Tennis drop shot: check your form with your phone
The drop shot is a soft, short shot that bounces twice before your opponent can reach it. It only works if it is disguised, so your preparation has to look like a normal groundstroke until the last moment.
No equipment needed. Practise at home. Just do the swing properly in front of your phone. No court, ball or shuttle is needed, and a racket is optional: the coach judges your movement, so a shadow swing at home in a hallway or garden is enough.
What good looks like
- Prepare as for a normal groundstroke so your opponent does not read it.
- Slow the racket late in the swing and use an open face with a slicing action.
- Meet the ball in front of you with soft hands, taking the pace off it.
- Hit it from inside the court when your opponent is deep, and recover forward.
Common mistakes and how to fix them
Telegraphing it
A slower preparation gives it away. Keep the preparation the same and slow the swing late.
Hitting it too deep
A drop shot that bounces high lets your opponent run onto it. Take the pace off.
Choosing it at the wrong time
It needs your opponent to be deep. Playing it from behind the baseline is rarely a good idea.
What Formanti checks on your drop shot
At the moment of contact, on every swing you take.
- Contact in front: hand clearly in front of your shoulder. meet it in front of you, not beside or behind
- Contact height: about waist height. the height this shot is usually hit at
- Backswing: short and compact. less swing back means more control on this shot
- Arm height (only if far off): 10–130°. Disguise as a drive, then check the swing
- Elbow (only if far off): 90–185°. Soft hands, racket head under ball
- Body at contact: legs not locked, no leaning back. a stable base to hit from
Your ready stance
Hold still between swings and the coach talks you into position.
- Knees: 115–165°. Soft, bent knees let you push off in any direction
- Back lean: 0–30° forward. A little forward: not upright, not hunched
- Feet apart: 1.2–2.2× shoulder width. Feet wider than your shoulders, for balance
What your report looks like
When you finish, you get a report like this one.
- How many swings were in range, out of how many.
- The one thing to work on next, then the next, each with a drill.
- Every swing as a picture with your skeleton on it: ticked, or flagged with what was off.
What you hear and see when you are off
Hitting it too close to you
The coach says: “Meet it further out in front.”
On screen: Meet it further out in front.
Drill: Shadow swings, freezing at contact: your hand should be clearly in front of your shoulder before you swing for real. If the ball is too close, move your feet, not your arm.
Hitting it too high
The coach says: “Let it drop. Meet it lower.”
On screen: Meet it a little lower.
Drill: Shadow swings with your knees bent, freezing at contact at the right height, so your legs do the lowering and your arm stays quiet.
Hitting it too low
The coach says: “Take it a bit higher.”
On screen: Meet it higher.
Drill: Shadow swings freezing at contact at the right height, then feed yourself a ball and take it on the rise.
Too big a backswing
The coach says: “Shorten the backswing.”
On screen: Keep the backswing short.
Drill: Shadow swings with a wall behind you that your racquet may not touch, or with your back against a real wall.
Arm too low
The coach says: “Get that arm up a bit higher.”
On screen: Lift your hitting arm a lot higher at contact.
Drill: Shadow 10 swings in slow motion and freeze at contact: check where your elbow is before you speed up.
Arm too high
The coach says: “Keep that arm a bit lower.”
On screen: Keep your hitting arm a lot lower at contact.
Drill: Shadow 10 swings in slow motion and freeze at contact: check where your elbow is before you speed up.
Arm too bent
The coach says: “Straighten the arm more. Meet it long.”
On screen: Straighten your arm a lot more through contact.
Drill: Slow shadow swings, pausing at contact: your arm should be almost straight with a soft bend.
Arm locked straight
The coach says: “Keep a little bend in the elbow.”
On screen: Keep a lot more bend in your elbow at contact.
Drill: Slow shadow swings, pausing at contact: keep a soft bend and finish with a wrist snap.
Legs too straight in your stance
The coach says: “Bend your knees”
On screen: Bend your knees.
Drill: Hold a low ready stance for 20 seconds between reps.
Hunched over in your stance
The coach says: “Chest up, don't hunch”
On screen: Chest up, don't hunch.
Drill: Hold the ready stance with your chest proud for 20 seconds.
Drills you can do alone
- Soft hands wall drill: hit soft slices against a wall with minimal pace, trying to make the ball drop quickly.
- Shadow routine: alternate a normal groundstroke with a drop shot, checking the preparation looks identical.
How to set up your phone
Prop your phone up 2 to 3 metres away with your whole body in view, at about hip height. For the drop shot, stand side-on to the camera on your hitting side: how far in front you make contact and how big your backswing is can only be judged from the side. It all runs on your phone and nothing is uploaded.
Guide values: where the hand should be at contact comes from coaching rules (Coaching consensus across the sport: contact in front of the body, at a height that suits the shot, compact where the stroke is short.) and has not yet been checked against real players. Contact point and backswing need you side-on to the camera.
Frequently asked questions
When should I play a drop shot?
When your opponent is deep or behind the baseline, and when you are inside the court with a balanced position.
How do I stop my drop shot sitting up?
Use backspin, an open face and a soft contact, and hit it with a low bounce over the net.
More tennis practice
Forehand · Backhand · Serve · Volley · Overhead smash · Slice backhand · Lob