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5 MUST HAVE Drills to Go From Beginner to PRO

Most players cover the kitchen line by stepping and reaching, which leaves them off balance on the next ball. Connor Garnett builds his footwork on a shuffle instead, a basketball style hop and slide where one foot stays planted and your head never changes height.

The goal of that shuffle is to line the ball up with your outside leg so you arrive behind it in one motion instead of three. Going the wrong way first costs you time and makes the whole shot look frantic.

Progress it to the butterfly drill, where one player hits every dink straight ahead and the other hits every dink crosscourt inside the same half of the court. Recover to the middle between every shot, and keep going until the two of you string 20 balls together.

The second drill isolates contact point, which Garnett wants in front of your chest, somewhere between your chest and your hip. Start by catching the feed with your hand at that spot, then drop feed and hit from it, then rally with a partner who varies the depth.

Depth is what breaks most people's timing, so wait longer on a short ball and swing a little sooner on a deep one. Your contact point stays in the same slot whether you hit a drive, a drop or a dink.

Drill three is power, and the point of it is that power comes from your hips and core rather than your arm. Stand facing a partner with your hands clasped and pressed against theirs, keep your elbows straight and your wrists locked, and twist against each other.

That twist is what you want to feel on a drive, where the hips accelerate and the arm goes limp after contact. Once the torso twist feels natural, add a small lift of the shoulders and a little wrist at contact for the last ten percent.

Drill four builds feel on drops. Stand three steps back from the kitchen line and throw balls into the kitchen underhand, holding each one on your hand as long as you can, like the extra hold at the end of a cornhole toss.

Then hit at that same tempo, because a smooth swing places the ball and a jabby elbow swing does not. Put a paddle down in the kitchen as a target and play your partner for push-ups if you want the pressure.

The fifth drill is hand speed against a wall. Volley one forehand, one backhand, keeping the ball rebounding around chest height and your paddle following the ball to the side it just went.

Twenty in a row at a controlled tempo is the goal, and if it turns chaotic, slow down and push rather than swing. Take it into a three-shot pattern with a partner, dink, speed up, reset, and keep the same compact push you had on the wall.

Key points

Shuffle along the kitchen line with one foot planted so your head never changes height.
Your contact point stays in the same slot whether you hit a drive, a drop or a dink.
Let your hips accelerate the shot and leave your arm limp after contact.
Hit drops with a smooth swing, because a jabby elbow swing does not place the ball.
Twenty controlled wall volleys in a row is the goal, and slowing down beats swinging harder.

Watch the full tutorial here.