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Lazy Man's Drill Collection
By Pat Bernardo
I hate drilling!…I'm lazy!…How many of you are with me?!?!
This month I put together the Lazy Man's Drill Collection. I call it that
because all these drills, when done correctly make the ball come back to the
same spot as your initial strike point…so you can do it again and again and
again, without much movement*.
I also like these drills because it's easy to count how many times you can do
them in a row…it gives you something to shoot for and to measure your
progress. The better you get, the faster the drills go and the more fun they
are. (if drilling can be fun).
Image #1 shows the first simplest path…straight into the front wall and
straight back, rebounding off the back wall and hitting it again. For
beginners I would stand about 7-8 feet away from the side wall…this gives you
more room for error. For intermediate and advanced players I would give
yourselves 2-3 feet only….when you have to hit down the line….you want to
make sure the ball stays down the line. You shouldn't be catching the side
wall…grazing the side wall is ok as long as it has no real angle impact on
the ball path. You got forehands and backhands. You should be able to get
10 in a row with a little practice.
Image #2 shows you one of my favorite drills. They are pinch shots and again
this can be mirrored for your backhand. Remember to turn your feet and
body. A little movement is crucial to realign yourself after the ball comes
off the side wall into your hitting zone. 10 is a good starting point with
your forehand and 7 with your backhand. Remember if you skip the ball…you're
at zero….if you don't pinch side wall first or you hit it above your
waist…that's it…start at zero again…but you're the one keeping score so you
can be as hard on yourself (or as easy) as you'd like.
Lets go back to image #1 again and talk a little about Ceiling balls. Keep
the ball path along the wall…only don't come off the back wall…hit one
ceiling ball after another. To increase the difficulty, keep the ceiling
balls close to the side walls…within the plane created by the screen serve
line is very good…for all you experts keep it within the doubles line. All
ceiling balls should hit the ceiling first..not front wall-ceiling and they
should carry back past the dotted line and not come off the back wall. 10 in
a row is a good goal. Remember you have backhand ceiling balls too.
Image #3 shows the toughest drill. I use this drill to loosen up my
hips…essentially you're taking a ball traveling away from you and redirecting
it…to get it right you really rotate those hips. This also uses multiple
walls and angles. If you can do 3-5 in a row of this drill it's pretty
good. The backhand side is even tougher.
Don't let me kid you…doing these drills correctly will not only improve your
game but they will give you a workout. While you're not taking huge strides
to get to your next hit position…*you are taking many little adjustment steps
constantly.
After I wrote this article I went and did all these drills. I gave myself
three shots at each…here are my numbers….along with a huge pool of sweat! If
the ball rolls off a crack or rolls off the backwall I still played it trying
to "pluck" it off the ground. It was the dead rolls that broke my streaks
mostly…so if you're good enough to roll em out flat…you may not score well in
these drills….but you'll still have fun. If you touch the ball with your
hands, it's over Johnny!
Forehand Down the Line: 28
Backhand Down the Line: 18
Forehand Pinch: 26
Backhand Pinch: 18
Forehand Ceiling Ball: 27
Backhand Ceiling Ball: 18
Loop Around forehand: 6
Loop Around Backhand: 4
Looks like I need some backhand work…ouch!
Total time: 17 minutes with a drink of water!
You can forward any rules
questions to me at
Pat@Racquetworld.com
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