How to practise tennis so it holds up in matches

Practise it scrambled. Play it better on Saturday.

Key facts

1979
In Shea and Morgan's founding 1979 study, random practice impaired performance during practice and improved retention and transfer.
Shea & Morgan, 1979
2024
A 2024 meta-analysis confirmed a medium retention benefit from contextual interference, the effect of scrambling the order of practice.
Scientific Reports, 2024 meta-analysis
~18%
Deliberate practice explained about 18 % of performance variance in sport and about 1 % at elite level.
Macnamara, Hambrick & Oswald, 2014
04
An external focus, on the target or the ball's effect, beats an internal focus on the body for accuracy and economy.
Wulf, 2013
05
Feedback on every rep breeds dependence, while faded or summary feedback builds your own error detection.
Salmoni, Schmidt & Walter, 1984
06
In tennis, self-controlled video feedback beat coach-controlled feedback on retained learning.
Self-controlled video feedback facilitates the learning of tactical skills in tennis

Why it works

Deliberate practice is a well-defined task, immediate feedback, repetition aimed at the weakness, and effort just past your current ability. Repetition without those plateaus. Once a movement is good enough, the reps stop demanding any adjustment, and an hour of rallying grooves exactly what you already do, flaws included.

Contextual interference explains why the practice that feels worst transfers best. Scrambling the order forces you to rebuild the plan every ball. That lowers today's score and improves what you keep and what you can use in a match.

Feedback follows the same logic. Every-rep feedback makes you depend on it. Faded or summary feedback builds your own error detection. And the cue should point outside the body, at the target or the ball, not at the wrist.

The line to say on court
“If it feels easy, you're rehearsing. If it feels messy, you're learning.”

Drill: The interference ladder

30 min · with a partner

Warm up blocked: hit 15 cross-court forehands with one cue. Take feedback every five balls, and assess yourself first.
Go random: your partner calls forehand, backhand or approach at the last moment for 30 balls. Count your hits to a deep target.
Play representative points where you must hit one down-the-line ball per point, first to 7.
At the start of the next session, repeat step 2 cold and compare the count.

Number to beatMatch or beat your step-2 count out of 30 when retested cold at the next session

More drills like this: practice plans

Faults and fixes

Treating volume as quality

Big baskets with no target or count let you plateau.

FixPut a target and a count on every block.

Over-blocking before matches

You groove one shot all week, then meet random conditions on Saturday.

FixMake tournament prep almost all random and match-like.

Calling every error

It robs you of your own error detection.

FixGive feedback every four or five balls, then as a summary.

Internal cues

Cues like "snap the wrist" degrade fluent movement.

FixCue the target, the ball or the effect.

Reps nothing like a match

No movement, no decision and no consequence.

FixEnd every session in match-like play.

Questions players ask

Why do I play worse in matches than in practice?

Blocked practice grooves a shot for conditions a match never gives you. Scramble the order, add a target, and end every session with match-like play.

What is contextual interference?

It's the effect of mixing up the order of what you practise. Rebuilding the plan every ball lowers today's score and improves retention and transfer.

Is the 10,000-hour rule true?

It's an average at age 20, not a law. Deliberate practice explained about 18 % of performance variance in sport and about 1 % at elite level.

How often should a coach give feedback?

On every rep only in the first sessions of a new skill. Then every four or five balls, then as a summary, with the player assessing first.

Is random practice right for beginners?

Not pure random, which can overwhelm novices. Beginners do better with interference added step by step.

What this doesn't cover

Pure random practice may overwhelm beginners, so novices need interference added gradually. Effect sizes specific to racquet sports still need checking, and the doctrine is likely overclaimed for adult recreational players. The picture of practice scores falling while retention rises shows direction, not exact size.

Sources

Ericsson, Krampe & Tesch-Römer (1993): deliberate practice
Shea & Morgan (1979): contextual interference
Scientific Reports (2024): meta-analysis on contextual interference
Macnamara, Hambrick & Oswald (2014): deliberate practice and performance
Salmoni, Schmidt & Walter (1984): the guidance hypothesis
Wulf (2013): attentional focus and motor learning
Self-controlled video feedback facilitates the learning of tactical skills in tennis

TrainWhich tennis drills actually work in matchesChoose a drill for the skill you want to use in matches. A fixed feed can isolate a movement; live points add an opponent, decisions and recovery. Use the read, recovery and consequence checklist to design the task, then check performance in live points in a later session. Checklist ticks alone do not prove transfer.TrainHow to plan a one-hour tennis practice sessionA good one-hour tennis session has a skeleton: an eight-minute ramp, one technical block with one cue and one constraint, live-ball transfer, and a short scored close while you can still move in control. Pick one priority before you start. Then count three numbers before you leave, such as first serves to a target, depth hits and unforced errors, and try to beat them next time.TrainHow do tennis pros practice, and what can you copyGive each practice block a purpose: prepare, work on one skill, test it in play and count the result. Give serves deliberate attention within a workload you already tolerate. Plan rest and a shorter pre-match session around your own recovery.MindWhat to do between points in tennisBetween points, practise a short repeatable routine: release the last point, breathe, choose a target and begin your familiar service ritual. The four phases are a coaching structure. Timing depends on what you measure: a study of 18 men’s matches at the 2018 US Open found an average 21.6 seconds from point end to the next serve strike. That is an observation, not a routine target.