Drills? (ball machine if possible)

[pmata814]

Will tennisplayer.net ever include drills to help you improve your game? It would be nice if you could include some ball machine drills (using regular b-machines that are common to the avarage person not the programmable $7,000 type). Any chance of this in upcoming issues?

Thanks in advance.

[johnyandell]

It's a great suggestion and something we've thought about. Not usre we'll get to it in the near future though, to be honest-too many other things going on right now. Consider looking at the stuff that's out there like the USTA drill book (Human Kinetics) and the Joe Dinoffer stuff (oncourtoffcourt)

[airforce1]

here is a drill suggestion for you, on how u think when using a ball machine.

think of picking spots on the court where you want to do certain things.
for ex..

1. Aim the machine right where u like to stand and work on moving ur body out of the way and back into the shot.

2. Aim it to spots on the court where you don't know which shot to hit and work on the various solutions that u can make work.

3. Aim it deep to your baseline and work on the resolve not to try too much from that part of the court and refine your forcefull, but safe rally shot for just those type moments.

4. Aim it so it gives you a mid-court ball that you can be aggressive with and work on the ways that you will attack these balls once you've earned them thru a strong rally.
I call this one the "Separator". While most of us can rally pretty well, usually the one who can be consistantly aggressive with these mid-court balls will win the match.

this any help?

[pmata814]

here is a drill suggestion for you, on how u think when using a ball machine.

think of picking spots on the court where you want to do certain things.
for ex..

1. Aim the machine right where u like to stand and work on moving ur body out of the way and back into the shot.

2. Aim it to spots on the court where you don't know which shot to hit and work on the various solutions that u can make work.

3. Aim it deep to your baseline and work on the resolve not to try too much from that part of the court and refine your forcefull, but safe rally shot for just those type moments.

4. Aim it so it gives you a mid-court ball that you can be aggressive with and work on the ways that you will attack these balls once you've earned them thru a strong rally.
I call this one the "Separator". While most of us can rally pretty well, usually the one who can be consistantly aggressive with these mid-court balls will win the match.

this any help?

Thank you. I'll try to work on these.

[uspta146749877]

drills

Thank you. I'll try to work on these.

pmata814,
www.uspta.org provides two resources:
1.addvantage magazine www.addvantageuspta.com -it contains
some drills,some of them ball machine applicable

2.a tip of a week section-some of them do use a ball machine
as well-for example the current one about the return of serve
Please click www.uspta.org to find it
julian
uspta pro 27873

[CraigC]

For Pmata

I'd suggest the following.

Standing in the forehand position:

1. hit two forehands crosscourt-then machine feeds a down the line ball closer to the sideline than the middle
2. hit backhand crosscourt making the ball cross the singles sideline before it crosses the baseline
This pattern is a counter punching play, maintaining control of the crosscourt rally, and punishing your opponent for attempting to change the diagonal. It allows you to control the center of the court while making your opponent move beyond the sidelines.


1. hit two forehands crosscourt-then machine feeds a down the line ball closer to the middle than the sideline
2. Hit your backhand back up the line
This pattern allows you to maintain control of the crosscourt diagonal and stops your opponent from using the middle to take away your angles.

1. hit a forehand crosscourt
2 hit a forehand short crosscourt that crosses the sideline before it crosses the baseline (angle)
3 hit a forehand down the line aggressively, trying to finish the point
This is a more offensive pattern where you are initiating the attack by moving your opponent off the court before attacking.

Once you have mastered these three patterns, switch to the backhand side and do the same thing.
After that, move to the inside out forehand position and do it again.
This will give you 3 patterns of play, from 3 different positions. (9 patterns total)

Now you can enter your match and decide on which diagonal you can dominate your opponent. Once established, you can decide whether you want to play an aggressive attacking pattern, or a counter punching one.

Hope that helps.

-Craig C

[uspta146749877]

articles by Cignarelli

I'd suggest the following.

Standing in the forehand position:

1. hit two forehands crosscourt-then machine feeds a down the line ball closer to the sideline than the middle
2. hit backhand crosscourt making the ball cross the singles sideline before it crosses the baseline
This pattern is a counter punching play, maintaining control of the crosscourt rally, and punishing your opponent for attempting to change the diagonal. It allows you to control the center of the court while making your opponent move beyond the sidelines.


1. hit two forehands crosscourt-then machine feeds a down the line ball closer to the middle than the sideline
2. Hit your backhand back up the line
This pattern allows you to maintain control of the crosscourt diagonal and stops your opponent from using the middle to take away your angles.

1. hit a forehand crosscourt
2 hit a forehand short crosscourt that crosses the sideline before it crosses the baseline (angle)
3 hit a forehand down the line aggressively, trying to finish the point
This is a more offensive pattern where you are initiating the attack by moving your opponent off the court before attacking.

Once you have mastered these three patterns, switch to the backhand side and do the same thing.
After that, move to the inside out forehand position and do it again.
This will give you 3 patterns of play, from 3 different positions. (9 patterns total)

Now you can enter your match and decide on which diagonal you can dominate your opponent. Once established, you can decide whether you want to play an aggressive attacking pattern, or a counter punching one.

Hope that helps.

-Craig C

Pmata,
reading articles by Cignarelli on this forum would probably help
to understand what CraigC is talking about

[airforce1]

great patterns Craig, but do u think they can make the inexpensive ball machine give these feeds?

[CraigC]

Just needs to oscillate

great patterns Craig, but do u think they can make the inexpensive ball machine give these feeds?

Read closely, you will see that the machine only needs to hit 2 spots. Crosscourt and down the line. The down the line oscillation can be set to the middle for the second pattern.

If your machine doesn't oscillate, I'd suggest working on pattern 3, where the feed is only 3 balls in a row to one corner.

For the other two patterns, just have the machine feed two balls to the corner and then do the footwork and shadow the stroke on the run for the third shot. Recover and repeat---sounds like a shampoo bottle!

Additionally, with a good enough practice partner, you can do these drills together and then play out the point.

Don't you wish someone would invent a ball machine with preset patterns that made sense, instead of just a random variety of shots? UGHH!

-CC

[airforce1]

Yes, I saw that you didn't need much variation, but so many of the machine just hit one spot and the poster did mention having a most basic set up. I liked your suggestions for get arounds on the limitations of the machine.

Yes, that would be great wouldn't it. a machine that gave feeds with good patterns!

[pmata814]

Thanks so much for the replies.

CraigC,
My machine does oscillate but it is either random or two-line and when it oscillates it will feed one to each side. It can't do 2balls to a corner then oscillate--unfortunately. I'll try it by shadowing the stroke as you suggested. I'm just afraid that the ball that is being fed, while I shadow the stroke, will come back on the court then I'll start tripping on the missed tennis balls.

I have done pattern 3 by the way.

thanks again.

[CraigC]

Footwork Drills

Perhaps you can use the random balls scattered on the court to develop more precise footwork although I'm not paying the medical bills for the rolled ankle!!
Gotta say, as a coach, it's nice to hear someone is out there banging away on the ball machine trying to get better. Keep up the hard work.

-CC