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August 1999 Article Latest Leading Edge Tennis Article
The Tennis Server
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How do you know if you are improving? Ideas, suggestions and thoughts on the winding road to development.
There are many areas that can be referred to when examining how your game is progressing. These areas include:
Practice SignsWhen you are taking a lesson or hitting with a friend there are immediate indictors as to your level and/or performance. A suggestion is to have your coach set up a target area and feed or rally with you to see how many you can hit to the specific target area. See how good your directional control is out of ten balls. If you easily hit the ball back into the area try reducing the size of the area or ask the pro or partner to increase the difficulty of the ball being hit to you by hitting harder or moving you around more. If you are unable to consistently control the direction of your shot even after taking lessons over some time then maybe it's time to look for a coaching change.
Players In Your RegionA good way to see how you are performing is to compete at your local tournaments. In these events you are able to find much information about how you are doing in development. A simple way to determine how you are doing is to see if your winning percentage is higher than your lossing percentage. If you win 66% of the time you are doing excellent in development. Now if you are winning 100% that is excellent also, but you may need to play a category higher so as to become exposed to more challenging competition. Now winning and losing is sometimes more than meets the eye. The reason is that some players who constantly win at younger age groups may be playing a style that is suited for the regional level and not the international level. On the other hand, the gamestyle that you currently are developing may not be yet fully matured and thus your percentage of winning may be poor. Be patient because good things come to those who wait. The bottom line is that if you are winning 100% of the time regardless of categories you are well on your way to becoming a force in the game.
International Player ComparisonsI always enjoy traveling with some of my juniors because it is a tell tale sign many times as to how they are developing. So, if you have the means, I highly recommend that you play a few tournaments in another country. By participating in these foreign tournaments you can learn how you are doing in many areas of development. From the top players you will learn trends, tactics, psychological traits and rituals, physical characteristics and much more. Furthermore, if you perform well it is a pure indicator of how you are developing on an international basis.Developmental PlanA good coach will make sure that you have an action plan as to how you should be developing. If you don't have one then you might want to ask your coach if he or she will make one up for you. Be patient -- these plans are pretty complex and may take some time for the coach to complete. The training plan should be comprised of technical, tactical, psychological, physical and environmental areas. All component areas need to be simultaneously complimenting each other so that there is maximal benefit in each component. For example if you are in the competitive phase of training in your action plan then the components would all be related to competition:
technical component = disguise of shots, minimal changes in strokes, refining automated strokes tactical component = recognition of attacking opportunities, taking advantage of opportunities, shot selection descisions psychological component = establishing play rituals, breathing patterns, arousal and calming.
How Long Does It Take To Learn A Shot?A common problem among players is the recurring question: am I learning at a good rate or is it taking too long? This question is not easily answered because all people are individual in their learning rates. As a general rule of thumb, sport scientists have said that to learn and automate a stroke a person needs at least 500 repetitions performed correctly. The problem then becomes how long will it take to correctly perform these repetitions? Think of it like this: out of a basket of balls (65 balls) a player executes the stroke correctly 12 times. This means that 53 shots are done incorrectly. Consequently, of the 53 incorrectly performed repetitions 27 of those are identical. The result is that you may be conditioning an incorrect stroke rather than learning and mastering a correct stroke. Now, if your coach is a qualified and certified coach I am sure that the possiblity of performing more incorrect repetitions will be minimal. Finally, the time it takes to learn a stroke properly may depend entirely on the amount of time put into practice and lessons.Once a stroke is learned a player's job is not done. After a stroke is learned, practiced and then used in competition there needs to be maintenance work performed. This has to be done because a stroke can lose it's exactness because of competition and lack of proper repetition during match play. A stroke can actually change it's biomechanical qualities over time. In conclusion, if there is one thing that I have learned in my coaching career it is that no matter how much I want to see a student develop and succeed it is up to the student to get the job done. The player has to want to develop. He or she has to want to put in the time and effort to attain excellence. The desire must come intrinisically from the player for there to be long lasting enjoyment and love for the game. Parents and coaches need to understand that they cannot force a player to "want to improve," and until this happens many players will continue to suffer much mental and psychological abuse. Let's help people to love the game rather than resent it. Thanks friend for taking the time to read this months article!
All my best,
Once again, I would like to thank all of those readers around the world who were kind enough to send me e-mail letters! Dear friends, my kid's tennis book, called, "Kid's Book of Tennis" has sold out in most stores and internet bookstores across North America, though some may still have copies. Thank you for your support!. My publisher has informed me that the book's stock has completely sold out and thus it is being re-printed to keep up with the demands. However, the cover page and title has changed to, "Tennis For Kids." So please be patient as the book will be available very shortly. Hello to Marsha in Toronto, go get'em girl! Thanks to Joanne in Toronto for kindly taking the time to show me how to me how to "float." A warm hello to Bahar and Aygul in Istanbul. Bonjour to my good friends Patricia (former #1 professional woman player) and Yves (Canadian Federation Cup Captain) in South Carolina. Thanks for your questions to Bruce in Minnesota and Chris in Arizona. Lastly, I hope to see you at this summer' s U.S.T.A. conference held in New York during the U.S. Open. I am on the 99 conference staff and will be performing a lecture on development. If you happen to be there please don't be a stranger!
This column is copyright 1999 by Reggie Vasquez Jr., all rights reserved.
Questions and comments about these columns can be directed to Reggie by electronic mail at reggie@tennisserver.com. |
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Throughout my coaching career I have often heard questions from coaches,
players, and parents about player improvement. It is a crucial area of
discussion and is often the basis for change. For those who have read my
articles for this past year, you will remember the boy whose mother decided
that her son's tennis game was lacking 3 months after changing age categories (though the year previous he was #2 in his country of Canada). Well,
after the coaching change things have gone from bad, to worse, to terrible.
Well, it seems that his new coach started emphasizing certain body segments
more than others and injuries soon followed. At present this player is on
the road to recovery after having serious wrist surgery performed. I wish
him well, and hope for a speedy recovery! To the mother and father I say,
"you win some you lose some."
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