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Fail to Plan
or Plan to Fail
By Joe Dinoffer |
Tennis can be a lot like life: Fail to plan and you plan to fail.
However, planning your tennis life may not be as easy as it sounds.
If it were, more players would do it. In tennis there are three main
categories-technique, fitness and practice-in which planning is not
only possible, but extremely helpful.
Technique: Start 'Em Young, Start 'Em Right
Consider this: Millions of people start playing tennis every year,
but millions more don't continue. Why? Among the myriad reasons, the
ones that bother me most are when people say that tennis stopped being
fun or that they got frustrated because they weren't improving. Let's
compare juniors and adults who start to play tennis.
It often appears that juniors learn faster. One major reason is that
younger people have more neuro pathways available to allow motor skills
to more easily develop. But don't give up on the adults just yet.
It may take a little more effort to get a feel for an efficient topspin
forehand, but adults have maturity on their side, which is a huge
advantage over their younger counterparts and allows them to benefit
from good concentration and patience through a sequential approach
to learning.
Based on these points, the ideal composite tennis learner would have
the body of a 5-year-old and the head of a 40-year-old. But since
we can't have our cake and eat it too, use whatever strengths you
have to your own advantage. If you are a tennis parent or working
with juniors, try to motivate the youngsters with short- and mid-range
goal-setting. If you are an adult or helping an adult improve, encourage
them to use their wisdom and maturity to patiently and methodically
work through the learning stages. After all, tennis is a sport that
offers lifelong benefits.
The main challenge tennis players face is when they develop playing
habits with severe limitations. These habits are difficult to unlearn
in order to improve their game. My advice is to learn proper technique
right from the start-no matter what age you are when you hit your
first fuzzy yellow ball over the net.
The Fitness Connection
This past was hot in most of the country. Some players are really
bothered by the heat, while others seem to take it all in stride.
The secret to playing well is to manage the heat to your advantage.
First, stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water, along with the occasional
sports drink to replenish carbohydrates and other nutrients lost through
sweat. Second, use sunscreen. Not only will it protect your skin,
but also it will help keep you from feeling overheated. And third,
find shade on changeovers. It always shocks me at junior tournaments
how so many players during changeover sit in the sun with no hat on
their head. At a recent summer junior tournament in Texas, my daughter
had three matches her first day. It wasn't easy as the temperatures
were in the mid-80s, and the sun and windy conditions made it feel
hotter than that. That day alone, her total time on the court was
seven hours. I totaled the time spent on changeovers. It was a full
60 minutes! She found shade each and every time, but none of her opponents
even bothered.
At that same tournament, I watched what many players snacked on. You
guessed it: candy and sodas. Yes, these items taste good and the sugar
rush is great-while it lasts. But shortly after the brief "high"
that refined sugars offer, the crash can be equally dramatic. If you
care about how you feel physically, don't fill your stomach with candy
and sodas right before, during or immediately after play. Your body
will feel better for it and your mind will be sharper as well. If
you feel better and think better, you will most likely play better
as well.
Making Practice Count
Another major area that warrants a serious look is how players practice.
After all, whatever habits you form during practice will appear in
real play. Simply put: Practice well and chances are you will play
well. The opposite? Practice poorly and you will probably play just
as poorly.
My advice is to set practice standards and consistently maintain them.
These standards include physical effort, intensity, focus and any
technical components or patterns of play that you are working on.
An excellent way to help you maintain your standards is to make up
your mind to meet or exceed your standards before you walk on the
court. In other words, you should plan to practice well. The vast
majority of tennis players who regularly commit to on-court practice
time simply walk on the court without making a conscious decision
to have an outstanding practice. Instead, when you are driving to
the courts, prepare yourself to have a solid practice by visualizing
yourself practicing how you would like to perform. Then, when you
arrive at the courts, warm up well and treat your session like a match,
including between-point rituals.
An example would be to use the 3 Rs between points or groups of shots:
Relax, Refocus, and then Rev yourself up. Simulating match play by
only taking about 20 seconds between points also can be a powerful
addition to your practices. And, if you are hitting on a ball machine
or someone is feeding you balls, seldom hit more than ten balls in
a row. Then, about every 10 minutes or so, take a 90-second break
to simulate the time you would have during each changeover. Develop
these types of habits during practices and you can expect big dividends
during actual competition.
Final Words of Advice
The mind is like a modem. (I prefer using DSL or cable modems myself.)
Once you are connected at high speeds, those dial-up connections seem
like the Stone Age. The tennis mind is similar. Many players are slow
and simply react. Champions, on the other hand, have strong and focused
playing attitudes. They are connected to their "higher self."
This strength comes from strong and focused practice habits. They
also know how to prepare their body and mind for the physical and
mental challenges of tennis through diet and hydration. They also
know how to effectively deal with the elements, and they work hard
to master the most efficient on-court techniques. Becoming a champion
on any level requires planning. The best time to start is now.
Joe Dinoffer is a Master Professional in both the PTR and USPTA, a
distinction awarded to only a handful in the tennis industry. He has
published numerous books and videotapes, and is a frequent speaker
at tennis conferences around the world. For more information, visit
www.oncourtoffcourt.com. |
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