The following drill is excellent for groundstroke consistency and accuracy.
There are two players – A and B. They both begin the drill rallying on half the court (e.g. A on the ad side vs. B on the deuce side).
Drill:
Player A (ad side) puts the ball in play and rallies down-the-line using his backhand only; on the other side, player B will rally down-the-line using his forehand only (assuming both players are right-handed).
After they manage to hit 6 balls over the net, down-the-line, the player who initiated the rally (A) will direct the ball cross-court, and the two players will continue with another 6-ball rally down-the-line on the other half (A’s deuce / B’s ad side).
This pattern continues rallying 6 balls alternating on each half until one of them misses.
Notes:
– this drill teaches mental strength (patience, consistency under pressure) and ground-strokes consistency
– a coach or extra player can count how many balls the two players hit over the net before a mistake is made
– an extra player can take the place of the player who misses (if there are 3 or more players on the court)
– players can rally 8 – 10 balls down-the-line before switching sides.