Lesson Plan

Group of Players (4 or more)

Theme: Serve, Return of Serve and Match Play


Warm-up (10 minutes)
- Jog around the court, shuffle sideways, butt kicks, high knees etc.
- Hope over the line
- Throw and catch - players pair-up and practice throwing the ball back and forth to each other; emphasize the over-the-shoulder throw.

Serve Technique Practice (15 minutes)
- Players line up 7 balls on the ground, from the service line to the baseline. Each player will begin serving at a slow pace, starting with the ball on the service line. Then they will take a step back and pick up the next ball in line and serve this one over the net too. They will continue to serve and step back until they finish with the last ball positioned on the baseline. All this time their serving motion is relaxed, and medium paced.
- Players line up along the baseline (at a safe distance apart from each other) having the basket of balls positioned about 8-10 feet behind the baseline; the players will pick one ball at a time and practice their serve.
The Pro positions himself at the right end of the baseline and works with the closest player. He will take a look at the player's serve and make the necessary corrections. After a couple of minutes, the coach will say "switch" and all the players will move one spot to the right so that the coach will have a chance to work with the next player. After each 2 minutes, the players will move one spot to the right until the coach will have worked with each player individually.

Water Break (1 minute)

Serving Games (25-30 minutes) - emphasize the correct serve technique under pressure; return of serve and play;
- OUT
- Serve is Fun
- Serve on Half

Wrap-up
- pick up balls and coach's suggestions on how to practice until the next class.