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Drill to Win
Tennis is a game of explosive movements and exacting
physical endurance. The Zigzag drill is the best cariovascular tennis drill I
know of. I guarantee it will get your heart rate up in a hurry, make your
legs feel like jelly, and prepare you for even the most grueling five set matches.
After you've done this drill even for a short time, your lungs will feel
like they're going to explode and your legs will burn like they're on
fire. The purpose of this drill is simple; it will teach
you to execute groundstrokes on the move while getting you in better tennis
shape at the same time. To execute this drill you will need a hopper full of balls. Start at the baseline with your your coach or hitting partner at the net. Have your partner feed you four balls per rotation. The first ball should be fed deep to the forehand, the second ball is a short forehand feed (landing on the service box), the third ball is deep to the backhand, and the fourth ball is a short backhand (again, to the service box).
The hitter hits all the deep feeds crosscourt and all
the short feeds down the line. The feeder should let the hitter recover at
least partially back into position after feeding the short balls and before
the next deep feed. The feeder feeds a total of 12 balls to complete a
cycle. After every cycle the hitter and the feeder can alternate. Once the
first cycle is complete the hitter is up 15 love (simulating match
conditions) after the second cycle the score is 30 love, after the third 40 love and after the fourth and final cycle, game set and match;
time for a margarita. Depending on what type of shape you are in and what kind of conditioning you want to achieve, you can make the cycles shorter or longer. The feeder can feed 8 balls or 24. For a quick pump have the feeder feed only 8 balls per cycle, if you are looking to find out what a fifth set tie breaker feels like at the French Open have the feeder feed 24 balls. You might want to consider making the first 3 cycles short before you try one of the French Open Cycles.
Your comments are welcome. Let us know what you thank about the Offense/Defense drill by emailing us here at TennisONE.
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