Starting Out with Mark Edmondson’s Tennis Drills
Found this old video clip of Mark Edmondson’s training routine online last week. Guy looked like a total beast smacking balls in the 70s, so I grabbed my racket yesterday morning thinking “how hard could this be?”
First thing I did was clear space in my garage since it was raining. Dragged out the ball machine I bought during lockdown dusted it off. Started trying to copy Edmondson’s footwork pattern from the video shuffled sideways like a crab trying to return shots.
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The disaster moments:
- Whacked my elbow twice on the doorframe trying to mimic his wide backswing
- Fell on my ass when attempting his signature split-step jump
- Smashed three balls straight into the neighbor’s window (heard glass shattering)
- Sweat dripping everywhere, garage turned into a sauna after 20 minutes
His topspin technique looked simple on tape but my balls kept sailing way past the makeshift baseline. Changed racket grips four times still couldn’t generate that weird wrist snap he does before contact. Felt like I was swinging a sledgehammer instead of a tennis racket.
What Actually Worked
After lunch I gave up on the fancy stuff. Just focused on two things: keeping my eyes glued on the ball like Edmondson does, and following through toward the net after every shot. Surprisingly started hitting cleaner returns around 3pm. Ball machine stopped jamming so much.
Ended the session soaking wet with three broken strings on my racket and a blister the size of a quarter. Realized why nobody plays like Edmondson anymore modern equipment’s too damn fragile for those brutal swings. Garage smelled like sweat and regret all night.
