Drop and Hit Backhand Practice Sessions

Most good tennis players run into a problem as their skill increases that involves finding good practice partners.  I have solved this problem for myself through a number of tried and true methods such as wall practice which is a staple of any strong player as they improve.  Here is another approach I have taken to over the past few years as scheduling and finding partners has become even more difficult.

Backhands Down the Line  Past a Net Player

Take your basket to the practice court and instead of just serving I suggest you begin tossing balls a few steps away so that you can practice set up for targeting shots.  For instance, if you want to practice backhand down the line shots begin from the center mark of the court and for a right hander just toss the ball up and to the left while working for precision on targeting a down the line shot going past an imaginary net player.    A passing shot doesn't need as much speed as a down the line used to punish a baseline positioned opponent so I always go for minimal net clearance and very tight tolerance to the sideline.    If you are a one handed backhand player you can hold four or five balls and keep moving yourself further to the left as you hit a stream of passing shots past your imaginary opponent.  Keep in mind that depth is not quite as essential as low clearance and tightness to the line for this.

Backhands Down the Line  Past a Baseline Player

Usually this shot is done as a follow up to a wide crosscourt or inside out to your opponents left side of the court or their backhand assuming they are right handed.    After they have been pulled far out of position your job is to find the down the line shot deep with speed to complete the point.

So what you need to do is replicate the previous passing shot drill but instead of hitting with lots of topspin to force a low and short ball you will flatten this one one a bit to gain depth and relative speed compared to the net pass.  Keep track of your results as you go and work toward getting excellent parallel travel to the sideline.

Targeting methods and Techniques

For most one handed backhands the safest way to achieve a straight down the line shot is a lift backhand that simply involves an arm lift with the right shoulder pointed directly down the line.  Experiment and confirm this for yourself but I can tell you that it is tried and true as a method of straight passes with minimal drift off the line unlike a rolled backhand that ends up generally pulling crosscourt.    If you want to see a good lift backhand example check out Lendl.   Watch  as he hits his trademark lift backhand.

How can you differentiate between the lift and roll?  Notice on his finish that his racket face is still somewhat going on the direction of the shot versus a roll backhand that finishes on edge like this Mac backhand, notice the third shot Mac hits in this point which is a roll backhand, sorta.  Ignore the chip backhand, the second shot, for our purpose here as well as his first shot the forehand.  You will see with Mac his finish actually comes across his body and the racket is in edge with the face of the racket pointing to the sidelines rather than the target.  This is a powerful shot with lots of spin but is more difficult to perfect for a down the line shot.

For the Two handers my general rule is to aim your right shoulder to the line and step forward with your right foot toward the target allowing a full weight transfer from the rear foot as you strike the ball.  Think of this as a left handed forehand to get the feel of it and make sure at completion that you are facing the target where before you began the stroke you were sideways to the net.

Adding Speed

To generate speed on your shots is a timing skill and to do this with a ball that sits rather than comes at you requires superb timing and judgement.  The drop and hit method of practice will improve your ability to add speed to shots especially those that have minimal forward speed.

How to practice and how long

My normal recommendation is to alternate between hitting some serves and drop and hit groundstrokes.  Assuming you have a 75 ball hopper with maybe 70 balls in there I would at least go through 3 baskets to justify calling it a training session.  This should take about 30-45 minutes depending on your pace of activity.

Measure your results

See how many balls collect on your side as the first means of judging.  Next look at where the shots land and the path of travel and be honest about your effectiveness.  Over time this will pay dividends in play as you win points by using well practiced shots.  

Retirement Rackets - Check out my new blog on Retirement - Tennis Lifer Style

I decided to start a blog on retirement relating to the tennis lifestyle though the concepts are universal in most areas.  If you are a tennis teacher or are aspiring to be one this is my effort to share with you ideas on why it can be an ideal career choice and how to make it a wise one for early retirement and for later reclining years.

Please take a look and tell me what you think.

Retirement Rackets

Fish Oil for Workout Recovery

Recovery and Repair 

I have recently found that fish oil does help me with inflammation and in particular it helps with reducing the effects of the arthritic response usually found in the morning.  If you are a long term tennis player and teacher you will eventually have to deal with the hard reality of getting up in the morning after a day on the court that might be a combination of teaching and playing.


It is not joke when you hear the creaks and groans of an overused body rebelling against years of physical use and I won't say no one is immune to it, but most seem to be subject to eventual wear and tear breakdown.  Anything I can do to help make it less difficult in the morning is worth doing if it doesn't have negative effects.

Here is what I have recently learned from my own experience.  I have taken fish oil in minor amounts over the past few years for all of the assumed benefits that include anti-inflammatory, cardiovascular health, and even some things like circulation and mental acuity.  Many of these of subjective so I won't tell you that I have benefited in each of these categories.

