Practice these tennis drills and get mentally tough

Especially damaging are thoughts about negative outcome just before the point. The most common is thinking about double faulting just before the serve. You can almost predict that a double fault will follow.

One of the main purposes of these drills is to show the player how to find this zone state and how much better he performs in that state. And that is actually the only thing besides effort that a player can control.

Many of these tennis drills will put the player under pressure and then he will have to perform a task under these circumstances. Sometimes a player competes against himself and sometimes against a partner.

In any case, if a player wants to be successful in a real match, then he needs to practice his skills with various tennis drills and develop mental toughness through time. A player cannot become mentally tough by reading books or by just going to a sports psychologist.

He needs to experience success in real situation to really become good with his mental abilities. The first step can be information in various forms – books, websites, workshops and so on. The next steps are tennis drills that are designed to improve mental toughness.

Then a player needs to play practice matches where he is playing a match but at the same time also practicing his mental skills. The final stage are real tennis matches where at first a player is not that good with his mental skills, but through repetition and success they become automatic.

Some of the drills are of the more general nature – like serving drills, which apply to all serving situations. Then other drills are more situation specific oriented – like playing for points, but practicing perseverance and playing under pressure.

Some drills are very match score specific - like playing games where the server starts at 30:40.

This section will be updated regularly so check back often or sign up for the newsletter and let me notify you about any new additions on the site.

Basic Tactical Tennis Drills - Improving Accuracy And Decision Making Skills
Follow this progression of drills and you will gradually work on long cross court shots, short cross court shots and down the line shots and eventually learn which shot to play at the right time.

Disadvantages of Competitive Tennis Training
Competitive training includes all sorts of drills and exercises where you keep score. But competitive training also has disadvantages, which inevitably will show themselves if a player constantly engages in competitive situations that put him under pressure.

Tennis serve practice drills
Their purpose is to teach the player how to empty his mind and how to serve with focus. There are also situations where a player must serve under pressure and needs to shut this pressure off so that he is able to serve at his best.

Groundstroke drills
These groundstroke drills here will improve your fighting spirit, make you give all your best and teach about the momentum in the tennis game. This is how you can practice mental toughness on court.

Warm Up drills on mini court
When you get on tennis court to start your practice it is recommended that you start with mini tennis drills. Playing in the short court warms up your joints (especially wrists), your muscles...

Be sure to subscribe to "Make Your Mind Your Best Ally" newsletter and learn new mental tennis tips every two weeks.

You will also receive 3 special reports on mental and strategy game, 5 free instruction videos and a link to a super slow motion tennis video of Roger Federer...

Know A Great Tennis Drill?

x-court-down the line rally drill
This drill is good in grooving shots and improving consistency and varieties under pressure. Best for players 4 or more.

Players A, B, C, and D will ...

Crosscourt, then down the line
To be played with two people:

One person hits down the line, the other person hits cross court. Whoever misses his/her mark loses the point. Good for ...

Santoro drill
This drill is played by two players. You can start with a serve or just putting the ball in play.

The court is divided in four sections, the first ...

Concentration on the baseline
First, you start out standing in the middle of the base line.

Next, your coach feeds a ball to the base line, to one of the sides (backhand or forehand)...

The Nadal drill
This drill can be played with 2 or 3 players.

On one side of the net there's "Nadal"; he's going too be the one who's going to run and cover the court....

Forehand, Volley and Overhead King of the Court
The game is similar to King of the Court and can be played in singles or doubles.

The "king" is one side of the net and the rest of the team is on the ...

Basic Net Rush
Players line up behind the center mark. A coach or ball machine feeds a short forehand. The player whose turn it is, returns the short forehand down the ...

Serving against ghost
This serving drill will add the pressure of competitive serving even if your coach is elsewhere!

Serve your 1st serve and if it goes in, you ...

Volley Drill
In this volley drill, the ball cannot touch the ground and your goal is to hit 10 balls in a row.

If the ball hits the ground, you have to start over....

Partner Singles
You have 2 players on each side, but only 1 plays at a time.

A singles point is played (serve or feed anywhere to start).

The players that are out ...

Accuracy Drill Not rated yet
Both players place a marker on the court. The markers would be placed near the base line for both players improvement on depth.(making sure the markers ...

second serve drill Not rated yet
One player serves five points, with only one serve. (as if hitting the second serve)

The returner must hit a winning shot on the server's serve.

If ...

King of the Court Not rated yet
This game consists of two players on each team and about 10 players total. There are the "kings" who remain on one side of the net and the challengers ...

5 ball drill Not rated yet
This tennis drill is very easy to do and very effective especially for singles and, for intermediate and advanced players.

Player should prepare from ...

10 Ball Drill Not rated yet
This drill is perfect when your group did 2 or 3 drills already. This help players to get stamina, patience and focus. Also effective for nerves practice....

The F & B DRILL Not rated yet
This creative drill is designed to break some routine (boredom) that can occur when practicing the 2nd volley.

For 5-10 years of age, beginner to adv....

Catching short and long with one or two hands Not rated yet
Based on your "Spanish drill", this drill is for young children to help them judge short and deep bounces.

Student can start at the T, instructor feed ...

Mini Touch Game Not rated yet
Two players play out a point in the services boxes across the net from each other.

The point starts by a player dropping the ball off the net, the ...