The Lesson Lounge - Tennis Warrior

Your Link to Professional Thinking!

Five different ways you can execute repetition to improve your game

1. Backboard - This is a great way to execute repetition of the different shots, but you must have some control of the ball for consistent repetition.

2. Ball machine - Using a ball machine week after week to practice your different shots can do wonders for your game.

3. Ball feeder - Find a friend who is interested in really improving his game and willing to alternate feeding you the balls. This is great practice and you have the camaraderie of another player. Also, being the ball feeder is excellent practice, but it is not as easy as it looks! Pretend you are a pro giving a lesson. You must make it as easy as possible for your student to hit the shot by bouncing the ball in the correct spot CONSISTENTLY. Good luck!

4. Rallying - Hitting back and forth with a practice partner is also a way to execute repetition and is an important part of the learning process.

5. Match play - Even when you are playing a match you are doing some repetition!

There are five ways you can practice repetition to improve your game. All of these methods are necessary and can bring your game to another level. However, if you wish to speed up the learning process, the ball machine and a ball feeder are the best methods. Why? Because you will be able to hit ten times the amount of balls in a given time frame with repetition on a ball machine or with a feeder than in rallying or in match play. The backboard can also be an superb tool, but it does have limitations, especially if you are a beginner or intermediate player with poor ball control.

At the club I have been working with one of the pros named Todd who would like to improve his game for competitive play. What do you think we are doing? The same thing you would do to improve your game...repetition! We began with a ball machine to tidy up his backhand with massive repetition. He is at 1500 backhands already. Keep in mind, Todd is an excellent player and has mastered all the shots, but we are still focus on repetition to reach the next level. Todd is capable of hitting elegant topspin backhands deep to the corner, but not with the consistency of the next level. He may hit only two out of five deep while the other shots come up short, whereas the next level hits three out of five deep!

The key is to understand that the principles of learning are the same for all levels! You should practice learning the game similar to the pros, but relative to your level.

Repetition is not everything...it’s the only thing!

Tom Veneziano