This is the groundstroke cousin of Master Volleyer Extraordinaire, but it doesn't move quite as quickly, so it begins to seem too slow with more than six players on a court.

Each player tries to spell MASTER by hitting the following court areas in order, but not necessarily without some misses between successes:

M - the left half of the singles court beyoud the service line.
A - the right half of the singles court beyoud the service line.

S - the left service box.
T - the right service box.
E - the left alley.
R - the right alley.

Have the players line up down the middle of the court at whatever depth they can handle, usually the baseline unless they're very small. Alternate feeds left and right so that each player has ample time to get out of the way before the next player comes in the same direction. If you have an odd number of players, each will automatically run in alternating directions. With an even number of players, each will always go in one direction until you switch halfway through.

To help you and the players keep track of where they are, if they call out the letter they're aiming for as they run toward the ball, reward them with an extra try (without a run) if they miss.

Some players will advance faster than others; so, if you want to keep the drill going beyond the point where someone has spelled MASTER, let the leading players begin spelling OF and GROUNDSTROKES too, using the same sequence of target areas.

Difficulties: This is an easy drill to run, but it's more difficult than its volley cousin, so it's more likely that someone will get stuck on a letter for quite a while.

Trying to pronounce whatever bizarre word a stuck person has spelled is usually quite funny and helps to keep any frustration to a minimum.

Tennis Drills Central