Nico Álvarez's match review

What to fix first

Three priorities, ranked by how much each will move your game. Start at the top.

1. 1Bandeja3/10Misses: late contact · short

   Build a bandeja, so a lob doesn't end the point

   Why it matters

   The bandeja, the sliced overhead you hit around head height, out to the side, to keep the net rather than win the point, is the shot you're missing. Without it every lob over you is a coin toss: a flat smash from behind your head that goes long, or a retreat that hands over the net. In this match that was how most of the points you'd built well ended.

   Say this on court

   “Turn before you run.”

   Drill

   Bandeja Control Ladder

   4 sets of 6 overheads

2. 2Net positionNeeds work

   After the first volley, stop two big steps off the net, not on it

   Why it matters

   You volley from a racket's length off the net and stay there, so any decent lob is behind you before you've moved. Stopping two big steps off costs you almost nothing on the volley and turns a lot of those lobs into overheads you can take in front of you, which is the only place your overhead works today. This is the cheap fix: it starts paying before the bandeja does.

   Say this on court

   “Two steps off, not on it.”

   Drill

   Hit and Recover to the Cone

   4 sets of 10 balls

3. 3Decisions from the backNeeds work

   From the back, lob first and drive only what sits up

   Why it matters

   When the other pair has the net you try to hit through them from behind your service line. At this level that's a comfortable volley for them, not a winner for you, and it keeps you pinned at the back, where you're ordinary. The lob is what pushes them off the net and lets you come in behind it, and at the net is where you play your best padel. Save the drive for the short ball that sits up.

   Say this on court

   “Lob deep. Go if they turn.”

   Drill

   Patience Under the Bandeja

   3 sets of 8 points

Keep doing this

What's already working

• ✓

  Serve and first volley. You serve into the side glass with the same rhythm every time, and you stop before you hit the first volley, which most players at your level hit on the run. Your service games are your best games because of this.

• ✓

  The forehand off the side glass. You wait for the wide serve to come off the wall, turn your feet and play it under control, without thinking about it. That patience is exactly what the backhand side is missing.

• ✓

  Your reset. After the smashes that went long you kept the same walk back, the same routine and the same tempo on the next point. That's rarer than you think, and it's why these three fixes will stick.

Your drills

Prescribed from this match. Each one says how often, and how you'll know it's done.

1. 01

   Bandeja Control Ladder

   4 sets of 6 overheads

   about 7 min

   For fix #1

   So a lob over your head stops costing you the net.

   How it goes

   1. 1The lob goes up. Over your head, towards the middle of your half. Turn sideways the moment you see it go up: hitting shoulder back, chest to the side glass. Do not wait to see where it lands. On the mixed-lob rungs this is also when you call it out loud: smash, bandeja or glass.
   2. 2Get behind it. Shuffle back side-on, small steps, until the ball is falling in front of your hitting shoulder. Never run backwards facing the net. You meet a good bandeja lob well in front of your own service line; one that is taking you back to the line is one to let through.
   3. 3Slice it deep. Contact beside you at about ear height, arm out to the side, the racket travelling high to low across the ball. Land it past their service line and short of their glass, alternating down the line and cross.
   4. 4Land, then walk in. Land no further forward than where you hit it. Then walk back to the net. Jumping into it turns a bandeja into a poor smash and gives up the position the shot exists to protect.

   Once a week, with a friend who can throw a lob by hand. It's your one overhead drill, so it gets your freshest shoulder. Start using it in friendlies once three of six land deep; until then, let the deep lobs go to the glass.

   How often

   Once a week. Twice only in a week when you play no match at all, with 48 hours between, because a match already carries its own overheads towards the ceiling of about 60 a week. This is the one overhead drill in your programme: do not add another beside it. Early in the session but never first: hit for ten minutes before the first overhead. A bandeja hit by a tired shoulder is a different shot, and repeating it is how shoulders get hurt; a bandeja hit by a cold one is the same problem from the other end. Six overheads, then a real rest, is the shape of it, and never more than 30 overheads in a session with no more than 12 of them full smashes.

