Having issues with movement on the court?
Agility: quick footsteps/movements and changes in body direction are an important part of the tennis game and can easily be worked on with a few simple drills.
Sideways shuffle: A quick sideways movement while staying in some form a squat comfortable to you, repeated 1-3 times across the court, left and right. This is a good warmup prior to the following agility drills.
Karaoke: Start by going left, put your right foot in front of the left, then the left foot steps left, followed by putting your right foot behind the left, continuing this pattern across the court. Your goal is to work on speed of motion and decreased force of the foot impact on the ground.
Suicides: Sprint drill involving running from one doubles sideline to touch each line across the court with your fingers (singles sideline, center line, far singles sideline and far doubles sideline) while always returning to the original sideline in between. This drill works on direction changes across the court while sprinting sideways.
Fan Drill: Place balls at the 5 corners surrounding the center T (each singles sideline meeting with the baseline and the three points of the serving boxes: left, center and right). Start at the baseline T and run to each corner to pick up the ball, returning to the center baseline T each time to put the ball down. This drill works on direction changes and quick movement. Try taking more quick steps at each direction change.
Try these drills out before you play and see a change in your footwork and running ability on the court! If you have any questions, feel free to email come in for a free consult at any of our offices.
