Tennis Footwork Drill

Tennis Footwork Drill
To Develop Explosive Lateral Movement

Utilizing a fundamental plyometric exercise, this simple tennis footwork drill for kids and adults is designed to develop explosive lateral movement.. The drill goes as follows:

The player stands on the baseline where it meets either the singles or doubles sideline.

Player then jumps forwards and sideways with one leg across the doubles alley.

Immediately upon contact with the ground, the player jumps forwards and sideways back across the alley and repeats the process all the way to the net. From the starting point, try and reach the net with 12 contacts.

Repeat the exercise three times with 1-2 minutes rest between each one.

Before starting this exercise, make sure that you are properly warmed up. Even though this is a very basic plyometric exercise, it is demanding enough to cause an injury if the muscles are cold.

Instructions

When performing the jumps, rebound immediately and explosively upon contact with the ground and back into the jump phase. The whole idea is for the foot to have as little contact with the ground as possible. When performing the drill, it’s helpful to imagine that the ground is on fire and that you’re wearing bare feet.

This exercise develops explosive lateral power throughout the legs and hips.

Return To Tennis Drills From Tennis Footwork Drill For Kids