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In this video analysis, let’s look at a situation typical of Rafael Nadal. He serves to the outside, runs around the backhand and plays a Forehand winner inside in. The ball bounces just behind the T-line, well next to the sideline (i.e. within a safety zone) but bounces way back. The distance between the two impact points (ball impacts) is over 13 m.
Practicing with the second ball impact is an effective way to develop tactical and strategic thinking in tennis. Even without an opponent, for example during a basket drill with the coach, marking a second ball can help the player understand the impact of his spin.
In this basket drill, we transform that for club training (exemplified here for right-handed players) and focus once on this Forehand Winner, without the Serve. The learning target control consists first of all in the target area. We mark this on the court with lines or marker cones. The coach feeds from the middle, the player starts from the middle, runs around the backhand, and plays a FH Winner down the line, inside in. The focus is that the ball should land inside the safety zone and the two points of impact should be as far apart as possible.
Let’s keep it simple and set the goal of hitting about 7 meters at first. The farther, the better. The coach or another player could mark the two landing spots by placing cones or other balls there (to check progress). Of course, it’s also important that the ball be played relatively flat but with plenty of spin.
The observation of the top players on “net clearance” leads us directly to the implementation in training practice. The players place a mini-net behind the T-line and play over it.
So when the best in the world stay “away from the lines”, the consequence in training is: simply reduce the size of the court area.
The mini net can also help with drop shot training. The challenge character is significantly higher.