drill
The wall rally
Dink against a wall with a tape line at net height. Count your longest run of soft, controlled hits, switching forehand and backhand every ten.
- Players
- 1
- Time
- 10 min
- Path
- Intermediate
- Topics
- Shots, Mental game
A dink rally needs a partner, but dink control doesn’t. A wall sends back every ball you give it, so nobody else is there to blame.
Setup
- A flat wall and some floor in front of it: a garage, a schoolyard, a handball court.
- Put a strip of tape across the wall at 34 inches, the height of the net in the middle.
- Stand about seven feet back, the depth of the kitchen.
How it works
- Dink the ball softly so it hits the wall just above the tape.
- Let it bounce once, then dink it again. Paddle face open, a short lift from the shoulder, no wrist flick.
- Ten on the forehand, then ten on the backhand, then back again.
Score
Count out loud. Your score is your longest run without a miss, where a miss is a ball under the tape, a second bounce, or a ball that comes back so hard you have to back up. Write it down; next time, beat it.
Turn the dial
Easier: catch the ball after each hit and start again. Ten clean ones in a row, then go continuous.
Harder: a second strip of tape a hand’s width above the first. Only balls between the two count: that is a dink that would land low over a real net.
Goes with Dink patience