   You're done when

   When five of six thrown lobs land past their service line, you finish no further forward than where you hit it, and you are back at the net before the next ball, four sets like that in a session, two sessions running. That is months away rather than weeks. Then find somebody who can lob with a racket and climb: the same standard on racket-fed lobs is the next milestone, and on the mixed lobs you are done when your call matches the ball on five of six with the same depth. Keep the drill after that and move the lobs deeper instead of dropping it.

   On your own

   Throw the ball up yourself, a metre in front and to your hitting side, and play the bandeja from there. It trains the contact point and the swing path and nothing else: a self-toss cannot make you retreat, which is the half that breaks in matches. Twenty tosses, then shadow ten retreats under an imaginary lob to put the footwork back.

   1 · The lob goes up

   Play the rep

   1. 1
   2. 2
   3. 3
   4. 4

   Before you start

   You start at the net, two or three metres off it, facing the far end. On the hand-thrown rung, whoever is feeding stands on your side of the net, right beside it and over by the side wall, with the basket, and throws the lob up and over your head. From the racket rungs on, they move to the far side and lob from where a defender stands, a long step behind their service line. No cones: a bandeja is judged on depth, and the depth that counts is past their service line.

   What to tell yourself

   • “Reach out, not up.”
   • “Sideways first.”
   • “High to low, across.”

   At contact the arm is long and out to the side, roughly where you would point at somebody standing in the corner.

   When it goes wrong

   The ball flies long into their back glass on the full, or goes straight up in the air.

   Fix Get further back so it falls in front of your hitting shoulder, and make contact out to the side at about ear height.“Reach out, not up.”

   You have to stretch for a ball that should have been comfortable, and the shot comes off flat with no bite on it.

   Fix Turn sideways before you move, not while you move. Shoulder back and chest to the side glass the moment the lob goes up.“Sideways first.”

   You feel off balance at contact, and once or twice you have clipped your own heel.

   Fix Small steps, side-on, always. This one is a falling risk as much as a technique fault.

   It comes off the racket with no bite. It flies rather than floats, and it bounces up high off their floor instead of staying low.

   Fix You are hitting it like a smash. The racket travels high to low across the ball and finishes below your shoulder on the other side. It should feel sliced rather than struck.“High to low, across.”

   You finish nearer the net than where you hit it. On the mixed lobs it usually comes with a smash on a ball you had to go back for.

   Fix Land where you hit, then walk in. If you had to shuffle back more than a couple of steps to reach it, it was never a smash ball: call bandeja.

   A rep counts when

   It landed past their service line, and you landed no further forward than where you hit it. On the mixed lobs, your call out loud before contact also matched the ball.

   Making it harder

   1. 1Your own toss, standing still.
   2. 2Thrown underarm by somebody standing beside the net on your side, high and over your head, so you have to move back. By hand it comes down in the same place every time, which is what you need at this stage.
   3. 3Lobbed with a racket from the far side, from a long step behind their service line, landing about three metres behind you. From here on you need somebody who can lob with a racket.
   4. 4Deeper lobs, so you are taking the ball a metre or so in front of your own service line. The retreat is longer and the turn has to come sooner.
   5. 5Mixed depth and no order, and you call it out loud before contact. A short one you can take without going back more than a step gets the smash. One you have to shuffle back for gets the bandeja. One that will land behind your service line gets let through: turn, let it come off your glass, and play it back into court. No more than one lob in three is short, so a set of six has at most two smashes.
   6. 6Level 5 and up, and only once you own a víbora from its own drill. A fourth call joins the three: a middling lob you are early to and balanced under gets the víbora, one that pushes you back still gets the bandeja. Same cap: no more than one short lob in three.

   For whoever is feeding

   Throw it rather than hitting it, to begin with. Stand on their side of the net, right beside it and over by the side wall, and throw underarm: high, up and over their head, so it would come down about three metres behind where they are standing and still in front of their service line. By hand you can put the ball in the same place every time, which is what they need. One every ten seconds: they need the rest more than the repetitions. When they are ready for racket lobs, go to the far side and lob from a long step behind your service line. On the mixed rungs, decide before each ball whether it is short, middling or deep, and after they call it, tell them whether your lob came off the way you meant; if it went somewhere else, count it when their call matched where the ball actually went. Never more than one short one in three.

