Singles drills for two players
- Thread starter Curious
- Start date
S&V-not_dead_yet
Talk Tennis Guru
- One player has to hit FHs no matter where the ball goes. Easier to do when the partner is feeding vs live ball
The circle drill and the "triangle of death drill":
Death drill:
Consistency drill:
The circle drill and the "triangle of death drill":
Death drill:
Consistency drill:
Pete Player
Hall of Fame
Without additional gear you can use the doubles alley to play inside the same or opposite alleys to finess your direction, and depth control too refering to the back court, area behind the service line extension.
Start by playing the same alley, both players hit forehands, backhands or mixed set. First from the distinctive side of your stroke, left or right of the alley and then after change between shots.
The envelope, dtl vs. cc is quite tough practice, if your consistency is not there yet and lack directional control.
Start by playing the same alley, both players hit forehands, backhands or mixed set. First from the distinctive side of your stroke, left or right of the alley and then after change between shots.
The envelope, dtl vs. cc is quite tough practice, if your consistency is not there yet and lack directional control.
FiReFTW
Legend
One of the best drills in my opinion, as it works on most shots in a baseline exchange and also on footwork and coditioning, so great drill overall.
One player plays CC shots all the time, while the 2nd player plays only DDL.
After a while they switch.
So player A plays CC FH.
Player B plays FH ddl.
Player A runs to his BH and hits a BH CC.
Player B runs to his BH and plays BH ddl.
Player A runs to his FH and hits FH CC...
Repating the same pattern.
One player plays CC shots all the time, while the 2nd player plays only DDL.
After a while they switch.
So player A plays CC FH.
Player B plays FH ddl.
Player A runs to his BH and hits a BH CC.
Player B runs to his BH and plays BH ddl.
Player A runs to his FH and hits FH CC...
Repating the same pattern.
movdqa
Talk Tennis Guru
There's a Bryan Brothers practice session on YouTube which is pretty good.
OnTheLine
Hall of Fame
With two people, I like to throw in things to "keep score"
Serve-return and play out point ONLY CC ... anything out of CC loses ... first to 10 then switch servers. Don't switch from deuce/ad between points. So both players serve from deuce to 10 then both serve from ad to 10
Nice because so many points are won/lost on poor serves and poor returns ... engrains the higher % CC shot tolerance, also works on approaches as you are looking for that short ball.
Serve-return and play out point ONLY CC ... anything out of CC loses ... first to 10 then switch servers. Don't switch from deuce/ad between points. So both players serve from deuce to 10 then both serve from ad to 10
Nice because so many points are won/lost on poor serves and poor returns ... engrains the higher % CC shot tolerance, also works on approaches as you are looking for that short ball.
I've seen "drills" in ping-pong 30 years ago. Somebody wanted to do drills. I don't do drills. I just play a game. THE thing with ping-pong and tennis is that everything is constantly changing from: left to right, near to far, high to low, slow to fast, and everything in between. The GAME is the game of CHANGE. Drilling is doing something that is fixed in a game of CHANGE. I don't believe in drilling in ping-pong or tennis.
Curious
G.O.A.T.
Get ready to be attacked harshly!
Watch the fake drills (where it is mostly forehands), just like John Wayne throwing John Wayne haymakers against stuntmen (uke in Judo). Watch the point beginning at 5:16, the ball changes from forehand to backhand and the "skilled" player loses.
Change is not just in ping-pong or tennis, it's in life too.
S&V-not_dead_yet
Talk Tennis Guru
I strongly believe in progressions and acquiring a new skill with various means. In tennis, that could range from shadow swing to drop feed to easy feed to challenging feed to live ball rallies. I think I would benefit from all of them, not just one.
If a new skill is so far above my head that I'm completely failing at it using a more advanced scenario, scaling it back to a simpler one is the way to go, not make me do more of something that I obviously can't currently manage.
You want to go from point A to point Z in one step; if that works for you, fine. It doesn't work for me [and when I tutor math, it doesn't work for my students either].
You completely miss my point. But since you teach math, I'll teach you math. In the video above, I count about 12 forehands in the 1st "drill". There are 2 base possibilities: forehand or backhand. 2^12 = 4,096. What she is doing in drilling forehands is something very unrealistic in a real game. That's 1/4,096 that it will be that way in a real game. That's about 0%. I KNEW that she will miss her first backhand in a real game. Drilling a fixed thing doesn't work in a game of CHANGE.
S&V-not_dead_yet
Talk Tennis Guru
I know my powers of 2. However, you completely miss MY point. I don't view these drills as mathematical exercises; I view them as progressions toward mastering a skill. You think drills are useless; I think they are useful.
