I have utilized video in my coaching for years but with school now online I have really had a renewed focus. I also very much miss working on the court with kids and hitting tennis balls myself. With that being said I have been diving into helping kids at home with video coaching along with filming and analyzing my own technique. There is always a way to turn challenges into opportunities for growth and social distancing provides an ideal opportunity to make technical changes. There are no competitions or tournaments to worry about and the best way to actually make a technical change or learn a skill is to slow down and focus all your intention on the movement itself and not the outcome.
Here is a video of myself making a key technical change in my forehand. First, I identified the specific areas that I wanted to improve. Then I slowed the movement down with deliberate practice on the Eye Coach and then slowly built the skill back up into full speed over the course of a few days. Now I am in a much better position to pull my hand and racket towards the ball and make contact with a straight arm. The left is the before and the right is the after.
That is exactly what Feder and Nadal do and they both have pretty good forehands.
I also realized I was not watching the ball all the way to contact. I was pulling my head up too quickly. I don’t know if this is a habit I developed from coaching tennis and always watching what players across the net are doing or I was afraid to get crushed by the returning ball off the wall of my house. Either way with some practice of focusing my eyes at the contact point it will clearly lead to a more clean hits.
How I made these changes was relatively simple and easily replicated. I designed some drills to perform slowly and deliberately on the Eye Coach. This tool is perfect for this because it holds the ball stationary like a hitting tee in baseball. This allows you to slow things down and focus specifically on the movement. The added benefit of doing this without a tennis court or net is that there is no outcome to focus on. I am not worried if I made or missed the shot, instead I am only focused on my technique. This is the quickest way to learn and it is called deep or deliberate practice just like in the books “The Talent Code” or “Talent is Overrated.”
If you have access to tennis balls and a racket during the time of social distancing use the tool of slow motion video and send me one. I’ll be happy to take a look and provide feedback on how you too can improve at home. That way when we can get back on the court you will be more than ready to go.
And don’t forget if you do want to get yourself an Eye Coach you can do so using the code “SlezakPro” and it will net down to $150 which is the lowest price it has ever been sold for. Great time to pick one up for your house.
