What's the best way to practice against a wall?

[4.0 player]

:|I wanted to get some exercise the other day and hit a few balls, so I went to our local backboard/wall and started hitting. I hadn't done this is many years and wondered what was the best way to work on your groundstrokes.

I couldn't decide how far back to be, how high to hit the wall, or how hard to hit my strokes.

Any suggestions?

 

[dozu]

stand about the same distance as you would from the net, hit off 2 bounces, dtl and cc patterns... and play a game against the wall.

If I hit 20 quality strokes, I win 1 point, otherwise the wall does... play a game till 11..... try it, it's not easy to defeat the wall.

 

[LeeD]

Dozu has excellent suggestions.
Even I, a extremely erratic player, can hit 20+ shots against a wall, like 5 forehand to forehand, then change over to 5 backhand to backhands. I usually don't practice CC's against the wall, because my normal angles are wider than I can actually cover against a wall.
Hit controlled rallyballs until you decide to go for a forcing fast shot.

 

[Austinthecity]

The thing that's depressing about tennis is, no matter how good I get, I'll never be as good as a wall. I played a wall once... they're relentless!

 

[sureshs]

Lob the wall

Sorry couldn't resist

 

[dozu]

Then you are up against his partner - the other side of the wall.

 

[Sreeram]

I dont agree with hitting the ball in 2 bounces. You can do it if your intention is not in improving your feet movement and reaction time. But if you want to move your feet fast then try the one bounce stuff. Once warmed up I can easily hit 10+ shots against the wall in 1 bounce. I heard Andre Agassi saying that hitting on 1 bounce is better to improve your reaction time.

 

[Power Player]

I stand closer so I can hit against the wall off of one bounce. This also keeps me from hitting too hard, which will kill your control once you step onto the court.

 

[Djokovicfan4life]

Lob the wall

Sorry couldn't resist

Better yet, hit an angle so that the wall hits the ball out. Works every time.

 

[dozu]

drop shot... wall cant get to it.

 

[maggmaster]

I do a lot of wall practice because I have been trying to hit every day for the last 3 months. There are 3 drills I do every day.

1. Ground stroke drill- Down the line forehand, cross court forehand, down the line backhand, cross court backhand. Repeat.

2. Slice, slice- Closer to the wall, alternate forehand and backhand slices keeping the ball as close the net as possible. This is a great footwork drill, after a I get 50 consecutive alternating I switch the pattern to down the line cross court, down the line cross court.

3. Volley drill- alternate forehand and backhand volleys moving closer and further from the wall. Keep good form while trying to hit as many volleys as possible. I usually shoot for 1000 volleys in as few sets as possible.

 

[StanW]

drop shot... wall cant get to it.

In Russia, the wall dropshots you!

Try volleying if you want to help improve your reaction time.

 

[Jonny S&V]

Hitting topspin groundstrokes doesn't seem to help a lot of people that I know who utilize wall practice (including myself). One thing that does work really well is practicing slice backhands (and forehands, if you are so inclined) and volleys. Volleying against the wall is probably the best thing you can do for your volleys, since your technique has to be 99% correct in-order to volley against the wall consistently.

 

[LeeD]

As stated, I can hit a few on two bounces.
Once in a blue moon, feeling strong and healthy, I can stand 6' behind the baseline lines and hit topspin ONE bouncers about 10, and never needing to hit higher net clearance than 6' off the ground. That's when my stroke is grooved and going well.
That would be about 10% of the time. I'm so erratic I can't keep it up more than once every 10 tries.

 

[GetBetterer]

What dozu said.

So many people these days become impatient with their strokes and just want to hit a clean winner. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't and they can become an unforced error and therefore a downfall.

If you hit 20 shots against a wall, not only are you practicing consistency, you're also practicing patience.

 

[LeeD]

I don't really believe I need to hit 20 shots in a row against the wall, but I do it to check out my 3/4 speed rally balls.
Since no point lasts longer than 5 shots (talking baseline groundies only) on any of my points, it's not really necessary to practice longevity or repetition, it's more rewarding to practice one KILL shot.
Oh, I can't run down more than 5 shots anyways, so why prolong the agony?

 

[dozu]

What dozu said.

So many people these days become impatient with their strokes and just want to hit a clean winner. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't and they can become an unforced error and therefore a downfall.

