Tennis Tip

Tennis Tip: The Figure 8 Drill

The figure 8 drill is one of the most popular tennis drills. It not only works on footwork, but it will help with the technique and timing of forehand and backhand strokes. Another great thing about this drill is that it is very easy to setup, execute and improve on.

Technique

• Shuffle your feet between cones to improve your footwork between each shot.
• As you go between each cone, concentrate on staying balanced and timing yourself to get to each ball.
• As you hit your forehands and backhands, work on your accuracy by hitting
  cross court shots and shots down the line. Mimic this drill as if you were in a
  rally.
• As you continue to progress with this drill, you can hit more balls on each side or do it for an allotted time and try to hit more shots in that time by picking up your pace and precision.

Figure 8 Drill

• Put down one cone 7 feet to the right of the center mark on the baseline and another one 7 feet to the left. You will now have a 14-foot area to work in.
• Have a partner stand about 7 feet in front of you with all the tennis balls.
• Start in the middle on the center mark and move towards your forehand first. Have your partner throw the ball outside of the cone and in front of you a few feet so that you must shuffle around the cone and get out in front of it to hit your shot.
• Then, shuffle back to the center and around the back of the next cone where you repeat the same process with your backhand.
• As you continue shuffling back and forth to hit your forehands and backhands you will be creating an “8” with the cones.

The perfect drill to improve your ground strokes and footwork is the figure 8 drill. Be sure to enroll for a tennis camp near you where you can practice this drill and learn other tennis tips!