7 Beginner Tennis Drills for Player Development

The skills that your tennis players build at a young age are fundamental as they grow and develop their capabilities.

Therefore, the beginner tennis drills you incorporate into your practice schedule and tryouts should focus on three key areas:

1. Basic Technique: Body positioning, hand-eye coordination, and footwork.
2. Strength & Conditioning: Endurance, speed, and power.
3. Perseverance: Building focus, confidence, and resilience.

In this blog, we round up the top 7 beginner tennis drills to help develop your athletes, setting them up to become well-rounded players both on and off the court.

1. Target Shots

Set up:

• Place several hula hoops on one side of the net, scattering them across the ground in any pattern.
• Line up your players on the other side of the net behind the service line.
• A coach will stand on the opposite side of the net with a bucket of:
  •  Red low compression balls (5-8 years old)
  • Orange low compression balls (9-10 years old)
  • Green medium compression balls (11-13 years old)

Execution:

• Serve to the first player on the service line.
• The player will return the serve and aim for the “target,” being any of the hula hoops.
• Variations: Players can alternate between using their backhand and forehand to return the serve. Players can also start further back behind the service line.

2. Forehand/Backhand Open Stance

Set up:

• Spread various pylons around the court.
• Position players next to a pylon to begin.
• One side of the court will practice forehand shots, and the other side of the court will practice backhand shots.
• Each player will have a racquet in hand (no tennis balls are needed for this drill).

Execution:

• Set a timer for 5-6 minutes.
• Players on one side of the court will practice their forehand shadow stroke.
  • Forehand: Players will start in an open stance position. They will practice hitting forehand shots with a fluid swing motion.
• Players on the other side of the court will practice their backhand shadow stroke.
  • Backhand: While forehand & backhand strokes share the same basic swing principles, the mechanics vary. In the backhand swing, both arms will work together, and the player will start in a closed or neutral stance.
• After your timer is up, forehand players will practice their backhand shadow stroke and vice versa.

3. Short Volleys

Set up:

• Pair up your players.
• One pair at a time, players will position themselves on opposite sides of the net.
• Both players will stand between the service line and the net.
• Each player will have a racquet. Only one player will need to start with the ball.

Execution:

• The players will take turns hitting backhand volleys to each other.
• Variations: Set a goal number of volleys that players have to hit before asking each player to take a few steps back.
• After 3-4 minutes, the next pair will take their turn.

4. Cone Agility

Set up:

• Place 3 cones on the court. One in the middle and one in each corner.
• Line up all your players behind the middle cone.
• Each player will have a racquet in hand. *No ball is needed for this drill.

Execution:

• Call out a random direction.
• The first player in line will sprint to the cone, simulate a shot with their racquet, and then return to the middle cone.
  • *Decide ahead of time if you want the simulation shot to be a forehand or backhand shot. This can change with each round.
• The next player in line will take their turn.

5. Back & Forth Volley

Set up:

• Pair up your players.
• One pair at a time, players will position themselves on opposite sides of the net.
• Each player will stand at the service line.

Execution:

• One player (can be at random) will start the volley.
• Players will volley the ball back and forth as they move towards the net.
• Once near the net, they will move backwards as they continue volleying.

6. Reaction Return

Set up:

• Pair up your players.
• *One pair will perform this drill at a time.
• One player will stand at the baseline (server) and the other player will stand at the service line (receiver).

Execution:

• One player will serve the ball at full speed.
• The receiver will return the ball, alternating between forehand/backhand shots.
• *In this drill, the receiver will not need to worry about aiming the ball.

7. Wall Balls

Set up:

• Mark a wall with tape.
• Line up as many players as you can parallel to the wall. Players should be 6 feet apart from each other and 12 feet from the wall.
• Each player will have a racquet and their own bucket of balls nearby on the ground.

Execution:

• Set up pylons about 12 feet from the wall to start.
• On your whistle, players will toss the ball up in the air with a slow and controlled motion.
  • The ball should peak around 12 inches above their extended racquet.
• Players will then execute a backhand shot towards their designated wall target.
• *In this drill, players should hit the ball at the highest point they can comfortably reach.

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