Many of us sometimes don’t have enough time to reach the tennis court or can’t find a partner to train with. So, a solution could be to practice against a wall. We will read below how to practice tennis against a wall, how you can start, why you should start and what will be the benefits.
Is it good to practice against a wall?
Take a bit of time for your practice against the wall is going to have so many benefits in your game. You will improve your fitness, speed, reaction, and concentration with it.
Many people would not believe the following statement but practicing on the wall can improve:
- Your speed
- Your balance on the court
- Your tempo for hitting the right shots
You might want to know how it is possible to play tennis against a wall. Normally during a match, we have the opponent playing after the rebound (most of the time) so we have a reasonable time to prepare the return but the wall doesn’t give you that so you have to be ready to hit back at the wall.
When practicing with the wall instead the timing is shortened, making these great exercises for your tempo of reaction.
Does practicing against a wall ruin your strokes?
The answer is no. The myth is that practicing against the wall can ruin your strokes as it’s always coming back straight, without changes due to spin applied from another player. However, you can still improve your shots against most of the opponents (not everyone does play with a lot of spins), and movement around the court can also improve massively.
How To practice Tennis against a wall?
First, you must decide what’s the aim of the training. This can be a great cardio exercise and a good stint to improve the quality of your movement.
Decide how to hit before the exercise
Your forehead and from which distance, then try to increase and decrease the distance while playing. This will improve your judgment of the bounce of the ball.
Maintain good eye-contact
During the whole exercise, the ball moves faster around the court than during a match. On top of that, the straight trajectory differently than the one hit by another partner with spin makes it easier to hit but you must move faster to catch it.
Practicing forehead and backhand against a wall
Both are fundamental in the game of tennis. Practice them using a wall is a different story. Due to its speed, the wall suits much better the practice for the forehead. Things will be more difficult with the backhand due to the speed of the ball bouncing from the wall. Try to find a spot around 5-6 meters away and hit with the same power. Try to repeat the drill with an increasing number of shots before losing control of the ball
Practicing tennis serve against the wall
Any shot is possible to be practiced against the wall, even the service (as long as you don’t have a low ceiling that doesn’t allow you to lift the racquet to the sky while preparing your service). Try to set up a target using tape and make a square shape. Try to hit it multiple times as this repetition will ease your learning of hitting the service in the same place.
Tennis volley drills against the wall
On the wall, there’s also another very entertaining way to play. Position yourself 5-6 meters away from the wall, hit a high forehead, and quickly move towards the wall as if you were to close an attack with a volley at the net. Repeat and improve your footwork and the speed of attacking the net. When you feel comfortable from 5-6 meters try with 6-7 meters and so on. Modify the distance to improve your dealing with different heights, speeds, and angles of the volley.
Practicing drop shot against the wall
For a decent practice of drop shot, you should start to warm up before the practice. Always warm up your upper body and lower body with some running drills and stretching.
When your body is ready start with some forehead from 5-6 meters, with contained power and slowly increase it.
At this point try some drop shots after placing some tape with marks on the wall to allow your sensibility to improve over time. At the first shots, don’t focus on hitting them but on the technique, you use for the drop shot:
– Bend your knees when in preparation for the shot
– Move harmoniously the arm and follow the shot after the hit
– Try to move forwards or backward depending on the result of your shot
When you see yourself being able to manage foreheads and drop shots try to alternate them with backhands drills.
Practicing tennis against a wall summary
The drills against a wall are super-effective and you can start to see the rewards of such high-intensity exercises against the wall within a few weeks. Your power and general control of the ball will improve while your sensibility will change.
When you find yourself in another match with an open court you will notice the difference in your drop shot and the accuracy of them.
If you have the weakest shots in tennis the wall is the best ally without anyone noticing them. Try to mix up against wall shots with partners for a better result.
To close prepare yourself well with warming up exercises and evaluate the surface where you play the drill as it can be more challenging than a proper tennis court.
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