Various Teaching Analysis and Intervention Techniques.
I have written this primarily for the parents new to the game of tennis to understand the various analysis and intervention techniques that exist and used in tennis teaching and coaching. Some readers may find a few of the techniques to be a gimmick and others quite meaningful.
If you have had any lessons or groups classes, chances are you have heard a coach give you a correction or two during your playing. More often than not, the corrections are relegated to what a player should have or could have done with the shot, or simply a nice shot. Below l have laid out some approaches to analysing students' games/strokes.
1. Start with Tactics assessment of execution (technique) in light of the game situation and tactical intent (i.e how appropriate was the decision).
2. Start with Footwork focus on the effectiveness of the footwork used before the stroke.
3. Performance Based Has the ball gone in or out?
● If the ball was out: What caused it and what correction can be made?
● If the ball was in: How can the stroke be improved?
4. Casual Identify the cause and effect!
● Cause = incorrect ball placement for serves.
● Effect = loss of balance, serve goes into the net or long.
5. Beginning to the End Where a coach would consider the entire movement from start to finish to ascertain the adequacy of the stroke with the idea that whatever happens in the middle of the stroke would be the direct consequence of that beginning and end.
6. Mechanical Coach considers factors such as balance, momentum, energy chain, coordination chain etc.
7. Phasic Looking at a sequential phases of the stroke. For example, ready position, align, backswing, coil, forward swing, uncoil, use of elbow (shoulder rotation) etc.
8. Directional From the ground up teaching analysis (feet, legs, trunk, arms, racquet) or from the top down.
Apart from analysing, a coach must use some intervention technique specific to the learning styles of the individual players. I have laid a few of them out below:
1. Setting goals For example: The goal for the player is to get as many games against an opponent much better than yourself.
2. Ask the player for insight into another player’s game
3. Ask the player to self-correct.
4.Specific feeding Feeding short high balls for attaining better short positioning.
5.Cue words Eg. Softer contact on the volley.
6.Introduce different equipment Use a higher net over the regular tennis net.
7.Using role models Eg. Play like Djokovic, No errors, retrieve every ball.
8.Video the player A picture is worth a thousand words. The visual feedback is tremendous for the player to assist in skill or habit change.
9.Manually adjusting Coach manually makes the racket adjustment for the player.
10.Visualization Coach says to the player, imagine playing high loops to both sides of the court without error.
11.Use of adapted equipment Smaller reckets, low compression balls etc.
Not one kind of analysis or intervention would do if a coach is to work with a wide variety of students with various athletic backgrounds and tennis goals.
Hope you as a player and/or parent have found this helpful.