The following post is an excerpt from the Second Edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible NOW available through most on-line retailers! Click Here to Order
Regardless of the comfort level, accelerated growth demands aborting ineffective strokes, strategies or tactics and systematically re-tooling them. Change is mandatory for growth.
Assuming that Tennis Speed is Only Foot Speed
Tennis specific speed-training requires a combination of foot speed and anticipatory speed.
Heredity plays an important role in your child’s muscle type. Parents and coaches can’t improve the genetic predisposition of an athlete, but they can nurture both their foot speed and anticipatory speed. The path to better court coverage lies in avoiding hesitation and anticipating situations.
Anticipatory speed is greatly increased by understanding and rehearsing the art of vision control. Here’s a sports myth “keep your eye on the ball.” I suggest shifting focus from narrow vision (watching an incoming ball) to broad vision. Broad vision is picking up visual clues as the ball travels toward the opponent. (This topic is covered in detail in the Section IV Common Questions and Solution: Parental Accountability.)