   Stop if

   If your shoulder aches, that is the end of the overheads for today, not the end of the session. Stop the set if you start reaching up instead of out to the side, or if you land off balance twice in a row. A tired bandeja is a smash with no legs under it, and that is how shoulders get hurt. Sore the next day means the number was too high, so halve it next time. Any pain that does not settle in a day or two, or that makes you change how you swing, is worth showing to somebody qualified.

   A friend to throw you balls by hand · a basket of balls

2. 02

   Hit and Recover to the Cone

   4 sets of 10 balls

   about 8 min

   For fix #2

   So you are already back in place and ready when the next ball comes, instead of still watching your last one.

   How it goes

   1. 1Start on the cone. Racket up in front of you, knees bent, weight on the front of your feet, facing the net. As the feeder's arm comes forward, make a small hop and land on both feet, shoulder-width apart, just as the ball leaves their hand or racket.
   2. 2Go to the ball. Every feed arrives a stride or two to one side of the cone. Turn your shoulders and step towards the ball with the opposite foot (your left on a forehand volley if you are right-handed); if it is further away, a small step with the near foot first. Volley it firmly back into their half, and stop your feet before you hit, not after.
   3. 3Straight back to the cone. The moment the ball leaves your racket, move back to the cone with small side steps, still facing the net. Do not wait to see where your volley went: the feeder will tell you if it was out.
   4. 4Land as they hit. The feeder keeps their own rhythm and does not wait for you. Be on the cone and land your split-step as the next ball leaves them. If you are still travelling when they strike, you were late getting back, and that is the rep you missed.

   Go straight to the mixed-feed rung: the lobs and the low balls tell you where your cone belongs, and I'd bet it ends up two big steps off the net, not where you stand now. Then stand there in the match.

   How often

   Twice a week, ten minutes, straight after the warm-up while your legs are fresh. Standing still to watch your own shot is the most common fault in club padel and the cheapest one to fix, so this earns a slot in every week you play.

   You're done when

   When you are back on the cone and have landed before the next feed on nine of ten balls fed with a racket at a three-second rhythm, and a whole set of mixed feeds passes with no soft lob you could not get under and no volley taken below your knee. Then keep it as a five-minute warm-up and ask the feeder to shorten the rhythm.

   On your own

   Cone on your spot, no ball. Move to an imaginary volley a stride and a half to one side, shadow it, get back to the cone and land a split-step, then the other side. Every fourth rep, turn side-on and take two steps back as if a soft lob were coming, then come back in. Thirty reps, twenty seconds on and twenty off. Alone you can go faster than anybody would feed you, and the feet are the whole drill.

   1 · Start on the cone

   Play the rep

   1. 1
   2. 2
   3. 3
   4. 4

   Before you start

   Put a cone in the middle of your half of the court, about two and a half metres from the net: about three normal steps back from it. That is your spot. For the thrown rungs, whoever is feeding stands on the other side about two metres from the net; when they feed with a racket, they step back to their service line, with the basket beside them.

   What to tell yourself

   • “Land as they hit.”
   • “Back before you look.”
   • “Stop, then hit.”

   Both feet touch down together, light, like skipping, at the moment the ball leaves them.

   When it goes wrong

   The next ball arrives while you are still standing where you hit the last one, and you play it stretching or off the wrong foot.

   Fix Start moving back to the cone as the ball leaves your racket. Your eyes can follow the ball while your feet go home.“Back before you look.”

   You are still in the air, or still stepping, when the ball leaves the feeder, and your first step goes the wrong way or starts late.

   Fix Hop as their arm comes forward, so you land as the ball leaves. A small hop of a few centimetres: it is a reset, not a jump.“Land as they hit.”

   On the balls you had to run for, the volley flies long or into the side glass, and you finish the shot with a step you did not mean to take.

