Mythbusters: Not All Coaching Advice is Based on Facts…Part Four

Mythbusters

Not All Coaching Advice is Based on Facts, But You Should Certainly Believe In Your Coach ... Part Four

By Ricky Becker

Ipresent to you the final part of my four part series on tennis coaching topics that there is not necessarily a right or a wrong. There are many tennis strategies, techniques and theories that are debatable, presented as fact by coaches but are in fact opinion. While good coaches feel strong in their convictions, there are many instances where topplayers have taken different paths on a myriad of topics.

In previous issues of Long Island Tennis Magazine, I discussed: 1.Should the net player look back in doubles? 2.When should a junior player learn a continental serve? 3.Is it better to play Orange Ball

USTA tournaments, or wait until the age you are allowed to play full-court tournaments? 4.When to teach open stance forehands? 5.The importance of confidence vs. technique on volleys. 6.Is it better to slide the back foot up (pinpoint), or keep it back (platform) on the serve? 7.What side should a lefty/righty team return from in doubles? 8.How important is it to play “up” in tournaments and/or practice? 9.What’s the best forehand grip to teach at a young age?

My opinions are: 1.Yes. 2.Once the player can get 75 percent of their serves in with their natural grip. 3.Play Orange Ball. 4.After understanding weight transfer in a closed stance position. 5.Physically and comfort is as important as technique on the volley to a large extent. 6.Whatever the student is more comfortable with, but present both. 7.In high-performance level, the lefty should play ad-side, and at the club level, the lefty should play deuce side. 8.Not as much as people think. 9.The child’s dedication and athleticism play a part in the decision.

These are not facts though and no level of confidence by any coach makes them so.

Below are three more items that I have heard coaches differ on and have seen great players do differently. While I will give my personal opinion and communicate how strongly I feel about it, I realize there are other good coaches out there who believe differently (and the same) as I do.

Balance of Building Technique vs. Athleticism at a Young Age

Of course both technique and athleticism are important, however, I do think building athleticism is extremely overlooked at a young age. I even admit, I am sometimes afraid to work on athleticism instead of technique at times because I don’t want to give the impression that I am not teaching my student tennis. The fact is there are some non-negotiables to teaching strokes and there are a lot of stylistic differences in successful shots. Andy Roddick started his unorthodox service motion when he was 14-years-old by showing his coach that by pretty much throwing the ball up and whacking it with a short motion he could generate a ton of power. That change did Andy very well in life, but on paper, it’s not good technique. While technique

is especially important for kids under 12-years-old, I do think that coaches and parents get too bogged down in stationary, nonathletic hitting to make things completely perfect.

I still remember a boy I used to play against who had the most beautiful strokes. He hit the ball really hard and accurately from the baseline. The problem was he hit the ball about 60 feet out every time. So when he moved inside the court he would hit long and when he had to move deep behind the baseline he would hit short or into the net. Without knowing his practice routine, I bet he worked on technique almost all of the time.

It's harder to see the quick benefits of working on athleticism but as one gets older it becomes more important. Most top players hit the ball well. What often makes the difference as one gets to higher levels is how many shots can somebody get back when they are playing defense. This is largely athleticism.

And finally, I think working on athleticism is a lot of fun for a child compared to the non-stop repetition of mastering technique. Fun is motivating. Motivation is desire. And desire contributes to one’s personal best when it comes to success.

Dead Ball vs. Live Ball Feeding

To explain, dead ball feeding is when the coach throws the ball to himself and hits to the student and live ball feeding is when the coach hits the student’s shots back. I think most coaches agree that the natural progression is to start working on something by having the teaching pro either toss the ball directly to the player, or dead ball feeding from the other side of the net and then, when the player starts exhibiting the skill (or getting bored of it), the coach would go to live ball feeding. I will come out and say it now: Dead ball feeding is much more energy efficient for the tennis pro. I am a lot more physically tired after six hours of predominantly live ball lessons than six hours of dead ball lessons. I don’t think it’s enough though to work on a player’s shots without returning those shots as well. I notice, with adults especially, that when you feed out of your hand they will do the technique right, but when you rally with them they don’t. The best way to improve the live ball strokes, in my opinion, is live ball practice.

How to Handle Cheating This is the classic example of getting different answers from different coaches. And some

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coaches may give different answers to their student based on how high level of a player they are. Interestingly in all my years of coaching this is pretty much the sole area where I have seen students listen to their parents more than their coach. In competition, I advise students to ask “Are you sure?” on the first call they don’t like. We know the answer will be yes, or something sarcastic, but the question sends a message. And then on the second ball call just quietly get a linesman. After that, if the linesman leaves to go back up to the lobby, go get the linesman any time you hit a ball close to the line. In other words, find an excuse to bring the linesman back so you don’t get burned with a bad call at the wrong time.

If my student is going against a player with a terrible reputation or someone who made bad calls in a previous match, I would suggest just getting a linesman on the first close call as well. I have heard coaches say cheat back, cheat back twice, cheat back on an important point or get a linesman and switch the score in that game. This might not be the proper thing to say but while I would never suggest a player cheat back on a line call, as a last resort after numerous unsuccessful attempts of securing a linesman, I feel satisfied seeing my student change the score of a game if it will result in negating the obviously purposeful bad call by an extremely unsportsmanlike opponent.

Ask your coach what their opinion is on these topics. They are all valid questions that will either come up often, or it’s possible they haven’t thought about it yet!

Ricky Becker is The Director of Tennis at the prestigious Pine Hollow Country Club for his tenth year. He also coaches high-performance juniors throughout the year and has been the Director of Tennis at three of Long Island’s biggest junior programs. As a player, Becker was the Most Valuable Player for the 1996 NCAA Championship Stanford Tennis team and ranked in the top-five nationally as a junior. He can be reached at rbecker06@yahoo.com, 516-359-4843 or via juniortennisconsulting.com.

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