Placement of the hands; move into position, reposition

Placement of the hands; move into position, reposition

Take the racket in both hands; get into position, reposition yourself

Warm-up

The player holds the racket in a two-handed backhand stance (champion position); the coach hits the ball to the side; the player must run to catch the ball with the racket one-handed. The player must then move to the middle of the court (in their box) with a sliding sidestep and assume the champion stance (two-handed).

If the player catches the ball and positions themselves correctly in accordance with the goals of the game, the player can place the caught ball into the hoop behind him.

Drill 1 

The player receives a ball from the coach (tossed); the player runs, strikes the ball and moves into position with a gliding sidestep and assumes the champion stance.
If the player strikes the ball in the red target (crossing over to the left),
the player must then reposition themselves in the red box (diagonally opposite the red target).

1 point.

Easier variant: set up a single box, to help the player focus on the position of their hands and getting into position.
Harder variant: the coach hits the balls with a racket (instead of throwing them).

Drill 2

Together with the coach:

While volleying with the coach, the player must follow the repositioning objectives using a sidestep while keeping both hands on the racket.
Keep the same colour codes for the floor markings (red and blue).

1 point for correct sequencing of moves.
1 bonus point per each move into the correct box.

Easier variant: remove the colour codes, and use a single box.

Level up: two players face each other; each time, they must hit diagonally cross court and then reposition themselves as shown above.

The match

10-point match with plus/minus.

The coach may subtract a point from players who do not get back into position in the champion stance.
The coach may give players an extra point for repositioning themselves to the correct square.

Now you know the exercises for working on the placement of the hands and getting into position.

Placement of the hands; move into position, reposition

Romain Cohen Solal

My passion is, naturally, tennis! But it's more than just for the game itself; my passion is to train kids to play and see them grow and improve all throughout their playing career! Together with Artengo, I'm pleased to share some incremental training exercises to help young people improve their game.