Guides · Tennis
Tennis homework for students: a coach's guide to home swing practice
Assign one stroke, one cue and about 10 minutes of shadow swings, 3 to 5 times a week, and tie it to what you taught that week. The reps build the motion at home, so court time can go to the ball, which is the one thing a shadow swing cannot teach. This guide gives you templates by level, a 4-week plan and a way to check the work without a dashboard.
Why home practice works, and where it stops
A student who sees you once a week has six days for the motion to drift, and part of every lesson goes on fixing what slipped since last time. Short, frequent shadow swings change that. They repeat the motion you taught, at match speed, so the lesson starts from a motion that has been rehearsed instead of a motion that has been forgotten.
What it builds: the turn, the contact position, the finish, the wrist release, and the split step and recovery around the stroke. What it does not build: reading the ball, judging depth and spin, timing a real bounce. That needs a live ball, and it is the reason the lesson is still the lesson. Pitch homework to students as "the motion at home, the ball with me", and they will not expect it to replace court time.
How much to assign
A good default is 10 minutes, 3 to 5 times a week. Ten minutes survives a busy day, and the habit matters more than the length. A few ground rules:
- One stroke at a time. The stroke from this week's lesson, plus a few split steps. Two strokes is the ceiling for most adults.
- Match speed. Slow swings rehearse a slow motion. Allow a few slow reps to feel the shape, then speed up.
- Counted, not timed. "Three sets of 15" is clearer than "practice for a bit".
- Written down. A line on the student's phone or in a message: stroke, sets and reps, the cue, how many days.
One cue per week
The most reliable way to waste homework is to attach five corrections to it. Give one cue, the thing you would shout across the court: "turn first", "contact in front", "hold the finish". It goes at the top of the homework and gets repeated at the start of the next lesson. When the cue is stable, you move to the next one.
A cue works best when it is a feeling or a position the student can check without you: a finish they can hold for a second, a shoulder they can see in a mirror, a sound they can hear. That is also why it pairs well with a shadow swing.
Homework templates by level
| Level | Time and frequency | Homework | Tie it to the lesson |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner | 10 min, 3 times a week | One stroke. 3 sets of 10 shadow swings: 5 slow, then 5 at match speed. 10 split steps at the start. | The one thing you fixed: grip, turn or finish. Name it as the cue. |
| Intermediate | 10 to 15 min, 3 to 5 times a week | The week's stroke plus one other. 3 sets of 15 from a split step, holding the finish for a second. 5 minutes of footwork. | The pattern you worked on: for example, forehand then recover to the middle. |
| Junior or competitive | 15 to 20 min, 4 to 5 times a week, in blocks of 5 | Two strokes, a serve toss block and a footwork pattern. Count reps and beat last week's number. | The tournament or training focus: a parent signs off the log; you check the motion at the start of the lesson. |
For juniors, short blocks beat long ones. Five minutes of forehands, five of serve toss and five of footwork keep attention up, and a parent can run it from a printed or texted card. For adults, tie the homework to the time of day they will actually do it: before work, after the kids are in bed.
A sample 4-week plan
This is an intermediate adult example. Swap the stroke for whatever your lessons cover that week.
| Week | Focus stroke | Drills | Reps | Cue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Forehand | Shadow forehands from a split step, holding the finish for a second | 3 x 15 | Turn first |
| 2 | Backhand (one- or two-handed) | Shadow backhands, then 10 alternating forehand and backhand | 3 x 12, then 10 | Contact in front |
| 3 | Serve | Toss only, then shadow serves | 10 tosses, 3 x 10 serves | Toss to the same spot |
| 4 | Forehand and backhand with footwork | Move, set, shadow swing, recover, on both wings | 2 x 8 each side | Recover to the middle |
Each stroke has a longer set of drills and cues in shadow swing drills. For the stroke technique itself, send students to the forehand guide, the backhand guide or the serve guide, and for the basics of all of them, tennis strokes explained.
Set it up with ShadowSwing
ShadowSwing is an iPhone and Android app that turns the phone into a swing trainer. The student holds the phone like a racket handle and swings. It plays a swing sound at contact once the racket head is moving fast enough, which rewards a loose wrist and a whip, and a stiff, pushed swing stays silent.
Choose a preset or build a workout
A workout is a guided drill with a coach voice that calls the stroke and the count ("Forehands. Twenty. Go."). It is a list of blocks: a stroke and a number of reps, a stroke for a set time, or a rest. There are presets for each sport, and with Pro the student builds their own. So the cleanest way to match the homework to the lesson is to write the recipe, for example:
- Forehands, 15 reps
- Rest, 30 seconds
- Forehands, 15 reps
- Rest, 30 seconds
- Forehands, 15 reps
and have the student build it once. The voice speaks English, French and Spanish. ShadowSwing is free to download and needs no account. Pro removes the limits and lets students build their own workouts: $39.99 a year with a 7-day free trial (about $3.33 a month) or $4.99 a month on the App Store; prices vary by region. A student on a preset can follow your recipe by hand, counting sets.
Review one stroke in Shot Analysis
Shot Analysis replays a single stroke on a 3D court, with the swing path and the string face (the racket face the phone represents). Ask the student to review one stroke a session, such as one forehand at the end, and look for the thing from your cue: a path that comes from below, a face that stays square. Pro adds racket-head speed.
