Open Court Pattern Drill
Tactics & Point Construction
Legend
- player
- cones
- ball
- movement path
How it works
Practice hitting behind the opponent, recovering to center then redirecting to the open court.
What you need
- tennis balls
- cones
Your focus
Hitting to the open court after recovering to center is the foundation of tactical tennis. This drill builds the habit of creating angles and punishing a ball hit back to where you just were.
Parent feeds to your forehand side. Hit crosscourt.
Recover to center. Parent feeds to backhand. Hit down the line to open court.
Recover again. That is one pattern.
10 reps. Focus on recovery speed and court position between shots.
Progress: add a third ball that you must hit to a specific target cone.
Goal
You've got it when you recover to center and successfully redirect the ball on 8 of 10 patterns.
Helpful cues
- Recover to center between every shot, don't chase
- Change direction of the ball, don't hit it back where it came from
- Finish the rally, don't just hit the ball back
Adjust the challenge
Make it easier
Strip it back
Use only two balls per pattern, forehand crosscourt, then backhand down the line.
UpLVL it
Add the next challenge
Add a target cone, must hit within 3 feet of the cone each time.No account needed
Build a practice plan
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