The 7-11 drill

Everything in the lesson, played for points. One of you owns the kitchen line, the other has to earn it — and the score is deliberately uneven, because the two jobs are not the same size.

Setup

• One player at the kitchen line.
• The other about two feet behind the baseline, on the other side.
• Full court. Half the court if you want longer rallies and less running.

How it works

1. The kitchen player feeds a deep ball to start the point.
2. The baseline player lets it bounce and hits a drop, then moves in behind it.
3. Play the rally out. No free points, no resets.
4. Every rally is a point to whoever wins it.
5. The baseline player wins the game at 7. The kitchen player needs 11.
6. Swap positions and play it again.

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1. 1P2 owns the kitchen line. P1 has to earn it. P2 feeds to start the point.
2. 2A deep feed. P1 plays it off the bounce from the baseline.
3. 3The drop, and P1 moves in while it is in the air. The shot only pays if you take the ground.
4. 4All P2 can do is lift it back. P1 reaches the line and split-steps.
5. 5Even. For P1 that is the whole job: every point worth winning starts from here.

Why the score is uneven

Even it up and the kitchen player wins almost every game, which teaches nobody anything.

Seven against eleven is roughly what the kitchen line is worth, and it makes the game close enough to be worth winning. That is the whole design: the baseline player has to be patient for real, not as an exercise.

If the baseline player is winning comfortably, they are not starting far enough back.

What each side is practising

At the baseline: getting in. The only route to 7 is drop, move, reset the next one, and win the point from the line. Driving from the transition zone feels faster and loses.

At the kitchen: holding. Take the balls that deserve to be taken, keep the rest low, and make them play one more than they want to.

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1. 1The same start: P2 at the line, P1 at the baseline, P2 to feed.
2. 2The same deep feed.
3. 3P1 drives instead of dropping and runs in behind it. It feels like the faster way to the line.
4. 4P2 barely moves. The ball comes back at P1's feet in the transition zone. Point to P2.

Turn the dial

Easier — give the baseline player the point the moment they reach the kitchen line, whatever happens after. That trains the movement alone, before you add the pressure of finishing.

Harder — the kitchen player attacks the feet in the transition zone instead of dinking back. Or start the baseline player a step further back, as if they had just served.

With four — same game, both players at the kitchen against both at the baseline, same 7 and 11.