Placement Serving , Four Corners
Serve
Legend
- player
- cones
- ball
- movement path
How it works
Develop deliberate serve placement to all four areas of the service box (T, body, wide deuce, wide ad) under light competitive pressure.
What you need
- tennis balls
- tennis racket
- court
- 4 target cones
Your focus
Intermediate-to-advanced players must use serve placement as a weapon rather than just clearing the net. Practicing all four placement targets builds the neural pathways for intentional targeting that is critical in match tactics. Competitive scoring in this drill creates realistic stress that challenges placement precision.
Place one cone each at: T deuce, body deuce, T ad, body ad; also mark wide targets with cones on each side.
Coach calls a target (e.g., 'Wide Deuce') immediately before the player tosses; player must hit that target.
Player serves 24 total (6 per target zone), tracking makes and misses per zone.
In the final round, player calls their own target before each serve and must attempt to serve there; coach evaluates commitment vs. actual placement.
Goal
You're there when you can call which of the four targets you're aiming for before you serve, and actually hit it more often than not.
Helpful cues
- See the target, serve to the target.
- Change your stance slightly for wide vs. T, feel the difference.
- Same pre-serve routine regardless of target.
Adjust the challenge
Make it easier
Strip it back
Allow player to call their own target and remove the 'coach calls it' pressure element.
UpLVL it
Add the next challenge
Opponent stands in the return position and must return the serve; server gets 2 points for an ace or unreturned serve to the called target.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.