Ultimate Drill Games:
Groundstroke Diagonals

Jorge Capestany

How important is it to be able to hit accurately and consistently crosscourt? Simple drilling can be boring. But drill games make it fun and add an element of pressure that translates to more success in match play. Here are 3 drills that are fantastic.

Crosscourt Forehands: The target area can be the diagonal halves of the court using either the singles or the doubles sidelines. The first player drops and hits and then you play out points. You can play games to 7, 11, or even 21. Variation: start the game with a serve.

Crosscourt Backhands: Same diagonal target areas but on the backhand side. Again drop and hit and play points. Like the crosscourt forehand game, a variation is to start the point with a serve. You can also specify that one or both players must hit all backhands.

Inside Out Forehands: How important is the inside out forehand in high level tennis? Extremely. But at lower levels many players never think of playing inside—even when their backhands might be weaker than their forehands. Again the game starts with a drop and hit. Or with a serve. Again you can specify that one or both players have to get around every ball and hit only forehands, which helps facilitate movement and positioning.