Your math example is predicated on the assumption that for the drill to have any relevance, a match sequence must be the same as the practice sequence [12 FHs in a row]. I don't agree. Even if she only gets one FH during the match, the fact that she practiced it using various drills means she's better prepared to handle whatever arises in a match.
If the "12 FHs in a row" was the only drill she did, I'd agree that would be foolish. However, I doubt that's the case.
S&V-not_dead_yet
Talk Tennis Guru
So how about the 2nd video ["Triangle of Death"]? They are hitting both FHs and BHs at varying depths and speeds and spins. Seems pretty dynamic to me. But since it's just a drill, even one done at a high level, you dismiss it.
That's fine.
Why do you argue? Seriously. Why don't you try to understand?
I hate warm ups. When I warm up with a friend, he always tell tell me, "Hit it TO me." That doesn't make sense. Why would I hit it TO you, when the point of the game is to hit it AWAY from you?
What is the point of a drill, that I hit a ball TO a place for you to drill? I'm not going to hit a ball TO you EVER. Maybe AT you, but not TO you.
That's a stupid drill too. You hit long so you can WIN with NEAR shots. You win on the CHANGE. The game is the game of CHANGE.
MyFearHand
Professional
Warmups make sense because it's a chance to get used to tracking the ball which is pretty different from normal every day life activities. It also gives your muscles a chance to get going so you don't tear anything. If you hit the ball away from someone this will not allow you to get in as many reps hitting the ball in warmup. Your entire argument in this thread makes very little sense. Do you think the best tennis players on earth don't do drills?
Curious
G.O.A.T.
Well said. I think we are dealing here with a grumpy person who is venting some emotions than thoughts. No offence.
I'm not ARGUING. I'm telling you what I KNOW from 35 years of experience in both ping-pong and tennis, more importantly in life.
Depends on what you mean by "best". What is the BEST car in the world? A Lamborghini or a Toyota a Corrolla? HIDDEN in the question is "What is the best car in the world, dollar PER dollar? A Lamborghini costs about $200,000, a Toyota a Corrolla about $20,000. I'll let you THINK about that one.
That is a great question. I KNOW yo'll are not smart enough to ASK the question, let alone ANSWER the question. So I'll answer it for you. The Corrolla. Drilling is a very artificial thing. The Lamborghini is a very artificial car, that comes at great cost. So does being "the best" tennis players in the world, it's a very artificial thing that comes at a great cost, money-wise and personally.
2:00 to 2:17
C
Chadillac
Guest
Half court s&v, drop the sv if you want to hit balls. Get to hit alot more balls and not run as much
The "streak" game is my fav for full court. The winner of the pt gets to serve (bouncing from duece to ad each pt), you count your streak. I once got 27 in a row vs a p1
The "streak" game is my fav for full court. The winner of the pt gets to serve (bouncing from duece to ad each pt), you count your streak. I once got 27 in a row vs a p1
movdqa
Talk Tennis Guru
The purpose of the drill is so that you can execute shots on command. The purpose of the wamup is to get your body warmed up - your blood flowing, joints loosened, etc. Watch the pros in practice sessions and warmups. They aren't the same thing.
MyFearHand
Professional
Why are you being so combative man? There's really no need to insult any of us. It costs me nothing to drill rather than play matches in tennis and it has certainly made me a better player. What level do you play at?
mad dog1
G.O.A.T.
Brother of TTPS. Nuf said.
meltphace 6
Hall of Fame
Many players make one mistake when they do this drill. It is when the LL player tries to keep the CC player in the rally or when the CC puts the LL under pressure with angles.
The CC player shouldn't go for big angles so that the LL person can go for a nice 90° DTL with good pace.
S&V-not_dead_yet
Talk Tennis Guru
Why is that a mistake? Assuming that CC guy isn't taking DTL guy way outside the sideline every time, such variety is good because it's exactly what you will face during a match.
The mistake I see is either person constantly trying to hit winners; that's a different drill.
meltphace 6
Hall of Fame
Even more compact: the outside-in guy (OIG) should be able to generate "good" racquet head speed.
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Bender
G.O.A.T.
I did the CC + DTL drill (one player hits DTL, the other CC) a few days ago, except both of us were hitting pretty hard.
It was essentially a running forehand and backhand practice, with the CC player practising the defensive / counterpunching CC FHs and BHs, while the DTL player practised his running FH and BH winners.
Real fun, highly recommend if you have the shots.
It was essentially a running forehand and backhand practice, with the CC player practising the defensive / counterpunching CC FHs and BHs, while the DTL player practised his running FH and BH winners.
Real fun, highly recommend if you have the shots.
