Tennis is a sport that does not make it as easy to practice by yourself. Golf players can work on their drives and putts alone; distance runners can put in the mileage with no assistance and even basketball players, who play a team sport, can practice shooting and handling the ball without other people around. In tennis it is difficult to practice by yourself without a ball machine or a backboard, and not just any backboard will do. You owe it to your players to install a quality backboard like Rally Master.
Anyone could ‘jury-rig’ a backboard; you could hit against the garage wall or the side of a stone building and either paint or tape a net-high line to simulate a net and start practicing. The old adage about practice making perfect is not accurate, however. If you do not practice in a productive manner, you may fail to learn properly, or worse learn bad habits. It is probably better to say that perfect practice makes perfect and if you are going to benefit from training with a backboard, use one designed for the task like Rally Master’s backboards are.
Studies of tennis mechanics comparing backboard sessions to game conditions have shown that a flat backboard perpendicular to the ground is not the best simulation of game conditions–a sloped wall is better. Rally Master makes backboards with a 15° slope. You buy them as multiple 4′ x 10′ panels that you assemble together. Two beginner level players can workout with a 16′ x 10′ configuration of panels assembled together. Since these backboards are designed to be struck by tennis balls, they will outlast any garage door or plywood contraption used as a backboard. Players can also enjoy aerobic benefits, provided they workout for a long enough time and at a high enough intensity.
No one should take the value of training with a backboard from a reputable company like Rally Master for granted. By paying a little extra, you allow players who train with this equipment to train in a productive and beneficial manner and avoid practicing bad habits.
Mohr than a shoe in.. 