Hitting against a wall

[JMBenson]

In your opinion, when you cannot find a hitting partner, is hitting against a wall a good exercise/drill? Just curious, I occasionally do so and get ALOT of strokes in.

 

[Court_Jester]

Absolutely! This exercise taught me great directional control. I know that it's very boring but nothing is worse than playing against someone who constantly sprays the ball all over the court and can't keep a rally going past two or three strokes. It also improves your reaction time since the ball comes at you twice as fast.

 

[10s talk]

let it bounce twice on groundstrokes ......... it creates the natural timing

 

[lidation]

let it bounce twice on groundstrokes ......... it creates the natural timing

Good suggestion! I hit against the wall couple of times a week to groove my strokes. When all by yourself against the wall, you can think while you hit and analyze what works and what does not. This way you can build up the consitency.

When bounch once, yeah, the timing is too short and you have to act quick to get into position. Let the ball bounce twice is a really good suggestion!:grin:

 

[lawrence]

i often hit against the wall, but make sure you have enough grounds length for to simulate a real court because if its too short it doesnt help too much :\

 

[JMBenson]

Thanks for all the feedback and suggestions, I need to find my racquet now...

 

[habib]

let it bounce twice on groundstrokes ......... it creates the natural timing

I never understood the point of this. How does this create natural timing? Hitting it off one bounce encourages you to move your butt, hitting off two bounces to me seems like it would just result in sloppiness. Moreover, the biggest difference between the wall and an opponent is that the ball coming off the wall is going to reach you sooner (less distance covered), but will be travelling slower than a ball from an opponent. The biggest timing issue from me when going from court to wall to court has been the stroke timing with regards to the pace on the ball itself.

 

[Bungalo Bill]

In your opinion, when you cannot find a hitting partner, is hitting against a wall a good exercise/drill? Just curious, I occasionally do so and get ALOT of strokes in.

There has been some great suggestions over the years for ball drills on the wall. You should do a search for them.

 

[RoddickAce]

I started off learning by playing against the wall. It really helps a lot. You practice some shots that u usually aren't comfortable hitting, ie) high backhand, twist serve(which is incredibly hard to hit) and some other strokes.

 

[JamesBlaze]

i use the wall all the time myself.

 

[iambt21]

In your opinion, when you cannot find a hitting partner, is hitting against a wall a good exercise/drill? Just curious, I occasionally do so and get ALOT of strokes in.

When hitting of a wall you should really focus on a few things.


Focus on where you contact the ball in regards to position of your body

Focus on your footwork

Focus on your Form*****

Focus on racket back early and contact early

 

[iambt21]

I never understood the point of this. How does this create natural timing? Hitting it off one bounce encourages you to move your butt, hitting off two bounces to me seems like it would just result in sloppiness. Moreover, the biggest difference between the wall and an opponent is that the ball coming off the wall is going to reach you sooner (less distance covered), but will be travelling slower than a ball from an opponent. The biggest timing issue from me when going from court to wall to court has been the stroke timing with regards to the pace on the ball itself.

bouncing it twice is better. the point of hte wall is NOT to rush your strokes. its to work on your form/positiong/contact point....

 

[shindemac]

The transition isn't as great if you play pushers or people who float the ball. You need to mix in wall and a real person. You can't have 100% wall and expect to go into a match prepared.

Don't forget to work on placement and hitting spots on the wall!

 

[jaded]

I warm up on the wall while my brother takes his lesson from our coach. I think it's a great way to practice/warm-up when no one else is around to hit with. I've even hit serves against it.

 

[GuyClinch]

I use it but I don't find it that helpful to be honest..

What I don't like about it..

1) If you don't have your form down you can easily cement bad habits - why? Becaues you don't have as much feedback about how your ball is moving.

2) The more topspin you put on your strokes - the lower the return comes in. This is pretty much the opposite of hitting against a person. As a result you practice alot of low balls. This is especially true if you let it bounce twice.

3) The wall sounds the ball back really fast - about half the time you would have on a ground stroke (maybe even less depending on who you hit too). I don't think it encourages proper footwork. Most people I have seen just run to where they know the ball is going.

That being said it's helpful...if you have your form really solid. It's very good for practicing volleying..

Pete

 

[Loco4Tennis]

i read that you can practice most parts of the game on the wall, i even tried going there and practicing the volley, if you thought hitting ground strokes was weird, try practicing volleys, but thats the payoff of not trying to dish out several hundred $$s to get a ball machine