If you hit 20 shots against a wall, not only are you practicing consistency, you're also practicing patience.

interesting you mentioned patience... this does groove a patient game.

during actual play I usually don't plan on forcing errors with risky flat shots close to lines (unless I have to gamble when I am in a pinch).... usually it's just rope a dope with loopy fh and skidding bh, until the other guy misses or give up a short one.... I think in the back of my mind I do expect the point to go on endlessly

 

[LeeD]

I'd be bored to death using that strategy. Outlast the opponent? That's unheard of...:shock:
I'd rather race motocross than enduro or crosscountry.
I'd rather race a quick slalom race than a long distance.
I'd rather do some great snowboarding laydown turns than just ride all day without stopping.
I'd rather do a few eyepopping kiteboard jumps than to ride for 3 hours back and forth.
I'd rather hit the top of the tube than to ride inside it.
Is life a sprint or an endurance race? Unfortunately, my g/f thinks it's an endurance contest.....

 

[Buffster]

If I hit 20 quality strokes, I win 1 point, otherwise the wall does... play a game till 11..... try it, it's not easy to defeat the wall.

This is a great suggestion, gonna try this as well next time I hit against the wall.

 

[dozu]

This is a great suggestion, gonna try this as well next time I hit against the wall.

cool... try starting with mostly down the middle or down the line.... then progress to every ball cross court :O

heart rate will go above 120 when you beat the wall 11-9.

 

[schwuller]

last year i promised to stop posting about how effective it is hitting against a wall! but it's 2011 so here we go.
1. serve way high, run to the wall, split, volley cross court, down the line, wherever. repeat this. it's TIRING! but the serve has to be artificially high or your volley won't be realistic. this helps with repeating the motions for the serve and volley play and its a good workout too.
2. rally crosscourt. this is tough against a wall. it's a great workout. it will help you move snappily to position, set, load, fire, recover. this is actually very hard to do. you want to hit one forehand wide, then one backhand wide, and on and on until you can't continue.
don't just stand there and hit up the middle with the wall. for whatever reason i find that not to be helpful.

 

[tennytive]

Two bounces is okay for warming up the arm or practicing for low bouncing returns, but one bounce is easy enough once you start hitting harder.

I've been hitting on a racquetball court. Dependable bounce off the floor, and the wall is made up of panels so there are lined boxes to aim for. I pick a spot and then hit as many balls as close to that spot as I can. I also vary from slice to flat to topspin, then choose another box and hit backhands with the same objective.

Another drill is dtl once then cc to backhand. Dtl, then cc to forehand, etc.

On a rb court it's easy to practice overheads using the ceiling shot to get a high bounce lob coming back. Cross court is harder because eventually you get too close to the side wall and risk smacking your racket.

Overall tho, much better than outside. No sun, no wind, and no cracked surface that eats up the balls and won't give a consistent bounce.

 

[Power Player]

I'd be bored to death using that strategy. Outlast the opponent? That's unheard of...:shock:
I'd rather race motocross than enduro or crosscountry.
I'd rather race a quick slalom race than a long distance.
I'd rather do some great snowboarding laydown turns than just ride all day without stopping.
I'd rather do a few eyepopping kiteboard jumps than to ride for 3 hours back and forth.
I'd rather hit the top of the tube than to ride inside it.
Is life a sprint or an endurance race? Unfortunately, my g/f thinks it's an endurance contest.....

There is a happy medium of course.

Set up that winner. It can be done in a few well executed strokes as we know.

 

[Nellie]

I can always tell when someone hits too much with the wall because their shots go straight (only hit down) the line and long with bad (i.e., no) foot work. So try to avoid mindless bashing the ball in the same spot for long rallies with no changes in your feet.

With that in mind - I like to hit against the wall to work on my rhythm and split step. I hit really softly but with full stroke (so with 50% effort) - but trying to always split-step when the ball hits the wall. I like to get a rhythm where I hit, recover backwards, split, shuffle, shuffle toward the ball. To me, the key is keep your feet moving and to stay on your toes. Also, don't hit too long - 10 shots at high energy and rest.

 

[LeeD]

I like the 10 shot idea, as I'd like to get my burst of energy over with and then rest for 10 seconds.
Funny thing thos, often times I'm more consistent when I BLAST the wall from normal 6' behind the baseline, aiming about 4' above the netline and hitting SW sorta flattish but some topspin really fast forehands and backhands
that if on a court, might go long, but would be a forcing shot or clean winner, hit faster than my fast spin serves.
I should try to incorporate that into my game more often, as that would certainly shorten the points against anyone. I'd need to miss a few to tune in, forget about the misses, then stay stable and looseminded enough to continue.