Learning to play tennis with either hand is a matter of practicing enough repetitions correctly to develop the correct motor memory. Quality is better than quantity when learning a new physical skill. The quickest way to do this is to use problem solving. Starting with mini tennis and moving back to the baseline as you establish ball control will help you learn to hit the ball on both sides.

How You Learn

People learn by doing, rather than through instruction. If you watch a video on swimming, read a book about it, then jump in a pool, you’ll probably drown. This is because your muscles haven’t experienced what happens when you’re in the water. Feedback helps you learn. If you aim for a target and miss to the left, you’ll start compensating and changing your muscle movements to get your ball more to the right. Set up games that provide feedback so you can learn new tennis strokes more quickly. There is no such thing as muscle memory -- your muscles don’t have a brain, so mindlessly hitting hundreds of balls in a row won’t help you develop the motor memory you’ll need for new strokes.

Use Mini Tennis

Make it easier to learn new tennis strokes by starting close to the net and using low-compression balls, if you have them. Begin learning ball control by bouncing the ball on your strings with the new hand you’ll be using. When you can bounce the ball on the strings without moving your feet, alternate hitting the ball on the ground and on the strings. When you can do that, try to bounce the ball under your racket 10 times while standing still, then while walking around the court.

Use Targets

Stand several feet away from a partner and place a target, such as a ball, in between the two of you. Bump the ball up, similar to your ball bouncing, trying to hit the target, and alternate shots. This will help you rally without hitting the ball too close to each other. When you can sustain a rally, move to opposite sides of the net and rally over the net, placing a target in front or each player. Practice hitting straight ahead, then practice hitting crosscourt, from service box to service box. As you improve your skills, move back toward the baseline a few feet at a time until you can rally full court.

Practice Throwing

To develop the motion necessary for an overhead serve, practice throwing. Learn to turn sideways, shift your weight forward as you throw, place the ball by your ear and throw upward. When you can get the ball over the net from the baseline, practice throwing crosscourt into the service box, aiming for different spots in the service box. Practice serving once you can throw the ball, starting from the service box and moving backward as you get better.

Alternate Hands

The left side of your brain controls the movements on the right side of your body, and vice versa. As you practice skills using your nondominant hand, go back to using your dominant hand every five or 10 minutes to recruit that side of your brain and give you a better reference point for how your strokes should work.

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