Explosive Groundstroke Targets
Strength & Power
Legend
- player
- coach / parent
- cones
- ball
How it works
Develop racket head speed and shot power by hitting groundstrokes at specific deep court targets.
What you need
- tennis balls
- junior or standard racket
- court
- target cones
Your focus
Beginner-to-intermediate players often decelerate through contact out of caution, producing weak shots that sit up for opponents. Teaching aggressive acceleration toward a specific deep target provides both technical direction and purpose to the power development. Measuring success by target proximity rather than just ball depth gives players actionable feedback.
Place target cones in both deep corners of the court (2 feet inside the baseline, 2 feet inside the sideline).
Coach feeds a mid-court ball from the net; player hits an aggressive forehand aiming at the deep target cone.
Emphasize: full hip and shoulder rotation, low-to-high swing path, and follow-through over the opposite shoulder.
Complete 10 forehands and 10 backhands; count how many balls land within 3 feet of a target cone.
Goal
It's clicking when your deep balls land consistently past the service line with pace, power and direction together, not one or the other.
Helpful cues
- Turn your shoulders, power comes from your body, not your arm.
- Low to high, brush up the back of the ball.
- Full follow-through every time.
Adjust the challenge
Make it easier
Strip it back
Use softer, low-compression balls and feed from a shorter distance to reduce timing difficulty.
UpLVL it
Add the next challenge
Player must hit 3 consecutive balls within 3 feet of the target before rotating to the backhand.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.