Why Are Tennis Coaches Obsessed with Cones?

Every week I scroll past social media clips or step onto courts and see the same thing: players weaving around cones, doing figure-of-eight patterns, running drills that look more like a military obstacle course than a tennis session.

Here’s the truth: cones don’t transfer to tennis.

And yet, coaches continue to rely on them. Why? Because they look like training. They give the illusion of learning. But if you pause and really analyse it, it’s hard to justify.

Let’s break it down.

1. The Figure-of-Eight Fallacy

Ask yourself: when do players ever move in a figure of eight during a tennis match?

The answer is simple: they don’t.

• Tennis players go from A to B in the most direct and efficient route possible.
• Running around cones introduces inefficiencies. The body naturally seeks the shortest, least energy-consuming movement, not loops.

Even in wheelchair tennis, where movement arcs are different, players still focus on direct recovery and repositioning, not cones.

2. Players Use Information from Their Environment

Movement in tennis is not scripted. It’s a response to:

• The ball
• The opponent
• The court
• The score

If you ask a player to run around a cone, they’ll look down—not because they’re doing it wrong, but because they’re solving the problem you gave them.

You told them to navigate an obstacle, so they use their eyes to locate and avoid it. That’s not poor posture or bad habits. That’s the player tuning in to relevant information for the task you gave them.

In contrast, tennis movement requires players to watch the ball and opponent—not their feet.

3. Decomposing Skills Doesn’t Work

This idea that we can isolate a skill, polish it, and drop it back into the game later? It’s flawed.

Running around cones, shadow swinging, or practising serves in isolation with no opponent doesn’t replicate the demands of real tennis.

Even the serve—often cited as the only ‘isolated’ skill—isn’t truly repeatable:

• Wind and sun affect toss and timing.
• The score changes intent and emotional state.
• The returner’s position changes the strategy.

No two serves are ever exactly the same.

So how can we justify movement drills that never happen in the game?

4. Physical Literacy Isn’t the Problem—Context Is

Am I saying don’t develop coordination, agility, or balance? Not at all.

But here’s the key: develop it through tennis.

• Want players to improve agility? Put them in fast-paced rally constraints.
• Want better balance? Create tasks where they have to strike under pressure, on the move, on the stretch.
• Want decision-making? Make the environment demand it.

We only have most players once a week. Why waste time on skills that will never be used in their sport?

5. The Illusion of Progress

Cones make things look structured. Busy. Organised. But they often just disguise a lack of purpose.

Players get better at cone drills—but not better at tennis. It’s like getting better at running on a treadmill and expecting to suddenly become a great sprinter on grass.

6. Coaches Must Understand How Movement Really Works

Movement emerges from interactions with the environment. Players adjust based on:

• Incoming ball speed and spin
• Court positioning
• Pressure situations

Biomechanics is important—but context is king. Perfect footwork in isolation doesn’t mean much if it breaks down under pressure.

The serve example again: your toss, swing, and rhythm all change under match stress. So why practice it in a vacuum?

7. Constraints Need Context

I’m not saying constraints are bad. In fact, I use them all the time. But they must be:

• Representative of the match
• Driven by the problem you’re solving
• Connected to the player’s actual experience

Putting a ribbon on a racket or a bag over the strings might be a constraint—but if it’s not grounded in intentional practice design, it’s just a gimmick.

Final Thoughts: Stop Using Cones, Start Playing Tennis

We need to move beyond cones, ladders, and shadow swings. They don’t reflect the reality of the game. They don’t engage players. And they don’t develop skills that transfer.

Instead:

• Let players solve problems on the court.
• Build movement and decision-making into the session.
• Create environments that reflect the game they actually play.

🎾 Want help designing practices that actually transfer to match play? Check out my YouTube videos every Wednesday and Friday—and grab my free PDF of game-based drills.

Let’s ditch the cones and coach the sport in front of us.

#TennisCoaching #ConstraintsLed #EcologicalDynamics #MovementInTennis #SkillAcquisition #CoachBetter