Improving your Reactions
by: Dave Winship @ On The Line

Physical reactions tend to slow down as you get older owing to deterioration of tissue at the nerve fibres, but if you play plenty of tennis, this can be offset by improvements in your anticipation. Your anticipation skills can be improved simply by playing plenty of tennis. The following drills may also speed up your reaction times by improving the efficiency of your co-ordination and movement. Remember to warm up thoroughly first.

Rapid Fire:

You stand in a volleying position while your practice partner stands near the "T" (the junction of the service box lines) and feeds you half a dozen balls in rapid succession. You attempt to get a racket on as many as possible using quick feet and hands. The quality of your volleys is not important. Watch the angle of your partner's racket to anticipate the direction of the ball.

Crazy Bounces:

Catch a crazy reaction ball thrown (or rolled) to you by your practice partner. (These are typically six-sided or pyramid-shaped balls that produce unpredictable bounces.)

Rebounds:

You stand facing a wall without your racket while your practice partner throws balls against the wall from behind you. You have to catch the rebounds. As a variation, use a racket and volley the rebounds back against the wall.

Ball Drop :

You stand with your back to the net while your practice partner stands about ten feet away on the same side of the court (halfway between you and the service line). He extends his arms out sideways at shoulder height, holding a ball in each hand. He drops one of the tennis balls and you sprint to catch it before it bounces twice. Return and repeat.

Follow The Leader:

Your practice partner jogs/runs/sprints randomly around the court and you try to shadow her as closely as possible.

Blind Volleys:

You stand in a volleying position while your practice partner feeds you balls from the baseline. You must close your eyes until you hear the sound of ball on racket and then you open your eyes, try to locate the ball and volley it. Once you're used to this, try it again, but with your back turned to the net.

Regards.

Dave Winship