Tennis is an amazing game and a great way to pass a sunny weekend afternoon. Like most sports, however, it can feel difficult to actually “get good” at the game without just playing it. If you’re looking for some drills for tennis fitness, look no further – we’ve compiled some of our own drills to run in our free time and want to share them with you today. Let us know what you think at @eSmartr!

Crosscourt & Down the Line Groundstrokes

A great drill to practice in order to improve your overall consistency from the baseline is the common forehand and backhand crosscourt, or down-the-line drill.

You and your partner should position yourselves deuce side to deuce side and advantage side to advantage side. By rallying the ball back and forth to each other, you will be practicing your crosscourt forehands and backhands; if you position yourselves deuce side to advantage side, you will be practicing your down-the-line forehands and backhands. This is a versatile drill for tennis fitness, as it can also be used to improve your forehand and backhand slices.

Alley Rally

This drill limits the size of the court to the doubles alley, and is designed to improve the accuracy of the forehand, backhand, and slices. The players stand on the opposite ends of the doubles alley, directly across from each other. They must try to maintain a rally within the doubles alley for as long as possible without any mistakes or errors.

Try out these drills for tennis fitness – let us know how they go!

Service Drill

With a basket of balls (bring out the ball hopper if you don’t have a partner!), stand either on the deuce side or advantage side of the baseline. Before you begin to serve, however, place three pylons or targets in the corresponding service box. The pylons should be placed out wide, down the middle and on the “t” center hash of the service box. The goal is to practice the accuracy of your serve and to learn how to pick your spots.

Service Line, Volley to Volley

With a partner, each of you will stand directly across from one another at the service line, one on each side of the net. Your goal is to volley the ball in the air back and forth to one another without mistakes and errors. This tennis fitness drill will help you to improve your consistency and develop what a clean volley should look and feel like. If you feel you can’t make it to a ball, hitting a half volley is fine to continue the drill. Find the right speed and create a rhythm that will keep the volleys going for as long as possible.