I go through a set of exercises that puts all of my joints through their range of motion.

I place 9 targets
on the court across the net from me and I practice by bouncing the ball and hitting to those positions. In between practicing each of the ground strokes and overheads, I practice the serve. I think it’s better to intersperse serve practice in between other shots instead of practicing the serve for one long period of time because you have to serve in between other shots during a match.

For positions 7, 8 and 9, I aim for the baseline or beyond because it’s better to hit a few long shots than a lot of short shots in a match.

1. Slice backhand : hit five slice backhands to position 9 and five slice backhands to position 7.
2. Forehand: standing in position to receive a serve on the deuce side and then the ad side, hit two forehands each to positions 7, 8 and then 9.
3. Serve: practice the serve toss and serve for 5 minutes to warm up. Serve two balls each to positions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
4. Backhand: standing in position to receive a serve on the deuce side and then the ad side, hit two backhands each to positions 9, 8 and then 7.
5. Serve: serve two balls each to positions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
6. Passing forehand: standing in position to receive a serve on the deuce side and then the ad side, hit two forehands each to positions 1, 4 and 6.
7. Serve: serve two balls each to positions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
8. Passing backhand: standing in position to receive a serve on the deuce side and then the ad side, hit two backhands each to positions 6, 4 and 1.
9. Serve: serve two balls each to positions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
10. Forehand approach: standing in the middle of the baseline, throw the ball into the court and hit two forehand approach shots each to positions 7, 8 and 9.
11. Backhand approach: standing in the middle of the baseline, throw the ball into the court and hit two backhand approach shots each to positions 9, 8 and 7.
12. Serve: serve two balls each to positions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
13. Forehand high bouncing shot: standing in the middle of the baseline, hit the ball high in the air with racket to the forehand side and hit two forehand high bouncing shots to positions 7, 8 and 9.
14. Backhand high bouncing shot: standing in the middle of the baseline, hit the ball high in the air with racket to the backhand side and hit two backhand high bouncing shots to positions 9, 8 and 7.
15. Serve: serve two balls each to positions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
16. Forehand lob: standing in the middle of the baseline, hit to two lobs each to positions 7,8 and 9.
17. Backhand lob: standing in the middle of the baseline, hit two lobs each to positions 9, 8 and 7.
18. Serve: serve two balls each to positions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
19. Forehand overhead: standing on the midline of the court in the middle of the service box area, hit the ball straight up in the air with your racket and hit two forehand overheads each to positions 7,8 and 9.
20. Backhand overhead: standing on the midline of the court in the middle of the service box area, hit the ball to your backhand side and straight up in the air with your racket and hit two backhand overheads each to positions 9, 8 and 7.
21. Serve: serve two balls each to positions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
22. Backpedal and hit overhead: standing on the midline of the court in the middle of the service box area, hit the ball straight up in the air and behind you with your racket. Sidestep backwards to get under the ball and hit two overheads each to positions 7, 8 and 9.
23. Run forward and hit overhead: standing on the baseline, hit the ball up in the air and into the court with your racket. Run forward, let the ball bounce then hit two overheads each to positions 7, 8 and 9. This is useful practice for hitting overheads from any position on the court.
24. Serve: serve two balls each to positions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
25. Forehand dropshot: standing in position to receive a serve on the deuce side and then the ad side, hit two forehand dropshots each to positions 6 and 1.
26. Backhand dropshot: standing in position to receive a serve on the deuce side and then the ad side, hit two backhand dropshots each to positions 1 and 6.
27. Serve: serve two balls each to positions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
28. Between the legs: just for fun I stand in the middle of the service boxes and hit the ball back over my head. Then I turn around and run towards the baseline with my back to the net and practice hitting the ball between my legs. I haven’t been able to do it yet.

To improve my conditioning, I do a set of sprints after practice and matches. I do 3 sets of five sprints each:

1. Set 1: from the T at the baseline, run up to the service box T, do a karaoke step to the right sideline, a side step to the left baseline, a karaoke step back to the service box T, run backwards to the beginning position.
2. Set 2: from the T at the baseline, run up to the service box T, do a side step to the left sideline, a karaoke step to the right sideline, a side step back to the service box T, run backwards to the beginning position.
3. Set 3: from the T at the baseline, run up to the service box T, do a side step to the right sideline, a karaoke step to the left sideline, a side step back to the service box T, run backwards to the beginning position.

(coming soon)