Lesson Plan Jan. 5-9

Groundstrokes:

Warm-up:15 minutes

Each pro should introduce basic warm-up drills to include cardio, balance, hand-eye and stretching elements.

Groundstrokes:

This week we will be stressing the importance of consistent groundstrokes. Everyone gets a rush out of hitting winners on their groundstrokes. Unfortunately, for the vast majority of players, they will not win their matches based on the number of winners. Rather, their wins will be based on how few unforced errors they have hit, and how many errors their opponents have, either forced or unforced. If a player is unable to keep a ball in the court at a reasonable rally speed for more than 5 shots, they most likely will have little success in the long run. Thus, it is crucial to continue to work on building one’s consistency from the back-court. Knowing that you can stay in a rally for extended periods of time is a great confidence boost, as you will not have to worry about trying to end the points too early without making an unforced error.

Forehands/Backhands: You will want to work with your students on both sides. Stress to them to aim for landing zones close to the middle or crosscourt, especially when they feel they are neutral or defensive in the rally. They should not be aiming for lines! Make sure they can control their direction to these landing zones.

Pace: The harder they hit, the more likely they are to make errors. Players need to discover their own rally pace—that is, the pace they can comfortably hit a ball and keep it in play for long rallies. Make sure they understand the difference between a “rally”-paced ball and a “winner”-paced ball.

Trajectory: If you’re trying to stay in the point, aiming 1 inch above the net is not going to help! Stress to your students the importance of the combination of net clearance AND pace. You can’t hit 100mph AND aim 4 feet over the net and expect the ball to stay in on a consistent basis. You CAN aim 4 feet over the net at 40mph and expect the ball to stay in quite often.

Drills and Games: 60 minutes

Games/Drills:

Conditioning: 15 minutes
Each Pro should run conditioning drills the help prepaer the students to pass and exceed the physical skill requierments of their next Grip level. These will include Suicides, Sit-ups and push-ups.