Start with a ready body
Begin with easy movement rather than hard hitting. Shuffle side to side, take a few small split steps, and hit gentle balls until your strokes feel like your own. A warm-up is finished when your first step feels willing, not when you have reached a particular number of balls.
Build each session around one focus
Before you walk onto the court, choose one thing to work on: depth, recovery, the split step, or the approach to the net. Keep everything else in a quiet mode. One focus gives you clear feedback. Five focuses give you noise, and noise is hard to learn from.
Write the focus on a card and leave it on the bench. A written sentence is easier to return to than an idea you half remember halfway through the session.
Feeding and rallying
Feeding means a partner or coach sends balls to a spot you choose. It lets you rehearse one shot on demand, which is excellent for building a new stroke. Rallying means playing points at a steady rhythm, which trains decisions. Alternate the two.
When you are being fed, slow the balls down and let each swing finish. When you are rallying, keep one target in mind even when the ball is moving quickly.
Target practice
Mark a small area in a corner of the court with a towel, a bag or two cones, and aim for it. Score yourself on balls that land inside the area, and notice which misses are short, which are long and which drift wide. The pattern in your misses is more useful than the score.
Pattern work
A pattern is a short sequence you can repeat, such as a deep crosscourt ball followed by a short ball down the line. Repeat the pattern until your recovery becomes automatic. Patterns make your next shot predictable to you, which is the whole point. In a match, your opponent should find your choices harder to predict than your own feet.
Review your match honestly
Within a day of playing, write short answers to three questions. Keep each answer specific, and avoid words like good or bad, which do not tell you what to change.
- Which ball did I most want, and did I get it?
- Where did my feet arrive late, and what happened next?
- Which shot did I change under pressure, and why?
What to practice when
Start from the problem you noticed in your match, then pick the practice that targets it.
| If the problem is | Practice | Why it helps |
|---|---|---|
| Rushing the first step | Split step and ready position | A balanced start gives every stroke more time. |
| Balls landing short | Depth targets and recovery | Deeper balls push the other player back and buy you time. |
| Losing points at the net | Volley position and short footwork | Arriving balanced makes the volley simpler. |
| Too many unforced errors | Pattern work and shot choice | Predictable patterns make your decisions calmer. |
Before you change your training
This guide describes general practice in a sport. It is not medical advice. If you have an injury, pain or a health condition, speak with a qualified clinician before you change how you train, and stop if something hurts.
Find the style that leans your way
Once you have a practice focus, it helps to know which habits you already bring to the court. The Play Style Quiz takes a few minutes and describes four common tendencies.