   Fix Get there, plant, then volley. If you cannot stop in time, you left the cone late; you are not moving too slowly.“Stop, then hit.”

   Soft lobs go over your head and you cannot get under them even after two steps back.

   Fix Move the cone half a metre back and play the next set from there.

   You are volleying balls from around your shoelaces, and they float up or go into the net.

   Fix Move the cone half a metre forward. The right spot is the one where neither this fault nor the last one happens in a set.

   A rep counts when

   You were back on the cone and had landed your split-step before the next ball left the feeder.

   Making it harder

   1. 1No ball. Your friend points left or right; you step to that side, shadow a volley, come back to the cone and land. It teaches the feet before a ball can distract you.
   2. 2Thrown underarm from about two metres the other side of the net, a stride or two to either side of the cone, in no fixed order, one about every three seconds. They arrive at a speed you can recover from.
   3. 3Fed with a racket from their service line, still one about every three seconds. The ball arrives faster, so getting back and landing in time is harder.
   4. 4The feeder shortens the rhythm to one ball every two seconds. Ten in a row without a stop.
   5. 5Mixed feeds with no order: a volley to one side, a low ball dipping at your feet, or a soft lob. On the lob, turn side-on and take two steps back. If you got under it, catch it in your free hand above your hitting shoulder: that catch is the rep, and it means your feet put you where a bandeja would start. If it is going over you, let it go and call "switch": in a match that is the word your partner hears as they cross behind you to chase it. No overhead swing: this is not an overhead drill. If you cannot get under a soft lob, or you take a low ball below your knee, the cone is in the wrong place. Move it half a metre and go again.
   6. 6The feeder shows you the ball before each feed: racket low and open under it means a lob is coming, so take half a step back from the cone as they swing; racket at waist height behind it means a drive, so hold the cone or take half a step in. Count the balls you were on the wrong side of the cone for.

   For whoever is feeding

   For thrown balls, stand about two metres from the net on the other side, in the middle; when you feed with a racket, step back to your service line, with the basket beside you. Send every ball a stride or two to one side of the cone, never at it, in no fixed order. Keep a steady rhythm of your own: one ball about every three seconds on the thrown and fed rungs, whether or not they are back. On the less-time rung, one every two seconds. If they are not back and landed when you feed, that is the rep they missed, and you do not wait for them. Lobs are soft and would land around their service line: a lob a net player should handle, not a winner. Tell them after each set how many they were late on. They cannot see this themselves.

   Somebody to feed you with a racket · a basket of balls · cones

3. 03

   Patience Under the Bandeja

   3 sets of 8 points

   about 10 min

   For fix #3

   So that from the back you stop losing the points you could have waited out. The pair at the net wins most points, and you get the net back by being patient, not by hitting harder.

   How it goes

   1. 1Their ball comes deep. They volley or play a bandeja deep into your corner. If it is going to reach the glass with pace, let it: step back with it, side-on, and play it as it comes off. A deep ball you rush at before the glass is usually a ball played cramped, even when it goes in.
   2. 2Over them or at their feet. Two answers, and only two. A lob high over their backhand shoulder (for a right-hander, the left one) that lands in the back third of their court, or a soft low ball that dips at their feet. Then back to your spot, two and a half metres off the glass. A hard, flat ball at somebody standing at the net comes back past you faster than it went.
   3. 3Wait for the short one. Keep the point going until they give you a ball that bounces in front of your service line and sits up at hip height or higher. That is the short ball. Everything before it, however tempting, gets a lob or a low ball.
   4. 4Now attack, and go with it. Move in to it, play it low at their feet or down the middle, and keep walking in behind it to the net. The other way back to the net is a lob that beats them: when they turn their back on you and run to their glass, go in at once, with your partner when you have one. If they are only stepping back side-on to play a bandeja, stay and get ready for it. An attack you then watch from the back of the court was only half the move.

   One session. The rule in the drill is the rule in the match: nothing hit hard from behind your service line.

