Re: Rainy Day Sessions

When you are forced inside there are several things you can do depending on
what facilities are available. If there is a Gym floor, you can divide it in
half (or thirds) with a rope or tape (cloth or plastic). Having created
several mini-courts, you can practice strokes.

You can practice match strategy with pickle balls or nerf balls. I just
bought an amazing foam ball at the recent USPTR Symposium to check it out.
It bounces and spins like a regular ball on all surfaces, even grass. You
can hit it with a regular speed stroke and it leaves the racket in slow
motion.

If you don't have room to hit, but you do have room to exercise, you can work
on fitness drills. We made a ladder out of tape and have the team run
through it using several different steps (forward, backward, side ways). You
can practice careoki (approach shot) step, split step, as well as a variety
of hops and skips. (There is a video tape available through
"on-court/off-court" for $30+ that covers a couple dozen drills using ladders)

If you have video taped individuals' strokes previously, you can analyze them
in the class room. Other things you can do in the class room is watch
instructional video tapes (Braden, Vandermeer, etc.) or tapes of special
matches (e.g., Borg Vs McEnroe) and discuss the tactics that worked or didn't
work, emphasizing areas where improvements in footwork, court positioning,
etc. could result from copying the techniques of the Pros.


Finally, you can develope an inclement weather schedule with lesson plans on
such things as Heat injury prevention, proper diet (both normal and just
prior to a match), Tennis rules, Trivia games, etc.

There are lots of other things you can do but these should give you some
ideas. Best of luck.

Joe Rill
HS10scoach_at_aol.com


Received on Thu Jun 08 2000 - 12:48:02 CDT