drill
Serve to the towel
A towel in each deep corner of the service box, ten serves at each, and only a ball that lands on the towel counts. Keep your score from session to session.
- Players
- 1
- Time
- 10 min
- Path
- First timer
- Topics
- Shots
A deep serve keeps the returner back, which buys your team time. A serve that lands anywhere in the box is in, but it isn’t deep. Towels show you the difference.
Setup
- A court and a bucket of balls.
- Fold two towels in half and lay them in the deep corners of one service box: one against the baseline by the sideline, one against the baseline by the center line.
- Serve from the diagonal box, as in a game.
How it works
- Ten serves at the sideline towel.
- Ten at the center-line towel.
- Change sides and do the same into the other box.
Score
Only a ball that lands on a towel counts. Near it doesn’t. Out of 40, write down your score and try to beat it next time. Most players start lower than they expect.
Turn the dial
Easier: unfold the towels, or count any serve that lands in the back third of the box.
Harder: alternate towels on every serve, so you never hit the same target twice in a row, as in a game.
Goes with Return deep, then get to the line