This weekend’s theme is “Training with Purpose” to achieve the highest performance levels possible in tennis. I am rounding out this series of posts with some ideas on basic patterns of sessions for tennis training. The very best players in tennis use these techniques for general stroke maintenance and to keep all aspects of their game on point.
I previously described one of my favorite tennis workouts in “The Two on One Practice Session.” That post detailed how that drill can be used to systematically rotate players through various hitting positions and shots. Here is an excerpt that describes the overall benefits of the drill:
Three players participating in a rally allows them to play aggressive yet still cooperative shots. The overarching idea is to maintain a competitive rally. However, the two player side has a secondary objective of wearing down the person on the other side of the court. When fatigue inevitably sets in, the players rotate positions and the process repeats itself with fresh legs on the solo side. In doing this, all three players systematically rotate through each hitting position.
This drill is also good to have in your back pocket in case a person has to bail at the last minute from an arranged doubles match. Doing this drill can transform the “ruined” time into a valuable practice session.
Ancedotally I have been told that the two on one practice session is used by professionals at the most elite levels of the game. Just last week I stumbled across evidence of this when watching “The Rafa Nadal Academy.” During a segment on how professional players drop into the academy to train with these top juniors, Nadal himself is shown playing the solo side against two of his students.
Another hitting pattern variation is to sequence through all the shots in cooperative rallies between two players. The basic pattern is to hit for a few minutes up the middle of the court, and then spending an equivalent amount of time hitting crosscourt in both directions. The pattern is repeated volley to baseline for both players, and then again volley to volley.
If two players spend just five minutes from each hitting position, the sequence described in the preceding paragraph will take exactly 60 minutes without breaks. To round out that workout, some overheads should be worked in as well as serves and returns. I have watched the very best players in tennis use this drill as a warmup in the morning of USTA National level tournaments. For most of the rest of us, it is a very solid full workout.
The type of training most beneficial to your game will vary wildly depending on the development objective. For example, building consistency might best be done with a backboard or a steady training partner in cooperative rallies. Working on agressive finishing shots, might be best suited for a ball machine. Complex point patterns or technque overhauls is most efficiently supported by hiring a coach or a teaching pro.
The key to sucess in purposeful tennis training is intentionality. As long as you have a clear idea of the training objectives, chances are that you will eventually find a good way to work toward mastery. It may take a few attempts to get it optimaly right, but tennis development is a journey rather than a destination.
The very best players in Adult Senior tennis are extremely purposful about their tennis development. They are great at dedicating time to train for the highest levels of competition. They are masters of identifying areas of their game where improvement will be most impactful. Finally, they are extraordinarily adept at figuring how to specifically train to accomplish their objectives.
These are things that all tennis players can embrace to make a significant impact on their performance levels.
Throughout 2023 I am exploring the 12 Habits of Highly Successful Tennis Players. A complete summary of all posts to date on that topic as well as what is coming up for the remainder of this year can be found on the 12 Habits of Highly Successful Tennis Players homepage.
