Hey Coach, looking for drill for your High School Tennis Team practice?Try "Dingles."Dingles is the perfect drill to occupy four players on one court and is great practice for singles and doubles, but especially doubles!
All shots come into play with Dingles and are practiced while the players are having fun.Cross court forehands and backhands, volleys, lobs, and overheads come into play with Dingles.Instead of starting Dingles with a drop-hit, the players can use their serve to start the point, so then all the shots needed to play singles and doubles are practiced.
If there are a large number of players on the team, the Coach can play several courts at one time and keep everybody busy.Once the first game is over, change partners and play another game.
If playing Dingles on several courts let the winners move to the left to play a new team.Same for the losers. In doing so,Dingles might produce which players play better together and this will help the Coach arrive at a winning lineup!
HOW TO PLAY DINGLES
Dingles is a fun, points-based tennis game for four players that involves both singles and doubles play. It's suitable for beginners and can be played at any age or gender. Here are some tips for playing Dingles:
Start - Players begin on the baseline and toss a coin to determine which team serves. The serving team then simultaneously feeds two balls cross-court to their opponents, starting two half-court rallies.
Singles point - The rallies continue until one player misses or wins, at which point they call out "Dingles!" . The remaining ball in play then becomes a full-court doubles point, with all four players participating.
Scoring - To win a point, a team must win both the singles and doubles points. Once a team has five points, the teams rotate.
Tips - When your partner is lobbed, try to cover their half of the court and move across so they can move behind you. When attacking a net player, aim for their right hip or shoulder, as it's the most difficult ball to defend. If your partner is rallying, try to close the net and apply pressure.
Author's Note: I am currently working with about 15 middle school and high school players. I have both girls and guys. Their seasons have now wrapped up. Some had successful seasons and others did not. Below are a few of my takeaways from the season.
1. My players do not know how to warm-up properly. This is a time to get loose, gather information about your opponent and begin to formulate your match plan of attack. This is extremely important and must be accomplished.
2. Doubles play has to be better. Teammates have to work together and know where each other are all the time. Communication is an absolute must! They hit way too many forehands and backhands, play one up and one back and are not proactive in their play, just reactive. Get your serve in, get to the net and Put Balls Away!!!
3. My players are not playing to win. They are playing not to lose. They rarely play the way we practiced. Again, this cannot happen. I and my players work and train way too hard to have this happen.
4. Changeover routines have very little focus or consistency. Changeover routines are designed to settle players down, regroup and adjust match game plans. Use the time wisely and constructively.
5. My players have to get better at learning from both wins and losses. Winning and losing in tennis can be agonizing for players and coaches. Coaches and players should spend post-match time dissecting and understanding what went well and what didn’t in their matches.
This a quote from my book, THE LITTLE GREEN BOOK of TENNIS.
Recently my Son questioned the reasoning behind this “principle “! (It is more difficult to “angle” low volleys. Wait for a ball you can volley down for the winner. )
His response made a lot of sense . ” If you volley it deep the players today can get to it and hit the closer ball by you at the net. Additionally, net players now CAN angle many low volleys, some soft and with almost the same effect as a dropshot. Thus creating a much larger distance to cover to make the passing shot.
Tommy Paul’s angled low forehand volley is a good model.
Here are some quotes on strategy from people I respect. These “rang true” for my many players in many matches.
Find out what your opponent can’t do, or doesn’t like to do, and make them do that.” –Jack Kramer
Don’t change the “line of the ball” unless you are sure you can make the shot. Otherwise, cross courts “ad nausea.” Two-handed backhand down the line shots will “slide wide” too often, believe me –T. Parham.
When asked what he would do differently, Ken Rosewall replied, “I would hit a lot more balls cross court.” Cross courts get you out of trouble. Jim Verdieck demanded the cross court ball from his team.
Get yourself in a position to “volley away from the source” –Jim Verdieck.
Any ball hit extremely deep in either corner allows a good attacking possibility –Jim Verdieck
The simple strategy of tennis singles: “Attack the short ball” –Dennis Van Der Meer.
Good approach shots make easy volleys –Jim Leighton.
No shots in “no man’s land” is a myth –T. Parham.
Rule 1: Find a good doubles partner. Rule 2: Get along with your doubles partner.
Over 95% of high school age tennis players will benefit immensely from the team concept. Life long lessons and experiences will come from the comraderie and friendships developed. Learning to work as a team in an individual sport will have many benefits later in life.
I recently tracked down my high school coach from my first two years of high school tennis. I wanted to express how he had showed the passion and care for our team, even though he was a football coach at heart..........
He had been instrumental in molding me as a coach. As we were discussing this all with another of my team-mates last month, we realized it had been 49 years. Wow!
Some tennis coaches have true passion for the game and many others are forced into the role through conscription. .......
A warm body is needed to show up for practice, counsel parents, and drive the bus. There is no criticism intended here. I have the highest respect for the time and efforts of an often thankless job.
Remember the title word? Almost? There is a small group(I would estimate much less than 100) players in Nc that the time needed to devote to the practice s and travel of the team would be detrimental to their game development.............
I am aware of several high school coaches that have allowed high-level players to come to occasional practices and not all team matches. .............This allowed the development of the player and has also lead to a team winning individual and team championships. It seems a win/win for everyone.
Tommy Paul, currently 12 in the world at 26 years old, beat the NCAA champion when he was 18 years old. High school tennis would have been a great social experience but not for his game development.
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