Jorge Capestany – TennisDrills TV

Ken DeHart on the Three Speeds

Most players have a favorite speed that they like to hit the ball. For some they like to crank it, while others are content just to stroke it easy and make a lot of shots. Regardless of your preference, it is important that we develop multiple speeds that we can send the ball back to our opponent with.

A good recommendation is to have 3 basic speeds that you can hit when you are competing.

This is an effective way to make players understand the proper levels of power they should master in their games. Below is a description for 3 speeds that all serious players should master.

Level 3 = Hard Ball - Is defined as “as hard as the player can hit it…. without missing.” On a scale of 10 with ten being the hardest shot possible, this will likely mean about an 8-9 power level for most people. The keep part of this definition is the “without missing” part.

Level 2 = Rally Ball - Is defined as the speed the player would use if he needs to get a rally of 10 balls in. This definition allows for the players themselves to discover what this speed is for them. Typically this would be a 5-6 power level on a scale of ten.

Level 1 = Ugly ball – is defined as the speed the player would use to loop the ball back and play ugly. Typically this would mean a 3-4 power level on a scale of ten.

Having these descriptions allows the players to figure out for themselves how hard each level should be for their own games.

It also is a much better way for the coach to communicate rather than saying “hit it softer” over and over to the player, who still may not know what the coach means by that.

Jorge Capestany - TennisDrills TV

Jorge is the Founder of www.tennisdrills.tv - a video based website that shows more than 700 videos of tennis drills and tips. Jorge is one of only nine people world-wide that is a Master Professional with both the USPTA and PTR. Jorge is a 6-time Michigan Pro of the Year a 2-time Midwest Pro of the Year. Jorge has coached hundreds of ranked juniors including 3 national champions.