THE ART OF COACHING
Learn Through Touch and Feel
By Joe Dinoffer
Tennis is a game you ultimately have to “feel.” Why do I say that? The human body is miraculously built to develop billions of neuro-pathways. As these pathways develop, they allow us to perform tasks of varying complexity, from something as seemingly simple as sitting in a chair to something as complex as playing classical guitar. At the perfection of development, each movement becomes automatic. How can this help tenThis series—for coaches, players, and nis players, and especially tennis parents—features key concepts beginners? Players, particuthat apply leading educational and larly kids, can tap into their sports training methods to help tennis “kinesthetic” side and get players become their best. a better “feel” for playing tennis by developing their neuro-pathways for the sport. (In fact, young children have significantly more neurons than adults, and as a child matures, unused neurons die off and pathways that aren’t stimulated become ineffective.) Here are some ways to stimulate those neuro-pathways that will help a beginning tennis player. In each example, we offer a tip involving a readily available, and practically cost-free, device, as well as a training aid that requires minimal investment. Perform each exercise five to 10 times, until you can self-bounce or serve a ball and get the same feel and result you achieved with the aid of the practice tip or device.
1. Feel Topspin From the Start Hitting topspin groundstrokes is a key to playing at higher competitive levels. Too many players struggle to hit topspin groundstrokes when a quick exercise could give them the proper feel they need to succeed.
Cost-free idea: Place a ball between your racquet and the net and hold it in position. Then, brush up the back of the ball quickly to get it to roll forward over the top of the net.
Training aid: The Spin
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TennisLife magazine
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Doctor is a foam-injected ball on a telescoping pole and requires a partner to hold the pole in position while you lightly brush up on the ball to gain a feel and visual reference for creating topspin (photo 1).
2. Find Your Playing Height Every good player knows it’s one thing to have solid strokes, but you also need to be in position and on balance—pretty strokes alone don’t win matches. Athletic movement and balance requires players to move in a playing height about 6 inches lower than normal standing height.
Cost-free idea: To feel your playing height, stand up straight and look at your shoe tops. Then, slowly bend your knees until the front of your knees prevent you from seeing your shoelaces. In this position, you’ll be at an efficient playing height.
Training aid: Another option is to use a resistancebased training aid like the Flex Trainer, a device that forces athletes to feel a lower playing height by physically pulling them down to a lower position (photo 2).
3. Build a Fluid Serve The serve is the most important shot in tennis. Effective serves at higher and higher levels go hand-in-hand with increased racquet-head speed. To swing faster, the racquet must be in continuous motion and free from starts and stops. In particular, you must not pause with the racquet in the backscratch position and elbow pointing to the sky— the well-known “trophy position.”
Cost-free idea: Tie a knot on one end of a bath towel. Pretend the towel is your racquet, but start in a modified position with your racquet hand about a foot in front of your belly button and at the same height (photos 3a and 3b). From there, go through the rest of the serving motion and keep the knot of the towel from hitting your back by swinging in a continuous motion. If you pause in the “trophy position,” the knot will hit your lower back.
Training aid: The “Serving Sock” has been around for years. To create this training aid on your own, take an old tube sock, insert three tennis balls, and tape or staple a dowel or
Photo 3A