Tennis drills at home for 18 year olds

At a glance

At 18

24 tennis drills the app opens for an 18 year old work at home, across 6 skills.

How long

One home session of about 50 minutes; SSTracker never plans more than 75 minutes for an 18 year old.

How often

At most 5 training days a week, with rest days between. Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 18 hours for an 18 year old, with two rest days a week.

What you need

Most used: racket (16 of the 24 drills), soft balls (7), balls (4), tennis ball (3), wall (3), jump rope (1), mirror or window (1), net or rope (1). 11 are for two, and a parent can be the partner.

Safe at home

One child and one parent in a room, garage or yard. Never tackling, contact, diving or head-first falls, no stunts or loaded lifting, and nothing that needs a coach, rink, pool or court. Stop when anything hurts.

24 at-home drills

Tennis drills for 18 year olds to do at home

Every drill below is one the app opens for an 18 year old and one that works at home: a room, garage or yard, one parent as the partner, no venue. Each drill's page has the steps, a diagram where the setup can be drawn, three ways to make it a game and a log to print.

backhand

Backhand

• Backhand Wall RallyAges 7 and up · 12 min
• Parent-Toss BackhandsAges 7 and up · 10 min
• Shadow Backhand SwingsAges 7 and up · 6 min

net play

Net Play

• Split Step and Volley HandsAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Wall Volley PunchesAges 7 and up · 8 min
• High Forehand VolleyAges 11 and up · 10 min

serve

Serve

• Overarm Toss to ServeAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Serve Toss ControlAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Trophy Pose and TossAges 7 and up · 8 min

footwork

Footwork

• Jump Rope EnduranceAges 7 and up · 10 min
• Ready Position and HopsAges 7 and up · 6 min

forehand

Forehand

• Forehand Wall RallyAges 7 and up · 12 min
• Toss, Catch, Then SwingAges 7 and up · 8 min

A 44-minute session

A home tennis session for an 18 year old

A warm-up, 3 drills and a cool-down, 44 minutes in all. Do it up to 5 days a week, with rest days between.

1. 1Tennis Warm-Up, Ages 14 and UpA 12-minute moving warm-up for tennis players 14 and up: moving stretches, strength, single-leg control, cuts and build-up runs, then tennis moves at practice speed.12 min
2. 2Backhand Volley CatchShoulder turn, racket still.8 min
3. 3Shadow Backhand SwingsSlow and smooth.6 min
4. 4Low Backhand VolleyGet low with your legs.10 min
5. 5Tennis Cool-Down Stretches, Ages 14 and UpA 8-minute cool-down for tennis players 14 and up after training: stretches for the legs, hips, wrists and sides, each held 20 to 30 seconds, never to pain.8 min

At 18

What changes in tennis training at 18

The app opens the same 24 at-home drills at 18 as at 17; the ones below are a different selection from that list.

Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 18 hours for an 18 year old, with two rest days a week.

The week

Fitting tennis into a week at 18

At 18 the limit is 18 hours of organized sport a week. If you count home sessions against it to be safe, 5 sessions of 50 minutes is 4.17 hours, which leaves 13.83 for team practice and games. Even 5 days at the app's longest, 75 minutes, is 6.25 hours.

The research behind it

• Ages 13 to 15 are the "specializing years", after the sampling years of 6 to 12.

  Côté and Vierimaa 2014

• Organized sport should total no more hours a week than the child's age in years, with two rest days a week.

  NATA youth sport specialization recommendations

Questions and answers