to improving perception). If a coach started doing this drill with a group because it is a "great beginners drill" and those on court weren't actually in need of it I would be highly suspicious of the coach.

Whilst i'm all for goal setting and long term planning, sometimes i think planning individual sessions in detail stops coaches teaching what they see and I actually think, especially for newly qualified coaches, there is great benefit to coaching off the cuff for a few sessions to develop their ability to teach what they see.

 

[OTMPut]

Today I was coaching a kid who's got a really big backswing on his forehand and couldn't grasp what I was trying to change. So I made him stand just in front of the back fence and hand fed him balls so he feels how short he needs to be otherwise he'll damage his racket. It worked and we went from there once he felt how to shorten it and got a point of reference. I've never done that type of "drill" before but it worked for him.

Gotta be Johnny on the Spot on court when coaching that's for sure.

My coach had me stand on the baseline and face the back fence. He would hand feed from the top of the service line. And he would say forehand or backhand as he feeds. I would turn accordingly and find the ball and execute the stroke. That was very effective in shortening the backswing.

 

[Raul_SJ]

^^^How about it? It is a drill which is designed to help a specific issue and is similar in nature to Oscar's 5 count from the bounce concept and many other variations.

It is only one of the best drills for beginners if the beginners in question have issues with timing and possibly perception (although I don't see this as a particularly helpful drill when it comes to improving perception). If a coach started doing this drill with a group because it is a "great beginners drill" and those on court weren't actually in need of it I would be highly suspicious of the coach.

Individual instruction is best, but the question OP posed was what were the best drills for a group lesson.

So let's say we have a group of rank beginners that have never hit a tennis ball.

One needs to start somewhere, and the coach cannot immediately evaluate each student's needs in a group lesson setting, so the bounce-hit drill would be a great drill to start.

What other approach would you suggest in teaching such a class?