Chase Every Ball Relay
Effort
Legend
- player
- coach / parent
- movement path
How it works
Instill the habit of chasing every ball regardless of difficulty by making maximum effort fun and rewarded in a relay format.
What you need
- tennis racket
- tennis balls
- court
- cones
Your focus
Young players often give up on balls they perceive as out of reach, establishing a passive habit early. Turning maximum effort into a team celebration makes running hard inherently rewarding. The relay format adds social motivation and peer modeling of full-effort behavior.
Divide players into two teams; one player from each team stands at the end line ready to run.
Coach hits or rolls a ball wide or short to one side of the space; the player sprints to reach it and must touch the ball (not necessarily return it) before it bounces twice.
If the player touches the ball, their team earns a point; the player celebrates with their team before the next teammate goes.
Teams compete to 10 points; emphasize that full sprints earn points regardless of whether the ball is hit back successfully.
Helpful cues
- Run until you touch it!
- Every ball is worth the sprint!
- Cheer for your teammate's effort, not just the result.
Adjust the challenge
Make it easier
Strip it back
Allow the ball to bounce three times before the player must touch it, giving more time and distance to develop the sprint habit.
UpLVL it
Add the next challenge
Require the player to not only touch but actually return the ball over the net (a low net barrier) to earn the team point.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.