Use this basketball-style tennis game to improve your shot-making under pressure.
Not only can cross-training in other sports be good for your tennis, but using variations of other sports’ practice games can be beneficial as well. For those of you who have played even just a little basketball, I’m sure you’re familiar with the game Horse. Make a basket and your opponent has to duplicate the same shot or he’ll get a letter of the word “horse,” starting with the H. The first player to spell out the word loses. To play the game in tennis, stand on one side of the court with your opponent on the opposite end. Then section off a part of the court that each of you has to hit into.
For example, extend the center service line back to the baseline and use the box created by that line, the service line, the baseline, and the sideline. Whoever hits a shot outside of the box gets a letter. Play to areas that are crosscourt from each other or down the line so you can work on different shots, and mix it up by moving forward and playing within the service boxes. You can stick to the same targets or vary them from point to point; the winner of each rally chooses the next target area. To use a little basketball terminology, playing from the baseline helps your deep jump shots (ground strokes) and moving up will help your layups (short angles). The first player to spell “horse” loses. It’s a great way to work on your consistency and ability to produce shots under pressure.