The following post is an excerpt from Blunders and Cures. Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo
BLUNDER: Neglecting Smart Work
Great coaches have the ability to zero in on a player’s weaknesses long before players or parents know they even exist. This is where smart work comes into play. Up until this point, we have touched on the subject of proper organization, but fixing what actually needs to be fixed is crucial if you want to improve at the fastest rate.
Let’s use an analogy. If a race car continually loses race after race due to its tires blowing out, will spending 4 hours a day polishing the fenders solve the problem? Not likely!
As I travel across the world conducting tennis workshops, I talk with juniors who claim that they despise playing moonball/pushers, Yet, when I witness the same players training, they are simply playing “catch” with their coach, -as they rally back and forth to each other for the entire lesson.
CURE: Smart work would be to replace those hours playing “catch” with “keep away” patterns designed to defuse a back court retriever. They include side door patterns and moonball approach to swing volley patterns just to name a few. You may be working hard over 4 hours a day, but are you working smart?
Ask Yourself?
What are your typical lessons and practice sessions like? Do you spend the majority of the time hitting ground strokes that are fed right to your strike zone? List three ways that you can possibly improve your lesson plan? Memorize this: “Practice in the manner you are expected to perform.”
Write down your Personal Action Plan:
Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
MaximizingTennisPotential.com
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