Safety precautions

1. Exercise care when hitting tennis balls
2. Don’t mess with the ball machine
3. Know where others are when you swinging your racket
4. Listen to instructions
5. Be aware of others hitting tennis balls.

Warming up: Stretching before class. Shoulders, wrists, back, calves, hamstring, quadriceps.

Activity: Ball drills

• Hand dribble: Run around perimeter of course dribbling tennis ball alternating hands.
• Throw against wall

Terms: Ground stroke, backhand, forehand, racket bevels

Eastern forehand grip: Shake hands with racket. Put hand flat on racket face and slide down to grip. Palm on bevel 3 and V on bevel 2. Partners should check

Activity: Run from baseline to net and back keeping ball on racket using eastern forehand. Do the same a second time but bounce ball on racket. When done bounce ball against ground with racket.

Preparing to hit: Most important thing to do to hit a good shot is to get in the right spot.

1. Ready position
2. Moving your feet: slide and crossover. Activity: Practice slide and crossover from one line to another.
3. Racket back: forehand and backhand
4. Stiff wrist

Activity:

• Hitting softly against wall
• Bump with partner
• Bump with partner over net
• Throw ball over net so partner has to run to spot and hit

Backhand

Backhand grip

1. Eastern: Hand twists behind. Thumb on flat back bevel.
2. Continental: Palm on second bevel.
3. Two hand: More control but less reach.

Technique for hitting the backhand

1. Move feet to right place
2. Bring racket back and down to thigh immediately with proper grip
3. Step early toward target
4. Swing out and finish high

Activity:

• Practice preparation to hit with no ball.
• First rotation partner drops ball from shoulder height to be hit with a backhand by the other partner.
• Partner tosses ball underhand from the net to be hit by partner over the net.
• Partners hit ground strokes from service lines. Move 3 steps back to make harder. Must use backhand on balls that come to backhand.

Forehand

Principal: Low to high with vertical racket face.

Steps to hit

1. Draw racket back early with palm down
2. Pivot and step forward
3. Stiff wrist
4. Swing low to high, inside to out.

Activity:

• Partner drops ball from shoulder height to be hit by forehand.
• Option: Partner toss from in front of net.
• Move to hit either backhand or forehand groundstroke coming from hit ball from other side of net. Line rotation of 3-5 on each court.

Two-handed backhand: Same as left handed forehand. Same cues just keep both hands on racket.

Activity: Practice 2 handed backhand with partner dropping ball.

Backhand and Forehand Combinations

Activity: Explain and demonstrate. Students rotate through each task.

• 2 courts: 2 on left side of court and 2 on right side. Position ball machine or instructor to shoot down middle of court. Person runs to hit back hand or forehand and moves behind line. 1 person picks up balls.
• 2 courts: 1 with basket at net throwing balls underhand in random places on the court for 1 to return with backhand or forehand. 1 person picks up balls while waiting.
• Play game of doubles or singles starting with ground stroke serve from baseline.

Serve

Activity:

• With one ball, students should face the wall sideways with a line to stand behind. Practice the weight transfer while throwing against the wall.
• Move to 4 on a court and practice same motion while throwing into opposite service court. Emphasize stepping forward. Switch courts half way through.
• In same spot, practice toss in air. Should land just in front of base line.

Serve motion

• Weight transfer
• Racket back and palm down
• Toss high enough to extend racket
• Hit and follow through stepping forward

Demonstrate proper serve

Activity: Practice serving from left and right sides of court. Pause periodically to pick up all balls. If arm is tired, practice returning serves.

Half-volley

Definition: Hitting a shot immediately after the ball has bounced on the court.

Technique

1. Turn to side and take little back swing.
2. Crouch to hit.
3. Lift racket head as contact is made.

Activity:

• Partner tosses ball underhand to partner who attempts to return with half-volley technique.
• Partner throws ball overhand from other side of net to be returned with half volley.
• Students stand in no man’s land and attempts to return ball launched from machine or instructor using half-volley.

Volley

Definition: Shot hit before ball bounces on your side of court.

Technique

1. Lean forward
2. Step with opposite foot
3. Racket up
4. Stiff wrist

Activity:

• With back to fence, practice hitting the volley from an underhand toss from the partner.
• 2 courts: 5 on one side of net standing 10 ft from net on singles side line. Ball machine launches balls just over net at moderate speed. Each person steps in and hits 3 volleys with backhand. Stop machine and have people switch sides.
• 2 courts: Start on service line charge and volley 2 consecutive hit from student hitting ground stroke. Return to back of line.

Drop Shot

Definition: Floats softly into opponent’s forecourt and bounces twice before he can get to it. Effective against players who are out of position, out of shape, or who do not cover the court well.

Technique

1. Disguise the shot
2. Swing high to low with open racket face
3. Abbreviate follow through

Activity:

• Toss to drop shot: Partner tosses ball over net and to be return with forehand or backhand drop.
• Ground stroke to drop shot: Start in front of baseline and run to return short ground stroke with backhand drop shot or forehand. Followed by opposite hand. Return to end of line.

Lob

Definition: High arching shot. Types: Defensive if out of position and offensive as strategy.

Technique

1. Disguise preparation
2. Open racket face slightly to sky
3. Hit high enough so it cannot be reached before bounces and deep enough so it cannot be reached after it bounces.
4. Move forward to service line.

Situations to use lob

• Opponent hits drop shot
• Opponent trying to volley
• Opponent is off balance
• Opponent is out of position

Activity:

• Practice lob from drop of ball.
• Partner tosses ball to opponent standing on service line who returns lob high over partner’s head and deep into the back court. Switch sides of net after 10 hits.
• Partner tosses ball high over head of opponent standing on service line to be returned with lob.
• Play a game lobs only.

Strategy

Singles strategy

• Base position is in middle of baseline.
• Play ground strokes deep in court hitting to angle.
• On short shots look to approach net to volley or smash. Volley position 10-15 feet from net and move closer after good volley.
• Service position: Near center of baseline. Serve at 75%. Use spin for more control.
• Service receive: Near baseline in middle of two extreme angles.
• Don’t overuse drop shots.

Activity: King of the court: Start with easy serve ground stroke from baseline. Winner stays on court.

Doubles strategy

• Object is to win with a volley. Both partners should be at net as soon as possible. Defense should try to not let the server get to net. Don’t rely on ground strokes to win.
• Hit down middle to add to confusion. Let the player in the forehand position take most shots down middle.
• Serve from middle of service area.
• Poaching: Partner stepping in front to hit a volley. Other partner usually comes in from behind.
• Limit use of lob.

Activity: Practice different strategies and poaching in game of doubles ground strokes.