Hi Readers!  I hope you are staying safe in the difficult time!  What have you been practicing at home???  Are you neglecting some areas of your game.  I have been suggesting things for my students to work on.  Below is an e-mail that I sent today of a list of 15 things that need regular practice.  You should print off the list for yourself and see if you can improve each of these 15 things each week.  Check out the list below...
 
 
 
 
Dear Student,
When the academy was open, you played around 10-12 matches each week.  Because of this, there were many details of your game that you were constantly able to practice.  However, with only robot training now, there are many areas of your game that are neglected.  I have typed out 15 areas of your game that need regular training.  Each week, I need to see 1 video from you on each of these 15 areas.  Print this list below and make sure that you are regularly targeting each of these.
 
Thanks and keep up the good work!
Samson
 

(5 min each day)
All variations of pendulum serve - from different positions to different positions - topspin, sidespin, backspin, no-spin combination spins, short, medium, long - also with different degrees of each spin.

 
(30 min each day)
All variations of backhand serve - from different positions to different positions - topspin, sidespin, backspin, no-spin combination spins, short, medium, long - also with different degrees of each spin.
 

(30 min each day)
All variations of hook serve - from different positions to different positions - topspin, sidespin, backspin, no-spin combination spins, short, medium, long - also with different degrees of each spin.

 
(5 min each day)
Forehand loop against topspin - with footwork - targeting different locations and also from close, medium and far.  Also include some forehand inside loops and forehand outside loops.
 
(5 min each day)
 Backhand loop against topspin - with footwork - targeting different locations and also from close, medium and far.  
 
(5 min each day)
Forehand loop against backspin - late timing heavy spin and earlier timing power - against deep serves, deep pushes, half-long pushes, and short floating pushes.
 

(5 min each day)
Forehand loop against backspin - late timing heavy spin and earlier timing power - against deep serves, deep pushes, half-long pushes, and short floating pushes.

 
(60 min each day)
Footwork drills - systematic, semi systematic, random, drills starting with serve, endurance drills, in-and-out drills, some for 20-30 sec high speed - others 5-10 min slower.
 
(5 min each day)
Serve Return - against deep serves - loop variations with speed, spin, placement, height, depth variations.
 
(10 min each day)
Serve Return - against half-long serves, practice looping, pushing short, pushing long, flipping, and making good decisions
 
(10 min each day)
Serve Return - against short serves - practice flipping different speeds and locations - practice short push with correct timing - practice long push with correct timing and especially targeting the angles
 
(some days)
Blocking - Speed drills mixing active and passive blocks as well as counterloops from close and mid-distance.
 
(some days)
Counterlooping - different distances against variation balls - usually short duration and high intensity.
 
(some days)
Smashing - against deep topspin balls going to the endline - add plenty of spin.  Also practice against floating backspin pushes - start back, move it, loop, and practice getting back quickly.
 
(some days)
Trickshots - each week, spend 10 min developing a new trickshot :)
 
 
And of course, continue with your fitness and video analysis.