Krill For a Faster Response

A year ago I had purchased a GNC Triple Strength Fish Oil and truthfully didn't take it regularly since I was already taking ResQ1250.  When I recently looked at my actual intake it was woefully inadequate since I was taking only 1 capsule in the morning, so I added one capsule of GNC with Krill taken with lunch and noticed an immediate pain reduction in my joints.  Okay, so that went well and it made me wonder what else I haven't been doing that could help me.  I usually read the recommended amounts as a marketing plan for the vitamin companies so I take the minimum or half the minimum and in this case probably shortchanged myself.

Beginning just a few days ago I decided to at least take the fish oil supplements throughout the day rather than just once in the morning and maybe at midday.  Amazingly I found that taking just one ResQ1250 capsule in the evening a few hours before bedtime gave me a much faster wake-up in the morning with less pain and stiffness.  It is now part of my regimen and hopefully will become a long term benefit of taking this supplement.  So, I'm sharing this with you in the event you have the same problems with arthritis and stiffness especially in the morning.  The prospect of having an easy wake-up is something those of us facing arthritis as happy bit of news and especially if it doesn't require prescription drugs.

I usually take my supplements with meals which may or may not be the recommended way but it is a habit I have when taking pills to at least buffer stomach issues.

Cost versus Quality

I really like the Nordic Natural Ultimate Omega but the cost is higher than the ResQ1250 and since both are advertised as pharmaceutical grade I have been going with the ResQ brand.  I tried other warehouse brands in the past and didn't like the taste, fishy burps, and in some cases skin rash plus I have read that the purity of them is suspect.

The cost of the Krill with fish oil capsules is almost universally expensive so I tried the warehouse brand called Simply Right at Sam's for that and it doesn't have the fish burp and taste that no one likes.  I chose that due to lower cost and haven't been taking it long enough to say it helps me or doesn't but at least it has no ill effects.  I haven't tried the Mega Red brand from Schiff yet but may add that to the list of samplings.  For now, the GNC Triple Strength Fish Oil with Krill is the one I can say worked for me.  I couldn't find it again at the local store so I tried the Sam's version just this week and will give you an update regarding my experience with it as I have a longer baseline of use to compare.

See you on the court.


WebMD has a good explanation of some benefits of fish oil related to joint pain.

6/11/2014 Fish Oil Update:  I have found that the best result so far is to take a high quality fish oil not only in the morning and during the day, but to give your body the chance to assimilate it during rest as well.  Taking fish oil at night greatly reduced morning stiffness and increased my overall flexibility.  After a few months of trying this I can say it is consistently helpful and has made a major change in my recovery time after play.

6/11/2014 Krill Oil Update:  The brand you use seems to matter.  So far the GNC brand is the best I have found.  I stopped taking the Sam's version once finished since it didn't seem to help in any of the desired areas of inflammation, stiffness, recovery, and pain.  I may go back and try the GNC but for now the Rescue 1250 fish oil seems to do the job quite effectively.

Federer into Quarter Finals of Monte Carlo

This is proof that he is back.  If he can get Tsonga who was playing well and is an impressive player in his own right, then he can find a way to get past Nole.  This should be a good match.

Fed has also begun to make good use of his new racket especially on his backhand.  I noticed some very solid and fast winners coming off of deep attacks from Tsonga and I don't think he had this available to him in the past few years.

David Ferrer over Rafa Nadal

Congratulations David.  To get past Rafa on his surface is hard enough but to do so with such a long history of struggle against him must be a special moment.  Rafa must be disappointed but he remains number one so I have no doubt he will come back stronger on the next match.

Help for Migraine Sufferers

I don't get them but I know those that do and have been unable to play tennis for days.

Here is a story about a new device for preventing them. 

Bryan Brothers 97th Doubles Title Win

Tennis World USA story about Bryan Brothers win.
The steamroller keeps moving as this amazing pair of doubles players continue to rack up wins.  The good thing about this is that at least the USA has something to claim when it comes to the current tennis talent in the world.  Yes, we have some top players but the dominant force of tennis is not from our shores and hasn't been for a decade plus.  Lots of reasons are given but lack of hunger has to be at the top to explain why so many great players, both men and women, are coming out of Europe.

The biggest benefit of this dynamic duo in doubles is that it is keeping the game viable for television and tournament play.  Since doubles is played by a majority of recreational players it is good for the game in many ways but the most important is to show what is possible out on the court beyond one up and one back league play.

Congratulations to the Bryan Brothers for giving us some hope for American tennis and also for keeping doubles in the spotlight.