According to the principle of specificity, the more specific an activity is to the sport, the greater the transfer of training will be. The most specific training for any sport is the actual sport itself. Combining training with on-court tennis specific drills may produce a high degree of transfer to tennis performance. On-court drills can be used during competitive phases in which training should become more specific.
There are several ways that training drills can be brought to the court. Various movement and conditioning drills have been presented in previous chapters. Many of these movement drills can be taken onto the court and be performed with a racquet and tennis ball as a fed ball drill. Performing these drills with a racquet in hand and requiring the athlete to hit a specific shot provides an additional level of specificity to tennis play. Numerous plyometric exercises are presented in this chapter in the form of various jumps and medicine ball throws. These exercises can be combined with various strokes as well to increase the specificity to the sport.
The rest of this chapter will provide examples of drills that can be combined with tennis strokes on court to achieve a high degree of specificity.
Energy System Focus: ATP, ATP-PC
Level of Exercise: The level of this exercise is dependent on the height of the box. Intermediate—6-12”, Advanced—12-20”
Coaching Cues: In this exercise the athlete performs a depth jump off a box and then moves towards a fed ball and performs a specified stroke. The athlete should land in a proper split step position, on the balls of their feet, with knees bent, feet shoulder width apart, and back flat. At impact the player should move quickly in the direction of the ball and perform a groundstroke.
Variations: This exercise can also be performed by jumping over a barrier and landing in a split step. This can be performed with volleys instead of groundstrokes as well.
Figure 13.1: Depth jumps with split step to groundstroke.
Energy System Focus: ATP, ATP-PC
Level of Exercise: Intermediate to Advanced
Coaching Cues: In this drill alternate between the medicine ball groundstroke throws presented in Chapter 8 and hitting groundstrokes. Perform a set of 5-10 medicine ball throws followed by a set of 5-10 groundstrokes. When throwing the medicine ball, mimic a forehand or backhand groundstroke using two hands.
Energy System Focus: ATP, ATP-PC
Level of Exercise: Intermediate to Advanced
Coaching Cues: In this drill alternate between medicine-ball-serving overhead throws (as shown in chapter 8) into a volley position with the medicine ball. Perform a set of MB overhead throws and 2-4 MB volleys followed by an actual serve followed by 2-4 volleys.
Energy System Focus: ATP, ATP-PC, Glycolysis
Level of Exercise: All Levels
Coaching Cues: In this drill the coach feeds balls to the player moving him around the court simulating point play. Make sure to use appropriate work/rest intervals and appropriate rest between sets to simulate the breaks on the changeovers.
Example:
| Number of Shots Hit Rest Period (sec) | Rest Period (sec) |
| 8 | 20 |
| 5 | 15 |
| 12 | 25 |
| 10 | 20 |
| 6 | 15 |
| 4 | 15 |
| 9 | 20 |
| 14 | 25 |
| 8 | 20 |
| 12 | 25 |
| 3 | 15 |
| 10 | 20 |
| 90 Second Rest Period for Changeover | |
| Then repeat program for as may sets as desired | |
Energy System Focus: ATP, ATP-PC, Glycolysis
Level of Exercise: Intermediate to Advanced
Coaching Cues: Medicine balls can be used to simulate points. Players play in the service boxes and toss the ball with simulated forehands and backhands depending upon which side the ball comes. Players may keep score as they would in a tennis match. Players should mimic groundstrokes with their throws and use footwork identical to the footwork used during actual point play. The size and weight of medicine balls should be determined by the age, strength and level of player. For most juniors a medicine ball that weighs less than 3 kg is appropriate.
Figure 13.2: Medicine ball points
This drill is the same as the slalom cone run presented in Chapter 12, with the athlete hitting strokes at each of the cones.
Energy System Focus: ATP, ATP-PC
Level of Exercise: All Levels
Coaching Cues: Focus on accelerating to each cone and adjusting to the ball at the cone with small steps. Then change directions quickly and move to the next cone.
This drill is the same as the spider drill presented in Chapter 12 with the athlete hitting strokes at each of the five spots on the court.
Energy System Focus: ATP, ATP-PC, Glycolysis
Level of Exercise: All Levels
Coaching Cues: Accelerate to each ball quickly and recover back to the starting position quickly after each stroke.
Energy System Focus: ATP, ATP-PC, Glycolysis
Level of Exercise: All Levels
Coaching Cues: This drill requires the coach to feed the player low volleys. The player starts in the middle of the service box and moves forward to hit a low volley. The player then recovers back to the middle and performs a split step as the coach feeds the next ball. The drill is repeated for 10-30 seconds. The player works on moving quickly to the ball and getting down low to each volley.
Energy System Focus: ATP, ATP-PC
Level of Exercise: Intermediate to Advanced
Coaching Cues: In this drill alternate between performing jump squats which are presented in Chapter 8 and hitting serves. Perform a set of 5-10 jump squats followed by a set of 5-10 serves. When hitting serves, have the athletes focus on using their legs and pushing up to the ball.
Variations: Overheads can be substituted for serves as the player works on moving back quickly and jumping up to hit a deep lob.