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| LIFE IN SOLERA | FEBRUARY 2023 | 35 Playing tennis against a wall is one of the best ways to help yourself improve your skills on the court. A practice wall, or backboard is an unbeatable opponent and tireless hitting partner. In fact, when we compete against human opponents who keep getting the ball back, we say it was like "hitting against a wall." Rather than dreading the thought of hitting against a wall – human or otherwise – why not practice hitting against a stationary wall or backboard to hone your strokes and prepare for the energy draining human backboards you may face? With the proper motivation and attitude, you can make this "unbeatable foe" a great tennis conditioning buddy and practice partner. Warm-up: To start your training session, after you've performed a good dynamic stretching routine, hit a few tennis balls against the wall to warm-up your muscles. Begin by alternating a few forehands and then a few backhands, and continue for 5-10 minutes. Use this time as you would a pre-match warm-up. Simulated Match Play: Start by playing out a point against the wall. In order to simulate a 30-45 second tennis point, try to keep the ball in play for that long before taking a break. Store a few balls in your pocket so that if you miss a shot you can continue to hit without taking a break. Next, take a break for 20 seconds, which is the maximum time allowed between points by the rules of tennis. Then, start another point that lasts 30-45 seconds and take another 20-second break. Play out several games or a set by alternating your hitting time for 15-45 seconds and your rest period for 20 seconds. As you become better conditioned, less winded and begin recovering more quickly, start decreasing your rest period to 15 seconds. After all, during a real match, you are lucky if you sometimes get 10 seconds between points. Also, as your conditioning improves, start increasing the length of your hitting time to 50 seconds or more. Whenever you increase your hitting time, go back to your 20-second breaks. Then repeat the cycle of decreasing your rest periods as you begin to become more adept at handling the increased hitting time. By using this incremental conditioning, you should begin to notice an improvement in your tennis. ~ Shirley Ferguson TENNIS TITANS Playing Tennis Against a Wall: The Perfect Practice Partner