How do you improve your tennis skills on the wall?

You will often need help finding a tennis practice partner. Don’t look at this negatively; you can improve your tennis alone.

One of the best ways to improve your tennis game is to hit against a tennis backboard or wall.

Forehand Drills

The first exercise involves hitting as many forehands as you can handle in a row. If you imagine a power scale of 1–10, with one being the softest you could hit and 10 being your most challenging shot, start on levels 4-5 and build up as the drill continues. This way, you improve your ball control, and the rallies will last much longer, so you will hit a lot more balls than if you start off on an 8 or 9.

Focus on shorter backswings and give yourself a good margin by hitting with good topspin and height so you have time to prepare for the next shot.

Backhand Drills

Now that you’ve worked the forehand, it’s time to do the same on your backhand.

Hit as many backhands in a row as you can gain by starting at 4-5 on the power scale and building up slowly as the rally progresses.

Focus on moving your feet into the correct position and setting up behind the ball as early as possible. A good starting base is a rally of 8–10 strokes in a row. With practice, you will eventually reach rallies of 20–25 strokes in a row while controlling the ball entirely.

Forehands and Backhands

The next step is to work on the forehand and backhand groundstrokes together. The most accessible and effective way is to hit two forehands in a row, followed by two backhands in a row. You might need help starting with three strokes on each side.

The ultimate progression is to repeatedly hit one forehand and one backhand for a rally of 15-20 balls.

Slices

After working on your tennis forehand and backhand groundstrokes, the next step is to work on your slice. It can be both the forehand and backhand slices. Start by hitting only forehand slices, then do the same on the backhand. Try to aim for rallies of ten on each side.

Next, try hitting alternating forehand and backhand slices for as many strokes as you can. A good target to begin would be 8–10.

Mixing It Up

The next drill is now alternating between the topspin drive and the slice. Once again, this can be done on the forehand side, then the backhand side, plus a combination of all four strokes (topspin forehand, slice forehand, topspin backhand, slice backhand).

When doing this drill, focus on keeping the slices as low as possible and hitting with good height on the topspin groundstrokes. This will be perfect for mixing it up in a point situation.

Approach Shots + Volleys

Now, we can move on to the transition game. Feed yourself a shorter ball that you can attack with a forehand or backhand drive and follow in. Work on split stepping and moving forward for the volley. After the approach shot, try to hit two volleys in a row. Repeat this process for 6–8 sets.

Net game: The last phase is now working on the net game. The first drill is to try to hit only half volleys (just after the bounce) using the continental grip we use for serving. Go for 10–20 half-volleys in a row. Next, we work on average volleys, again going for sets of 20–30 balls in a row. Lastly, we will work on our overhead smash. It is not an easy drill, so keep it to 1-2 smashes, then stop the ball and feed again.