Approach or Stay Back
Decision Making
Legend
- player
- coach / parent
- cones
- ball
How it works
Teach players to decide in real time whether to approach the net or remain at the baseline based on ball depth and their court position.
What you need
- tennis racket
- tennis balls
- court
- cones
Your focus
One of the most common beginner tactical errors is approaching the net on deep balls or staying back on short balls. Teaching this specific binary decision simplifies a complex concept into a learnable rule. Consistent practice of this read-and-react pattern builds the foundation for tactical awareness.
Place a cone at the service line to mark the approach threshold: any ball that lands between the service line and the net is an approach ball.
Coach feeds a sequence of balls that alternate randomly between deep (past the service line) and short (inside the service line).
Player calls 'Approach!' or 'Stay!' before striking each ball; if the call is correct, they execute the corresponding action (move forward or recover baseline).
After 15 feeds, coach reviews the calls; award one point for correct decisions and negative one point for wrong calls to incentivize reading accuracy.
Goal
It's clicking when you commit to going in or staying back before the ball crosses the net, no stopping in no-man's land, just a clear decision.
Helpful cues
- Read the depth before the bounce!
- Short ball = attack, deep ball = rally.
- Call it out loud, commit to the decision.
Adjust the challenge
Make it easier
Strip it back
Coach narrows the drill to only short-ball feeds for five minutes so the player can rehearse the approach pattern repeatedly.
UpLVL it
Add the next challenge
Add a live opponent at the net who pressures the player when they approach, raising the stakes for correct timing.No account needed
Build a practice plan
Add drills, keep the plan in this browser, then share a link with your staff or parents.This library helps you find the right drill. Inside UpLVL the right drill finds the player.
This library helps you find the right drill. Inside UpLVL the right drill finds the player.After every practice, UpLVL automatically surfaces the drills each player needs to work on most. See it for yourself.