Tennis is growing in popularity, and with good reason; it’s fun, can burn calories quickly (169 for women and 208 for men in just 30 minutes!), and is non-impact so people of all ages can get involved easily.
While playing for fun is a wonderful way to pass those sunny, breezy days, competitive play provides an opportunity to focus on the technical aspects of the sport — how to get deep corner or down the line shots, how to put spin on the ball, and how to ace your serves. Such skills take a lot of practice to hone, so if you don’t have the proper equipment available, you may struggle initially. Here are three types of tennis training accessories that will make practice a lot more manageable — and enjoyable!
- Hoppers: Tennis ball hoppers are essential to practice routines that involve constant, repetitive motions. For example, if you want to perfect your serve, you’re not going to play entire games and matches — you’re going to serve, a lot. Without a full reservoir of balls at hand, you’re constantly going to be running around and picking them up, rather than focusing on your form. Hopper carts guarantee that you can go through a few dozen serves before you need to go collect the tennis balls again.
- Retreivers: So, now you have a few dozen tennis balls strewn across the other side of the court. Picking them up by hand takes ages and places strain on your back (which is responsible for that good form you’ve been working on); tennis ball retrievers allow you to collect them easily and quickly, simply by rolling over them as if you were pushing a lawn mower. Once they’re all together, you can transfer them back to the hopper and start again!
- Squeegees: Keeping tennis courts clean is vital to the performance of the players. If it had rained previously, you can use tennis court cleanup rollers or squeegees to push the water to the outer edges of the court. This gives the players more traction, preventing injury and keeping the game fair.
Once you have all the necessary tennis training accessories at your disposal, practicing and perfecting your technique will be easier than ever. With strong enough dedication, you’ll be your neighborhood’s Andre Agassi in no time — and will even wow your friends and family with your impressive shots!