   How often

   The bottom rung is your warm-up every session you have somebody to hit with: it is what the first ten minutes on court should be, instead of volleying at each other from the service line. The upper rungs once a week, fifteen minutes, straight after the warm-up while your legs are fresh, because patience is the first thing tiredness takes.

   You're done when

   When a set of eight points goes by without one drive of yours from behind your service line at a player at the net, and you went forward on every short ball you were given, two sessions running. Then move up a rung. The bottom rung's longest rally has no finish line: write it down every session, and when it has not moved in a month, the limit is one particular shot, and that shot is the next thing to work on.

   On your own

   Nothing on your own trains the waiting, because that needs somebody at the net trying to keep you back. What you can train alone is the ball off the glass and the walk back: from your spot, throw a ball so it bounces and then runs into your back glass, let it come off, and play it forward as a lob landing past their service line or a low ball over the net, then walk back to your spot. Twenty on each side, and count the lobs that land past their service line.

   1 · Their ball comes deep

   Play the rep

   1. 1
   2. 2
   3. 3
   4. 4

   Before you start

   Play one diagonal, half the court each. You start in your back corner, about two and a half metres in front of your glass, a long step behind your service line, facing the net. The other player stands cross-court from you at the net, two to three metres off it, with the basket beside them. Swap diagonals each set, so both sides of your glass get their turn.

   What to tell yourself

   • “Over them or at their feet.”
   • “Let the glass bring it.”
   • “Short ball, then go.”

   The racket travels low to high and slowly. If it feels like a punch, it is the wrong shot.

   When it goes wrong

   You hit a hard, flat ball from behind your service line at a player standing at the net, and it came back past you faster than it went, or the point ended on your shot.

   Fix From behind your service line against a player at the net there are two shots: the lob and the low ball. Count the balls you have survived instead of counting the chances you are missing.“Over them or at their feet.”

   You played a deep ball before it reached your glass, the swing felt cramped, and you finished with your weight going backwards.

   Fix If it is going to reach the glass, let it. Step back with it side-on and play it as it comes off, when it is travelling the same way you want to hit.“Let the glass bring it.”

   The deep balls jam you: you are hitting with your back almost touching the glass, or the rebound is past you before you can swing.

   Fix Your spot is about two and a half metres off the glass, a long step behind your service line. From there you can step back to a deep ball and forward to a short one; from the glass you can do neither.

   They play your lob without having to back up, from in front of their service line, and it comes straight back at your feet.

   Fix Aim higher and deeper, over their backhand shoulder, into the back third of their court. A lob that falls short of their service line is a present, not a defence.

   You got the short ball, played it well, and were still standing behind your service line when their next ball arrived.

   Fix The short ball is not a winner, it is your ticket to the net. Keep walking in after you hit it, and split-step as they strike.“Short ball, then go.”

   A rep counts when

   Every ball you played from behind your service line was a lob or a low ball, and the only ball you attacked bounced in front of it.

   Making it harder

   1. 1Both of you at the back, cross-court on one diagonal, keeping the ball deep. Every ball that will reach the glass goes to the glass. Nobody attacks. Three minutes, count the longest unbroken rally, then swap diagonals.
   2. 2They move up to the net on your diagonal and volley or play bandejas deep into your corner at a pace you can handle. You answer only with lobs and low balls. Count how many balls in a row you keep in without a drive.
   3. 3They now play to keep you back for real: more pace, the ball into the corner, at your feet. Still no smashes: a short lob of yours gets a bandeja, not a finish. Play points, and a point you lose from a lob or a low ball is still a good point.
   4. 4Once every four or five balls, without warning, they give you a short one that bounces in front of your service line. That one you attack and follow in. Anything else still gets a lob or a low ball. A point counts only if you went forward on the short one and on nothing before it.
   5. 5Four players. They start at the net, you and your partner at the back, and every point starts with a feed deep to one of you. The two of you win the point either by winning it or by both reaching the net together behind a short ball or a lob that sent them running to their glass.

