My Kobori Tennis Session Log
Alright, decided to really focus on the Kobori way today. Heard about this method, emphasizing basics and hard work, so figured I’d give it a proper go.
Got my stuff together, racket, balls, water – the usual. Headed down to the local court. Wasn’t too busy, which was good. Needed space to just grind.
Started with a warm-up. Jogging around the court, some dynamic stretches. Gotta get the body moving before hitting. Don’t want to pull anything. Spent a good 15 minutes just loosening up.
Hitting the Basics
First thing, straight into consistency drills. Found a wall, actually. Just started hitting forehands against it. Focused on a smooth swing, watching the ball hit the strings, hitting the same spot over and over. Did that for maybe 20 minutes. Sounds boring, but it’s about building that muscle memory, right? Just tap, tap, tap.
Then moved onto backhands against the wall. Same idea. Keep it simple, keep it clean. Felt a bit clunky at first, always takes my backhand a bit longer to warm up. Pushed through it. More tapping, more focusing on the contact point.
On-Court Drills
After the wall session, moved onto the court proper. Set up some cones. Simple footwork drill first. Side-stepping along the baseline, quick feet, staying low. Did sets of those until my legs started burning a bit.
Then, fed myself some balls. Focused on crosscourt forehands. Hit 20 in a row inside the lines. If I missed one, started the count over. Man, that gets frustrating, but that’s the point, I guess. Discipline. Took a few tries to get the first set of 20. Then did the same for backhands crosscourt. That took even longer. My backhand just wasn’t cooperating today.
- Drill 1: Forehand crosscourt consistency (target: 20 consecutive shots in).
- Drill 2: Backhand crosscourt consistency (target: 20 consecutive shots in).
- Drill 3: Down-the-line forehands (focus on depth and control).
- Drill 4: Down-the-line backhands (same focus).
Really tried to keep the intensity up, moving my feet for every single shot, even the easy feeds. Recovering back to the middle after each hit. It’s tiring work. Sweat was pouring pretty good by this point.
Finished off with some serves. Didn’t go for power, just placement. Trying to hit the corners of the service box. Practiced my routine: bounce, look, toss, swing. Did about 50 serves, alternating sides.
Wrapping Up
Packed up my gear. Legs felt heavy, arm was a bit tired, but felt good overall. Like I’d actually worked on something specific, not just whacking balls around aimlessly. This Kobori style, or my interpretation of it anyway, is tough. It’s repetitive. It demands focus. But I can see how it builds a solid foundation. We’ll see if it pays off next time I play a match. Need a shower now.
