Good weekly schedule to become a better tennis player?

[Brett]

I am taking lessons now two times a week with an instructor. Sometimes just once a week. So I am just wanting a good weekly schedule on what to do the other days to improve my game.

He showed me a drop ball drill take takes roughly an hour and a half to do for my forehand, backhand, and serves. Basically you just drop the ball from 6 different locations on the court to different positions. So I figure if I do forehand one day, backhand the next, and practice serves one day that will help. But then I started thinking about training. I used to run a lot so what about running to stay in shape? Problem is those drills already take up three days and they are time consuming.

So I could run the extra day or do drills but then I forfeit the extra practice routine of those drop ball drills and that means I can only do each of them like once a week. Also, on at least one day a week I work out my legs in my local clubhouse apartment gym. Plus, Saturday is my day of rest because of my religious affiliation. So that takes up a lot of the days right there.

So basically some help on what I can do to structure a weekly routine and what you guys do? I just want to improve my game immensely. He told me those drop ball drills are the best thing I could be doing.

 

[GuyClinch]

Depending on your fitness level you should be hitting with other players, drilling with them and playing practice matches a couple of times a week. Maybe your not ready for this - you could ask your coach..

 

[Geezer Guy]

So, you just drop the ball and hit it - is that the drop ball drill? That doesn't sound very productive to me (but what do I know?). Normally I would say one lesson a week is fine. You need to find other people to hit with. If you could hit 3 or even 4 days a week outside your weekly lesson, that would be GREAT. If you have to choose between hitting and working out or running, choose hitting. If you can't find someone to hit with, then work out or run (or just practice your serve).

On Saturdays, are you allowed to watch tennis video's, matches, or read books about tennis? If so, do that. You can learn a lot by reading and watching.

 

[ManuGinobili]

You can train to improve the physical aspects of your game, which is incredibly advantageous against players of similar skill.

Because tennis is a sport that put a lot of strain on the knee, it is not recommended to do heavy running. So as your tennis practices involved more movements, cut down the running bit by bit.

Right now you could tweak your running by repeating a sprint, jog, walk pattern during your run. DON'T do a constant speed run, it will reduce your explosiveness.

Try some flexibility exercises... it's good for any level and especially for beginners who are still stiff and can't quiet get in grooves for strokes yet.

Shadow swing at home. Practice your toss (150 times a week at this stage would be good). And look up youtubes

 

[rromeo]

I am finding that after a couple of years away from the game and not currently having a regular practice partner that a decent wall to hit against (often HS or Comm College will have one) makes for a great workout. As far as improving your ballstriking u can usually get far more swings in a much shorter time than w/a hitting partner.

Also at the beginning the tennis muscles require some strengthening and u can hit a lot harder when u don't have to worry about keeping the ball in the court so u can get stronger much faster. In addition the ball comes back a lot quicker which improves your reflexes and any timing changes correct themselves when u hit w/a partner. Hope this helps.

 

[Donny0627]

Heres a good one:

Sun: Play
Mon: Play
Tue: Play
Wed: Play
Thur: Play
Fri: Play
Sat: Play

None of this go to the courts by urself and drop balls to hit. Call up your tennis friends and get one of them to play each day... Its really simple...

And no, YOU have to call, not ur mom lol we have ppl like this all over my club wondering why they cant improve even though they havent played AGAINST somebody since the club tourney 3 months ago

haha jk dont take tht the wrong way just get out and play

 

[LeeD]

Donny's suggestion is the best, but I advocate ONE day off each week.
So for 6 days, you hit with people, usually 2-4 different each day, play at least 4 sets of singles, and hit for at least 2 hours, working on the different strokes.
Your solitary singles hitting is good for once a week.

 

[GuyClinch]

7 days a week is a big jump for a guy just used to hitting drop feeds. I'd start off slower + mix in workouts. In the long run every day is fine..

Pros tend to do like..

workout/stretching in the morning with daily hitting sessions (often supervised)..w coaching. And then to that they add tournament play..

So yeah if you could do something like that its ideal. Private lessons are very important as you can avoid just cementing in bad form with the feedback - as well as a large mix of partners..

 

[sn1974]

Heres a good one:

Sun: Play
Mon: Play
Tue: Play
Wed: Play
Thur: Play
Fri: Play
Sat: Play

None of this go to the courts by urself and drop balls to hit. Call up your tennis friends and get one of them to play each day... Its really simple...

And no, YOU have to call, not ur mom lol we have ppl like this all over my club wondering why they cant improve even though they havent played AGAINST somebody since the club tourney 3 months ago

haha jk dont take tht the wrong way just get out and play

playing a lot without good instruction will just make you really good at playing mediocre tennis. so if that's your aspiration, stick with the schedule above.

otherwise, you know the 10,000 hours thing Malcolm Gladwell and others talk about? some of those hours (many of them) must involve feedback from an expert.

regarding drop drills... would love to hear from an expert about this but i think they are of very limited benefit. 90 minutes of drop drills from different parts of the court?! what does that help with? IMO better to find a hitting partner and do focused drills together. instead of just hitting the ball back and forth at each other get a bucket of balls and take turns feeding them to each other balls and working on different strokes.

 

[charliefedererer]

If you are having trouble finding a practice partner, consider hitting off the wall. The wall can let you practice on your stroke technique, allow you to practice moving your feet to get into position, and give you a lot more fitness training than dropping and hitting balls. You should get a lot more hits/hour than when having to pick up every ball you drop and hit. The obvious problem with the wall is that it is not going to let you work on depth and specific placement. But if there is any chance that you have access to a ball machine, that would.

 

[WildVolley]

I think it is best to work on multiple skills in a single session after you've mastered the basics, unless of course you are limited in time. If you are doing the same drill for more than 15-20minutes, I think you'll often hit diminishing returns.

In a match, you'll be hitting serves, returns, forehands, backhands, volleys, and overheads. It is best to try to practice many different shots in a practice session. It is better to work 15 minutes on forehands and backhands, and then 15 minutes on serves, etc, rather than spend an hour just hitting forehands.

I also suggest getting a notebook for your practice sessions and for use in your lessons. Write down things you want to work on, drills you've learned, and plan out your practices.

 

[no1]

DON'T do a constant speed run, it will reduce your explosiveness.

I don't know if this is true; leg endurance is pretty important.

While I agree that it might not necessarily HELP with becoming quicker, I don't think that it will hurt (to say so would mean that your muscles have some sort of cap that is divided between fast twitch and slow twitch types)

I agree with the other points you make though.

 

[BullDogTennis]

I don't know if this is true; leg endurance is pretty important.

While I agree that it might not necessarily HELP with becoming quicker, I don't think that it will hurt (to say so would mean that your muscles have some sort of cap that is divided between fast twitch and slow twitch types)

I agree with the other points you make though.

your body knows whats going on...a LOT of long distance running is NOT going to help very much in tennis.