   For whoever is feeding

   Stand at the net on their diagonal, two to three metres off it. Your job is to keep them at the back, not to beat them: volleys and bandejas deep into their corner, at a pace they can just handle, and step it up only when they ask. Do not smash. If they lob short, play a bandeja back deep, because a smash ends the point that the drill is trying to keep going. Your bandejas count as your own overheads for the day, so keep to about thirty. On the short-ball rung, every four or five balls play one that bounces in front of their service line, with no pattern. If they drive at you, volley it away firmly: that is the lesson. Two things they cannot see and you can: whether they are standing on their glass, and whether they walk in after the short ball or admire it. Tell them after the set, not during the point.

   One other player to hit with · a basket of balls

4. 04

   Defensive Lob Under Pressure

   4 sets of 8 lobs

   about 8 min

   So the ball that is beating you buys you time instead of ending the point. The lob is how you get out of the corner you are already in.

   How it goes

   1. 1Pinned, and not hitting your way out. On your base, a long step behind your service line, racket up in front of you, weight forward. The volleys come at you with pace and you are not going to hit through them from here. Accept that before the first ball and the drill gets easier.
   2. 2Get under it and lift. Racket head below the ball, face open, contact low and in front of your front foot. Short take-back, long finish: the racket travels from low to high and finishes above your head. You have more time than the pace of the volley makes it feel.
   3. 3Score the landing, nothing else. It has to climb out of their reach early and come down in the strip between the cones and their back glass. That is the rep. A lob that lands past the cones has done its job even if they somehow dig it out, and one that lands short has failed even if they miss it.
   4. 4Use the time you won. The lob is worth nothing if you spend the next second admiring it. Read their back. If they turn their back on you and run to their glass, go in at once and take the net, two or three metres off it, with your partner beside you in a match; in this drill three quick steps in are enough, then straight back to your base. If they back up side-on to play a bandeja, or never move, stay back: your base, a long step behind your service line, in the middle of your half, because the next ball is coming. Never stop on the service line itself; that is where their volley goes at your feet.

   Twice a week, ten minutes, mid-session while your legs still answer. Count the lobs that land past the cones, not the ones that go in.

   How often

   Twice a week while you are losing points from the back of the court. It is the shot that buys you every other shot, so it earns a real slot rather than a few balls at the end.

   You're done when

   When six of every eight land in the strip between the cones and their glass, at real volley pace, two sessions running. Then spend the slot on something else.

   On your own

   Drop the ball beside you and lob it off the bounce, or throw it firmly down and back so it bounces a metre or two in front of your back glass and lob it as it comes back out. Put something you can see a metre and a half in front of the far glass, a cone, a bag, a bottle, and count the ones that land between it and the glass. Twenty of them. It trains the height and the depth honestly; what it cannot give you is somebody volleying at you, which is exactly when the lob goes short.

   1 · Pinned, and not hitting your way out

   Play the rep

   1. 1
   2. 2
   3. 3
   4. 4

   Before you start

   You start at your defensive base: a long step behind your service line, about two and a half metres off your own glass, in the middle of your half. If a ball jams you against the glass you are too deep; if every deep one passes you before you turn, you are too far forward. Whoever is feeding stands at the net with the basket, a couple of metres off it. Lay a line of cones across their court a metre and a half in front of their back glass: the strip between those cones and the glass is what you are lobbing into, and it is the only thing being scored.

   What to tell yourself

   • “Under it, finish over your head.”
   • “Short back, long finish.”
   • “Land it past the cones.”

   The racket finishes high above your head and your weight is still going forward, not backwards.

   When it goes wrong

   The ball lands well in front of the cone line, somewhere in the middle of their court, and the next thing you see is them stepping into it.

   Fix The racket has to travel through the ball towards their back glass and not just up underneath it. Long, slow, finishing high, with your weight moving forward as you lift.“Land it past the cones.”

   The ball passes within reach of their racket and they volley it before it has gone anywhere.

   Fix Start the racket head lower and open the face more. The ball has to be out of reach in the first three metres, not in the last ten.

   The ball reaches their back glass before it bounces (that is out, and the point is theirs).

