This week’s tennis training topic is an exercise that made a few brief appearances in the new Netflix documentary, “Break Point.” If you blinked, you probably missed it. Shortly after the 19-minute mark of S1E1, Victoria Azarenka and Daniil Medvedev are both seen playing catch with their coaches using a medicine ball. It is a drill so common in tennis circles that I was actually surprised to discover that I have never actually written about it on this site. This is the week to correct that glaring oversight.
Tennis requires quick lateral movement, explosive strength, balance, and stability. The medicine ball groundstroke drill checks all those boxes. This type of off-court training is a powerful tool to develop controlled agility while improving strength and power.
A medicine ball is essentially a weighted rubber ball. It is designed to bounce, but it is significantly heavier than the basketball which it closely resembles. I have a set of medicine balls in my personal home gym that range from 6 to 15 pounds. However, I use my 10-pound ball the majority of the time because that is a comfortable weight for me. That appears to be the approximate weight that Medvedev is seen using in “Break Point.”
To execute the Medicine Ball Groundstroke, the ball is thrown to one side of a player standing in the ready position. Depending on the intensity of the exercise, the distance can be very close or a few steps away from the receiver. The ball is “played” by moving to catch it on the backswing using both hands. The player then loads the body for a groundstroke and throws the ball back toward the coach. This drill can also be done cooperatively between two players.
It takes a little time to learn how to do this drill properly. Later in the “Break Point” series, there is a cute discussion between Ons Jabeur and her husband Karim Kamoun, who is also her personal trainer, on how hard it was for them to learn to synchronize this drill effectively. It can take a little patience, but the benefits are well worth it.
A very good YouTube video produced by Tennis Warehouse demonstrates the technique. That version of the drill is performed using a toss that does not bounce. In “Break Point” Medvedev is seen doing the variation of the drill where the ball is bounced to the receiver.
Medicine Ball Groundstrokes are a great way to work on strength, balance, and efficiency of movement. It is in the backdrop a few times in the first 5 episodes of the Netflix “Break Point” series. I would be shocked if it doesn’t pop up again from time to time as more episodes are released.
 | Weighted Medicine Ball, 10 pounds |
