A Tennis Ball Hopper Makes Solo Practice Easier

A tennis ball hopper is the difference between practicing and spending half the session bending over.

For solo practice at the public courts around Seattle, I fill the hopper before I leave the house. It gives me a basket of balls for serves, short cross-court feeds, or one repeated groundstroke. When the basket is empty, the drill is over. That is a better stopping point than vaguely deciding I have practiced enough.

The hopper also makes the first few minutes useful. I can start with easy forehands, then move to backhands, then serves without walking to the fence after every ball. Picking everything up at the end is one job instead of a dozen interruptions.

My simple routine is:

• 10 forehands to the deep corner
• 10 backhands
• 10 alternating corners
• the remaining balls for serves

I still play tennis on weekends, but this gives me a short way to work on one thing when nobody else is available. The basket is ready before the racquet comes out.