   Fix Keep the swing length and take the speed out of it. Land it in the middle of the strip, in front of their glass, never at the glass itself.“Short back, long finish.”

   You are lifting with your feet still moving, and the bad ones come off the frame or slide away into the side glass.

   Fix A lob is not a reflex shot. Take the ball later than feels comfortable, get the front foot down, then lift.

   You are hitting these with your back nearly on your own glass, and the ones that go wrong feel jammed rather than mishit.

   Fix Start every ball a long step behind your service line, about two and a half metres off your glass, and get back there between feeds. On the glass there is no room to finish the swing, and a lob lives in its finish.

   A rep counts when

   It landed in the strip between the cone line and their back glass.

   Making it harder

   1. 1Your own feed, nobody volleying: drop the ball beside you and lob it off the bounce. Twenty of them, and the only thing you are measuring is where they land.
   2. 2Fed from the net, softly, one every eight seconds, so there is time to set your feet before you lift.
   3. 3Fed at real volley pace, straight at you. Same swing, less time.
   4. 4Fed to either side without warning, so you have to move first and still lift long.
   5. 5Some volleys are deep enough to reach your glass after the bounce. Let those come off it and lob the rebound. In a match half your defensive lobs are played this way.
   6. 6One every four seconds, whatever happened to the last one, so after a good lob you have to be back on your base in time. This is where a lob starts going short, and it is the rung the drill exists for.
   7. 7They play your lob out with a bandeja and you defend the next ball as well, so you need somebody who can play a bandeja rather than just feed. Now a short lob costs you the point rather than a tally mark, and a good one really does send you forward.

   For whoever is feeding

   Stand at the net, a couple of metres off it, with the basket, and volley at them: firm, at the body or a step to one side, one every six or seven seconds. You are the pressure and nothing else, so do not try to win the rep. Let their lob go. Do not run it down and do not bandeja it back, because the score is where the ball landed and not what you managed to do with it: if you chase, a good lob looks bad and a bad one you happen to miss looks good. After each lob, show them what a net player would do, without playing it: if it is going over you and deep, turn your back and take two quick steps towards your glass; if you could reach it with a bandeja, take a step back side-on. Then return to your spot. Keep your own rhythm: the next volley comes on time whether they are back in place or not, because getting back in time is part of the drill. Call out where each one landed if they cannot see the cones from back there. Move the cones if the level needs it, but never the standard, and never during a set. On the top rung, play the lob out with a bandeja and keep the point going.

   Somebody to feed you with a racket · a basket of balls · cones

5. 05

   Moving as a Pair: Two Up, Two Back

   3 sets of 10 balls

   about 6 min

   So the two of you cover the court as one, and a lob over one of you does not leave the other stranded at the net.

   How it goes

   1. 1Slide with the ball. When the feeder moves to one side, you both move that way, a stride or so, keeping the same distance between you, like two ends of a rope. The one nearer the ball covers the line; the other covers the middle.
   2. 2Poach, and cover behind. When a slow, high ball floats towards your partner's side and you can reach it moving forwards, go across and volley it. The moment your partner sees you go, they cross behind you into your half. Whoever poached stays on the new side until the point is over.
   3. 3Lobbed: both go back. A lob over either of you and you both leave the net. Whoever you agreed chases it to the glass, usually the partner of the one it went over, running diagonally; the other drops back to the defensive spot in the half that is now empty, two and a half metres off the glass. Nobody holds the net alone.
   4. 4Come up together, if it turned them. Whoever chased it plays it back as a deep lob. If it went deep and they had to turn, walk forward together, level with each other, and stop when the feeder hits the next ball, wherever you have got to. If it came up short, stay back together and defend the next one.

   With your regular partner. Both of you need to know what happens on a deep lob over you: you both go back, and you both come up.

   How often

   Once a week, ten to fifteen minutes, with the partner you actually play with. Half of it is agreements between the two of you, who takes the middle and who chases a lob, and those do not transfer to somebody else, so it is wasted on a drop-in partner.

