What do I do if I don't have a partner?

Unfortunately, our new way of life is making us all become more segregated from one another. In this world of social distancing and household limits, we are lucky that tennis is one luxury we are still afforded. However, coronavirus or no coronavirus one thing remains the same, tennis requires two people... or does it?

Scheduling tennis into our daily lives can be tough and fitting it into two people's lives is even tougher. When there is homework to do, kids to feed, and work time spills over into our free time, it is understandable that tennis takes a back seat. And when these types of circumstances leave us without a partner what is a person supposed to do to get their tennis fix? Here are five things you can do when you do not have a partner to play with:

1. Ball machine - A ball machine can be a great way of getting on court and is something quite unique to us at West End as not all Tennis clubs have one. If utilized correctly it can be a fantastic tool for working on shot technique, honing your movement patterns, or generally giving you a tennis cardio workout. Team this with some self-video analysis and you will soon be on your way to improving your game. 
2. Compliment your hitting - Tennis involves so many elements other than hitting the ball, something that is seldom the focus of recreational players. There are a host of physical and mental exercises that you can do to compliment your tennis, so why not create your own tennis specific exercises in your living room or local park. Check out Dominic Thiem's workout.
3. Serve practice - There are many arguments to suggest the serve is the most important shot in tennis, however we hit so few in comparison to groundstrokes, especially rallying with each other, no wonder we all fear the dreaded double fault! So why not take some alone time to practice some serves and ensure you can hit those spots, you'll quickly find service games become a lot easier to hold. 
4. Hitting wall - The ultimate nemesis. Imposing in stature and unforgiving in its consistency, if you find yourself beating the wall then you may well be the world's greatest player. Another unique part of our club, you can work on any shots against the wall and there are a whole host of drills out there you can find. 
5. Shadow swings - It is unreasonable to expect that golden nugget of information you were just given about your backhand technique to stick straight away, after all if it were that easy, we would all be the next Roger Federer. So, to help you nail down your muscle memory you need to practice swing shapes, in the same way dancers practice dance moves. Why not take five minutes working on that swing shape by shadowing shots, team this with a mirror so you can see any errors in your shape and before you know it, you'll have nailed that backhand technique. 

You'll have seen in the news this week that coronavirus is playing havoc with this year's Australian Open. Despite the tournament putting on special chartered flights for players, 72 players including the likes of Heather Watson and Angelique Kerber find themselves in isolation in their hotel rooms due to positive virus cases on their flights. Whilst this has led to criticism of tournament organizers and given players a less than ideal preparation for the year's first grand slam, there are now plenty of examples on how you can still get your tennis even locked in one room.