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350 Series: Skills & Drills Lab

When & How to Pressure

Takeaways & Training Tasks

Keep the momentum rolling with these quick steps:

  1. Refresh your memory with the 2 skills, 2 drills, and training video.
  2. Knock out the drills 2–3x before we meet again.
  3. Each time you play, pick one skill and make it your mission to use it often and on purpose.

Attacking Patterns: Lateral Pressure

  • Lateral pressure = placement pressure
    - Use aggressive dinks (middle, down the line, cross-court) to attack gaps.
    - Use deep push dinks or topspin dinks into open spaces to force defensive
    reaches.
  • Options for Attack:
    - Middle attack, Down-the-line attack, Cross-court attack
    Success comes from precision and patience—placement that stretches
    opponents sets up the finishing ball.

Cross Court Dinking: Target Cones

  • Set out 3 cones with balls on top. 1 inside sideline and inside NVL, 1 on NVL
    in middle, and 1 behind NVL and just inside the center line.
  • Players stand cross court at NVZ and dink rally to knock balls off the cones.
  • Defend cones by taking balls out of the air.
  • Players may need to be strategic to move opponent away from a cone in
    order to aim for it the next shot.
 

Speed Up

  • Contact Point: Out in front of you the same as you would a dink.
  • Body Positioning: Same as a dink. You are trying to disguise this shot.
  • Hands: Laid back wrist and slight flick as you strike the ball.
  • Swing: Short to no Backswing. Accelerate through the ball. Be careful not to overhit this shot.

Speed Up & Counter Attack

  • Players stand straight on at NVZ. Start cooperative dink rally alternating
    which player hits the speed up.
  • Opponent is looking to recognize the speed up and counterattack it.
  • Perform this cooperatively by slowing down the pace on your speed ups
    and slowing down your counter attacks.See how long you can maintain
    a slow counter battle in order to build good visual and physical muscle
    memory.
  • Increase intensity as players become more proficient at hand battles.

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