   You're done when

   When a set of ten mixed feeds passes with no ball through the middle, every poach covered, and after every lob both of you back, and both of you up again whenever the reply turned them, without either of you having to think about it. Then play the last rung as live points.

   On your own

   Not this one. It takes your doubles partner beside you, and somebody feeding as well. Until you have someone, start with Bandeja Control Ladder.

   1 · Slide with the ball

   Play the rep

   1. 1
   2. 2
   3. 3
   4. 4

   Before you start

   You and your partner at the net, one in each half, about two and a half metres off it and about four metres apart. The feeder stands on the other side near the back, a couple of metres in front of their glass, with the basket, so they can feed you balls to volley and lob over you from the same spot. Before the first ball, agree two things out loud. Who takes a ball down the middle (for two right-handers, usually the one on the left, with the forehand). And who chases a lob. The usual agreement: when a lob goes over your partner, you cross diagonally behind them to chase it, because you can see it all the way, and they move across into your half. Whatever you agree, the one who goes calls it ("mine") and the other answers ("switch").

   What to tell yourself

   • “Two ends of one rope.”
   • “You go, I cross.”
   • “Lob: both back, both up.”

   When your partner moves, you feel the pull and move the same way without looking for long.

   When it goes wrong

   A ball goes through the middle between you untouched, or you both go for it and your rackets clash.

   Fix Slide together, keep the same gap, and say out loud before the set who has the middle.“Two ends of one rope.”

   You poach, and the next ball goes into the half you just left, with nobody in it.

   Fix Only poach a ball you can reach moving forwards, and only when your partner can see you go. Partner: the moment they go, cross behind them.“You go, I cross.”

   After a lob you look across and one of you is back at the glass while the other is still at the net, and the next ball goes past the one at the net or into the gap between you.

   Fix Both leave the net on every lob that gets past you. Whoever you agreed chases it, usually crossing diagonally behind the one it went over; the other drops to the defensive spot in the empty half.“Lob: both back, both up.”

   You reach the net, glance across, and your partner is still at the service line or behind it.

   Fix Wait for each other: whoever played the lob sets the pace, and the other comes up level with them.

   You are still running forwards when the feeder hits, and the ball arrives at your feet.

   Fix Walk up, and stop and land when the feeder hits, wherever you have got to. Then keep coming.

   A rep counts when

   After the ball, you and your partner were level and the right distance apart: both at the net, or both back.

   Making it harder

   1. 1No ball. The feeder walks to the left, the middle and the right of their court and stops; you both slide so the middle is covered. Then they lift the racket as if to lob over one of you; you run the crossing you agreed, both reach your defensive spots, and walk up together. Two minutes.
   2. 2Volleys fed to either side and down the middle, in no order. Slide with every ball; the middle one goes to whoever you agreed.
   3. 3The feeder floats some balls high and slow towards one of you. The other decides whether to poach; if they go, the partner crosses behind. A poach only counts if the cover happened.
   4. 4Volleys and deep lobs mixed, over either of you, in no order. On every lob: both back, the agreed player chases and lobs it back deep, and both come up only if that lob turned the feeder. Every lob is fed deep enough to let through to the glass, so there are no overheads in this drill; choosing between the smash, the bandeja and letting it go is trained in another one.
   5. 5Live points with four players: each point starts with a ball dropped and played by the pair at the back, and is played out. A point in which a lob got past you and one of you stayed at the net is lost, whoever won the rally. Overheads do come up in live points, and they count towards your week's overheads the way a match does.

   For whoever is feeding

   Stand near the back of your court, a couple of metres in front of your glass, with the basket. Feed volleys to either side and down the middle at a pace they can control, and from the third rung float some high and slow. Lobs must go deep, well past their service line, so they are let through to the glass; a short lob here invites a smash, and that belongs to another drill. When their reply lob is deep, turn and chase it as an opponent would, so they see what turned looks like. One ball every five or six seconds on your own count, and after a lob feed the next while they are still walking up rather than waiting for them to arrive. You can see what they cannot: after each lob, were they level? Tell them after each set how many times one of them was left at the net.

   Your partner, and somebody to feed · a basket of balls