Coaching Advice

In the previous article, I wrote about some high-level ideas for teaching tennis. They touch upon the philosophical aspect of learning tennis. If you haven’t already, you can read about it here. In this post, I would like to share practical coaching advice without getting too granular. I recommend you combine the post on Teaching with Zen and this piece to understand the big picture.

Some teachers and coaches believe they can only shape a student through control and rigor. However, if you observe the best performers (in any field), they play as if they are free. Our job therefore is to help people evolve and become great while feeling good. One cannot be free by feeling guilt for making mistakes. This is why we must understand the greater purpose of teaching and passing on knowledge. Here are some practical tips:

(1) Trust your student. You are a guide who provides knowledge and direction. But you’re not in their head and you don’t feel what they feel. They will get good if you give your students the space to explore and figure things out.

(2) A key ingredient to success is that you and your students communicate effectively. Figure out how to tune in to what they are telling you and how to connect with them, so your message is understood. There are definitions and concepts that make sense to you because you already went through years of training to understand what they mean. However, a student may not know the language that defines the physical component.

(3) Don’t be stubborn with your ways. If something is not working, then start thinking about alternative methods. We say “think outside the box” but there is no box, only the laws of physics, development stages, and the rules of the game.

(4) Progressions are logical. Use them because no one should be expected to accomplish tasks that are far beyond their current abilities. So, if the drill, exercise, or technique is too complex, simplify and build from there.

(5) Progressions also mean moving forward. Once they figured out the simplest components, motivate the student to perform tasks that are a little outside of their comfort zone.

(6) People feel comfortable doing things they are familiar with. But they won’t learn anything new or get better at hitting certain shots if they only stay in their comfort zone.

(7) Hard work is hardly effective if it leads to more pain than benefit. Some students are ready for high-level training but most need to build incrementally. So, watch them carefully and make sure they can handle the assignments you give them without getting injured. The most important thing is that they can feel what they’re doing. Slow and steady is the name of the game.

(8) If your students are children, communicate with the parents as well. Parents need a good tennis education because they are the pillars that support their child’s sport. If your message and the parent’s are different, this will confuse the student. When times get hard, they may choose the easiest way out.

(9) Keep it positive. You can push your students to focus and work better but any negativity will cause inhibitions. The goal is to help your student play without fear or guilt. Freedom is when you can just play, and problem-solve. If you teach your students to feel bad about making mistakes, they will play with fear and avoid taking chances on opportunities they see.

Between Your Shots

Everyone is distracted by the blue stripes on the New York Yankees uniform. That’s some line in a movie that explains why they win the World Series so often. Where our attention goes, is what we focus on. But attention directed to the wrong place will take away focus from other essential aspects of your tennis game. 

The most underrated aspect of tennis development is everything that happens between your actual hitting of the ball. Most like to think about how they hit forehands and backhands and what kind of shots they can produce to make it beautiful. To win by swinging hard with spin, for example. So, as we naturally gravitate toward focusing on hitting the ball, we also tend to neglect everything else in between. But what you do between your shots is the most important aspect of your tennis game. It has more weight that determines how well you can play on a daily basis and how far your tennis level will go. It is also a part of your tennis game that you have complete agency over. You can't always hit the shot you want because your opponent may give you balls that limit your options. But your recovery, movement, ready position, and the way you pay attention to the ball are purely under your control.

If you watch the pro tennis athletes that are ranked from No. 1 through 200, you will notice they all can hit great forehands and backhands. You wouldn't be able to tell the difference between Carlos Alcaraz who is ranked No. 4 and the current world number 97 Denis Kudla if you watched them simply hit. Kudla can hit as hard as Alcaraz. The difference then is when they play matches — Alcaraz gets behind the ball more often than most other players. This means he can hit the shots he wants and be aggressive. So he plays with a high level of intensity that is difficult for most pro athletes to keep up with. All this is because he is a master at controlling what he does between his shots. The dominant players are really good at being organized with their movement and preparation between shots. They are consistent with how they recover and their footwork follows a logical method that optimizes their positioning for any type of shot. You should thus spend your time getting comfortable optimizing your movement to the ball and your recovery after hitting. The key is to be very consistent and disciplined with your movement and recovery. For example, if you recover back to the ready position the same way each time, then your preparation for your shots will be consistent and you won't have to worry about making many additional adjustments each time. But your ready position/stance is different each time you recover or your arms are inconsistently changing positioning too then you have to make more adjustments when you're preparing for shots. Having to make extra adjustments equates to making more movements which takes up more time and puts you at risk of being slightly late for your shots.

The top players are also hawks, they see the ball and anticipate where it will go and where they should position themselves. They are consistently focused on observing the ball so they can move and position themselves. If your attention is not 100% on the ball and when you do watch the ball you're passively looking at it, then you will not become a good player who takes control of most points.

From now on, when you practice, emphasize discipline with what you do between your shots. It will pay dividends down the road and you will unlock your ability to hit what you want when you want.