The drop feed is a fundamental stroke in tennis and is a key developmental concept in Vestal Junior Team Tennis Association (VJTTA) instruction.  Strangely, there is scant attention paid to it in most instruction manuals.  And it is amazing how many people can't feed a ball accurately.

I often use the drop feed as a remedial drill with beginners and intermediates, and even with some advanced players. It replicates precisely a ground stroke, and the student needn't  worry about footwork or timing a hard hit approaching ball.  Like the PracticeHit Training Device, the drop feed encourages students to stroke the ball from low to high with a long follow-through.  It's also useful in isolating the swing path necessary to generate topspin.  Here's how I teach this stroke.

I have the player stand near the baseline facing the net.  With a ball in his free hand, he does a unit turn and shows the logo.  His left arm is pointing toward the side line, and the ball is near the center of the strings (photo 1). 

From here, the student takes the racquet back to a point where it is almost perpendicular with the back fence; the racquet head can hang down from horizontal to about knee level.  At this point, the player is in the double bend position:  the elbow is bent and near the right hip, while the wrist is laid back and locked (photo 2).

The student next moves the left arm forward until it is on a diagonal with the right net post.  With his left hand at about shoulder height, he opens his hand and releases (not bounces) the ball.   As it falls, he takes a small step forward with his left foot (toes pointing directly toward the net), shifts his weight forward, and swings smoothly from low to high (Photo 3). 

                                           Photo 1.                          Photo 2.                            Photo 3.               

A ball dropped at shoulder height should bounce up to about waist level.  This is the contact or hitting zone and is about where players are most comfortable hitting a ball.  At contact, the elbow is still bent and the wrist is locked.

The student should put some topspin on his drop feed in order for the ball to clear the net and land deep in the opposite court. At the end of the backswing his racquet was at about knee level.  If contact is about waist level, the student will finish with the racquet out toward the target area at a level slightly above his head.  This low to high movement of the racquet through the shot should provide a good deal of natural topspin on the ball.  

By bending his knees slightly at the end of the backswing and straightening them gradually as he hits through the ball, the student can achieve a smooth low to high swing.  At the end of the swing he should be on the ball of the front foot and on the toes of the back foot.  This should occur naturally as his weight shifts into the shot.

A well-executed drop feed is a sound foundation for future forehand groundstrokes. I want my student to strive for form here, not power.  As he becomes consistent with the drop feed, I have him try to hit targets that have been placed on the court just inside the baseline and along the singles sidelines, up to about the side-T.  These shorter targets will force him to use his knees more and hit with greater topspin.

I have my students practice hitting good drop feeds regularly.  This helps them groove a sound forehand and makes them better players.

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