1. Drills
  2. Tennis
  3. Footwork

Gentle Hill Accelerations

Short runs up a gentle grassy slope force a good lean and strong arm action. Walk down slowly to recover.

By Coach Evan Waechtler Youth coach (U11, Cache Valley, Utah) and founder of SSTracker Updated October 30, 2026

Set up

Find a gentle, even grassy slope.

Core: Medium. Walk down slowly to rest.

Ages
13 and up
Time
15 min
Players
Just you
Space
Yard or field
Bring
Gentle grassy slope
Level · skill
Advanced · Footwork

The steps

How it works

  1. Find a gentle, even grassy slope.
  2. Run up it for 8 to 10 seconds at strong effort.
  3. Walk all the way back down; that is your rest.
  4. Do 6 reps.

Coaching point

Drive the arms, eyes up the hill.

Safety: Warm up first. Take a full walk-back rest between runs; fast running when tired is how pulls happen. Stop if anything hurts.

Make it fun

Play it, don't drill it

Game version

Hill climbers: pairs take turns, one climbing while the other claps the rhythm, then walk down together.

Challenge

Choose a slope: Less (short), Core (medium), More (a little longer). Walk down slowly to rest.

Story

You are a mountain goat climbing to the top.

My best

Beat your own count

Walk down slowly to rest. Only your own number counts: today against last time.

Practice makes progress

Print it now, or save it free

Free for families and teams

Save this drill to your child or team, free

Sign up and the free tennis week for this age opens in your child's planner, kept to healthy limits. A coach can send this drill to the whole team as homework, and parents see every session logged.

14 days free for a family, no card · Running a team is always free

Does your child's coach know about this?

An email from you to the coach, with the words ready. Nothing is tracked and nobody is rewarded.