Beginners Guide To Feeding Drills
This is one of the first steps that most of the coaches and academies take in teaching aspiring tennis players the skills required to play the game. In this stage the player learns to pick up the right technique, consistency and better centring of the ball on the racquet.
These drills are equally important for advanced players as well. Especially when you come back from a tournament circuit, it is highly recommended to spend some time in these drills in a few aspects of your game like, correcting footwork, technique and efficient transfer of body weight into the shot.
It is highly recommended that you spend some time regularly on ‘feeding’ drills especially when you're learning a new shot or correcting a technique.
Hence a regular practice of ‘feeding’ drills is extremely crucial in fine tuning the very skill of footwork and agility in the game. Regular exercise of drills will help in easy transition into rallies and subsequently into matches.
The best part, you can be creative with your own drills and do share some of your favorite drills in the comments or tag us when you post online.
Some Of The Feeding Drills
Forehand & Backhand
The coach alternates his/her feed to your forehand and backhand, and as a player you hit either cross court or down the line. The basic drill to get started.
The 5 ball drill
Start at the center T on the baseline. The first one to the forehand corner, the second to the backhand corner, then a forehand short ball, followed by a backhand volley and then a forehand volley. Now start with the backhand next time. You can also add an overhead feed as the sixth one
The 6 ball forehand
Start at the center T on the baseline. The first is fed to the forehand corner, the second to the center and the third towards the backhand side, then the fourth to the forehand corner, fifth to the center and the sixth to the backhand side to complete one rep. Mandatory to hit only forehands. This drill helps you develop a strong and attacking forehand, and also teaches you on the right footwork to run around a backhand.
‘Point Play’ drill
You hit a serve and as soon as your coach hears your strike feeds a ball mimicking a return and you respond to that like you do in a match situation. Add pressure to yourself and you can create a match situation for yourself
