The author of “Dynamite Doubles: Play Winning Tennis Today!” details how she got her start in tennis by hitting against “The Wall” at a tennis club in Denmark. Helle Sparre-Viragh’s parents essentially used the wall to keep her occupied while they played their own tennis. In addition to illustrating her early passion for hitting a tennis ball, Viragh advocates that the wall is an effective way to train. The top ranked professional player in Denmark would occasionally drop by the wall and train alongside Viragh.
If you ever attend a senior tennis tournament at a facility that has a backboard, you will observe that a consistent stream of players milling around that area, warming up for matches. The common trope when writing about backboards is to mention that it never misses and the ball always comes back. A point raised less frequently is that the wall also warms up at the precise pace of the player. Additionally, unlike pre-arranged warm up partners, the wall never shows up late.
I carry a list of my backboard tennis drill inventory with me at all times. It was originally scrawled out on an index card, but I realized shortly thereafter that a picture of it on my phone was much more durable and handy. Doing all the drills listed would be an exhaustive tennis workout. I also sometimes carry a roll of painter’s tape for marking off targets on the wall.
The wall is a legitimate way to practice. There is a nice video of Jimmy Connors hitting against the wall at Indian Wells in 2013. More recently, Roger Federer posted a video of himself hitting against a backboard during the early days of the COVID shutdown that went viral. A couple of weeks ago, Ash Barty tweeted out the following gem.
Mum & Dad rediscovering my first ever tennis court while doing some home reno’s 😍🎾 Makeshift duck taped net is a little high…
— Ash Barty (@ashbarty) May 4, 2021
Would love to know how many hours I spent hitting balls against that brick wall 🤣 pic.twitter.com/s9tomDAg6s
There are hitting walls and tennis backboards littered about the majority of places that I play. Outside of the hive of senior players using the wall for tournament warm up, for the most part players largely ignore them. It’s a shame because the wall is a very effective way to practice tennis.
Tomorrow I am going to circle back to that #1 player in Denmark that used to show up at the Wall for practice when Helle Sparre-Viragh was a child. Torben Ulrich is a fascinating man.
