Free Tennis Drills On Footwork

These free tennis drills on footwork, adapted from a USTA sequence, are gentle enough to use as a first activity on the court. If you have two courts available, use the distance from the outer doubles line of one to the other. Most of the exercises go this full length, except where noted otherwise. If you only have one court, go to the net and back for full-length exercises.

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"I" am the coach leading the drill, doing each exercise along with you. You can do this sequence alone, with one person leading a group, or with each person in a group taking a turn as the leader.

To get your leg muscles started warming up, start with an easy jog all the way across and then a backwards jog to return.

Next, try the backwards skip, shown here, which is also easy on the legs. You'll probably never skip backwards during a match -- at least, not out of necessity -- but it's a good coordination exercise, and it helps to build the muscles used for backpedaling and jumping.

The sidestep slide is a motion you'll use often in match play as you recover position back toward the center of the court after running to either side for a ball.

Face me. We'll slide along sideways, and each time I say "turn," we'll face the opposite way as we continue to slide.

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The backwards snake helps build the muscles and coordination needed when you have to backpedal at an angle, such as if you closed tight to the net to put away a volley, but your opponent got to it for another try at a passing shot.

The carioca is another excellent coordination exercise, and a carioca step is often used when hitting a one-handed backhand approach shot.

If you want to try a more challenging version, I will say "turn" every few seconds, on which signal you will face the opposite direction as you continue to carioca.

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The backwards slant slide has a particularly fun rhythm. You'll use backwards slant slides when you've run forward and to the side for a ball and you want to recover back toward the center of the backcourt.

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