How to Improve on Your Tennis Skills Consistency by Practicing Alone

by Cari Oleskewicz

Improving the consistency of your tennis skills requires a lot of time practicing. If you are having trouble finding a partner to practice with, that's OK. Practicing on your own will allow you to go at your own pace and focus on the skills that really need improvement, whether that includes your serve, your strokes or your overall conditioning on the court. Playing a friendly match with a partner or getting lessons from an instructor is good for your game, but so is spending a little time alone on the court or against a wall.

Practicing Your Serve

1. Stand behind the baseline and deliver serves as you would if you were playing with a partner.

2. Pay attention to your ball toss. You could spend some of your alone time simply tossing the ball in preparation for your serve. The United States Tennis Association (USTA) recommends treating your arm like a pendulum when practicing your ball toss.

3. Spend an hour on serves. Use the practice to work on the toss, the ball placement on the other side of the net and the speed of your serve.

Practicing with a Ball Machine

1. Rent a tennis ball machine at your local tennis club or public courts. If you take lessons from a tennis pro, he or she can make one available to you as well.

2. Set the ball machine at a slow or intermediate speed. You don't want the balls to come at you too quickly because you might get frustrated and be unable to focus on the shots you want to improve.

3. Work on improving the consistency of your strokes. Remember, you cannot beat the machine, so there is no need to be competitive.

Practicing with a Wall

1. Hit a tennis ball against a solid wall. This is especially useful when you don't have a partner or access to a ball machine.

2. Experiment with how closely you want to stand to the wall and how much power you want to use when hitting the ball. It will come back to you as hard as you hit it.

3. Improve the accuracy and flexibility of your volleys by returning the ball to the wall over and over again. Alternate between forehand shots and backhand volleys.


1. Practice sprinting from one side of the court to the other, while holding your racket. Working on your speed and endurance will help your game. Cross the court five times before you rest.

2. Run from the baseline to the net and then back again. The exercise will help you prepare for coming to the net during a game and chasing down a ball that's hit over you when you're on the court. Do five sprints to the net and back.

3. Jump rope. This will help you improve the consistency of your tennis game by increasing your endurance and the flexibility of your footwork.

Things Needed

  • Tennis racket
  • Tennis balls
  • Ball machine
  • Solid wall

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