It is a picture of what the phone did, not of the player. That limit is the next paragraph.
What it cannot do
- It does not watch the student, so it cannot check grip, footwork, stance or contact point.
- It does not know which stroke was hit. It counts a rep whenever the racket head moves fast enough, so a student can do "backhands" with a forehand motion and the count will still climb.
- It is not coaching advice and does not replace a coach.
Treat the count as time on task and the sound as a check on the release, not as proof the stroke was right. ShadowSwing does not list a coach dashboard, student accounts or a way to send workouts, so everything below is a manual workaround.
How to check it
Without a dashboard, checking is a habit you build into the lesson. Pick one or two:
- A screenshot of Stats. The Stats screen keeps total swings, sessions, days practiced and the current streak. A screenshot sent the day before the lesson tells you whether the work happened.
- A shared Shot Analysis replay. The app can share a replay as a still image or a short video. Ask for one forehand, one backhand or one serve and look at the path and the face.
- A 15-second video from a second phone. Side-on, full body. This is the only check that shows what the app cannot: the feet, the turn, the contact point.
- Five live swings at the start of the lesson. The simplest check and the one students take most seriously. "Show me five." You will see in a minute whether the cue stuck.
Ask for evidence the student can send in under a minute. If checking is a chore for them, they will skip it, and if it is a chore for you, you will.
Homework that needs no app
Not every student wants an app, and some of the best homework does not use one.
- Footwork patterns. Split step, shuffle, crossover recovery and a taped mini spider fit a corridor. Send students to tennis footwork drills at home and assign one pattern at a time, ending with a shadow swing.
- Mirror work. Ten slow reps in front of a mirror to check one position: shoulders turned, contact in front, finish held. Then film or repeat at speed.
- Serve toss. Ten tosses a day with the racket down, aiming at a spot on the floor (a coin works). The toss is where most serves go wrong, and it needs no hitting.
- A full home routine. For students who want a wider plan, tennis practice at home covers shadow swings, wall work, serve drills and fitness.
Getting students to do it
- Keep it short. Ten minutes gets done. Forty does not. A student who does the small version every day beats one who plans a big one.
- Attach it to something. After coffee, before the shower, while the kettle boils. A time and a place beat a good intention.
- Use a streak or a goal. A daily goal ring and a streak in the app give a student something to protect. The ring starts empty every morning, and a missed day is not held against them, so one skipped session does not end the habit. The longer routine is in daily tennis practice at home.
- Bring in the parents. For juniors, a parent holds the card and the log, and starts the timer. Ask them to keep it to 10 minutes and not to correct the technique. That is your job.
- Check it first thing. Open the next lesson with "show me". If you never look at the homework, students learn that it is optional.
- Praise the effort. Notice the streak or the count before you comment on the swing.
Padel and pickleball coaches
The same structure works: one stroke, one cue, 10 minutes. Padel and pickleball strokes are shorter, and many of the best shots are touch shots (the bandeja, the dink, the drop), where the swing sound is not the judge of quality. Shot Analysis replays forehands, backhands, serves and volleys, so for touch shots lean on the mirror and a short video. The home plans are in padel training at home and pickleball practice at home.
Questions
Do shadow swings help between lessons?
Yes, for the motion: the turn, contact position, finish and wrist release. Done at match speed with one cue, they let the next lesson start from a rehearsed stroke. They do not teach reading the ball, depth or spin, which need a live ball, so they supplement court time and do not replace it.
How much homework should a tennis student do?
About 10 minutes, 3 to 5 times a week, on one stroke from that week's lesson. Intermediate players can do 10 to 15 minutes and add a footwork pattern. Juniors can do 15 to 20 minutes in blocks of five. Short and frequent beats long and rare.
What homework should I give a beginner?
One stroke, three sets of ten shadow swings, the first five slow and the rest at match speed, plus ten split steps. Give one cue taken from the lesson, such as the turn or holding the finish. Do it three times a week for ten minutes, and ask for five live swings at the next lesson.
How do I check that my student actually did the homework?
Ask for something they can send in under a minute: a screenshot of the Stats screen, a shared Shot Analysis replay, or a 15-second side-on video. Then open the next lesson with "show me five". The live check is the one students take most seriously, and it shows whether the cue stuck.
How do I get tennis students to practice between lessons?
Make it small and specific: one stroke, one cue, 10 minutes. Tie it to a daily routine, give juniors a parent to run it, and use a streak or goal to keep it going. Most importantly, check it at the start of each lesson, because students do what coaches look at.
Can I assign a ShadowSwing workout to my students?
ShadowSwing does not list a coach dashboard, student accounts or a way to send workouts. Write the workout as blocks, such as forehands 15 reps, rest 30 seconds, and have the student build it with Pro or follow a preset. Ask them to send a screenshot or a shared replay to show it was done.
Can the app tell if my student hit the stroke correctly?
No. ShadowSwing does not watch the player, so it cannot check the stroke type, grip, footwork, stance or contact point. It counts a rep whenever the racket head moves fast enough. Use the count as time on task and the sound as a release check, and judge the stroke yourself in the lesson.
Can home practice replace court time?
No. Home practice builds the motion, so lessons can focus on the ball, but it does not teach reading depth, spin or bounce, and it cannot see a student's grip or footwork. Think of the two as a pair: the motion at home, the ball and the feedback with you.