Four stages and eight levels guide your development, from balance and ball control to tactical patterns and tournament preparation.
Use the DUPR bands as a guide. Coach Nix can help you choose a starting level based on your movement, technique and decisions in live play.
DUPR 2.0–3.0 · Beginner
Build movement fundamentals.
Ready position, athletic stance, balance, split step, shuffle, open step, recovery, pivot, paddle control, groundstrokes, serve and return.
At least 80% serve success, a 30-ball rally and a footwork score of at least 80/100.
Improve consistency and control where the ball goes.
Dynamic balance, split step into shuffle, directional control, straight and crosscourt dinks, punch volleys and block volleys.
DUPR 3.0–4.0 · Intermediate
Build points from the non-volley zone.
Third-shot drops and drives, fifth-shot choices, crosscourt dinks and transition to the kitchen line.
Handle pressure while moving through the transition zone.
Resets, roll dinks, speed-ups, basic counters and emergency footwork.
DUPR 4.0–5.0 · Advanced
Manage pressure and regain control of the rally.
Explosive first step, counter volleys, dead dinks and topspin drops.
Choose when to build the point and when to attack.
Shot selection, tempo control, attack timing and poaching.
DUPR 5.0–6.0+ · High performance
Build coordinated patterns for high-level doubles.
Stacking, shake and bake, around-the-post shots, Ernes and offensive resets.
Prepare for competition with a match plan.
Opponent analysis, match planning, video analysis and tournament simulation.
Coach Nix uses these five areas to identify what to work on next. The weights and progression benchmarks are internal coaching measures. Your DUPR rating is tracked separately.
Share your current playing experience and goals so Coach Nix can help you choose the right training focus.