The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s NEW Amazon #1 New Tennis Book Release, Preparing for Pressure.
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Does Tennis charting and analytics matter?
“Solid analytics spot winning trends and reoccurring nightmares.”
Statistics in tennis is currently in vogue, but it isn’t necessarily new. While teaching at The Vic Braden Tennis College/Coto Research Center back in the 1980s, I was involved in multiple statistical chart studies. Computennis was a tennis-based analytics group that also did wonderful work in this field 40 years ago. These research projects looked deeply into “quantifying data” in various levels of play. We uncovered basic stats that still hold true today. One is the average length of points in singles (3.8 hits) and doubles (2.9 hits). Another vintage stat identifies the most missed shot in the game: Return of serve (which is also still the least practiced shot in the game). A third old school stat that still holds true 40 years later is that approximately 70% of errors are located in the net.
Although analytics don’t tell the whole picture, they have greatly affected my students’ lesson plans since the 1980s. I’ve designed specific match charts to assist in preparing serious athletes for competition. These simple to use analytics provide more in-depth data than the typical phone apps and guarantee to improve your athlete’s win-loss record. Samples Include:
FIRST STRIKE WINNING PERCENTAGE:
The First Strike is the very first shot your athlete hits- serve or return of serve. Identifying the winning percentage of the location of your player’s serve and return of serve (First Strike) is shot selection awareness which benefits strategical play.
BETWEEN POINT RITUALS CHART:
This chart identifies the player’s ability to stay focused and execute their critical between point rituals. Players who do not keep their brain focused on the task at hand have to defeat two opponents-the opposition and their own wandering mind.
CAUSE OF ERROR CHART:
Tennis is a game of errors. The first most critical step in error reduction is to spot the actual cause of the error. This chart will require you to identify the cause of the error. This information leads to the customization of future lessons. Note: the four leading causes of errors are poor technique, poor movement, reckless shot selection, and negative emotions/focus.
