A question a lot of tennis players seem to be asking is the length of time it takes to learn anything new, especially a shot, in tennis. In this piece, Jean-Yves Aubone, a former ATP player and current coach, tries to answer this question.
Arguably the most important part of being a coach is to get a player to improve as fast as possible. Their opponents are working on their games as well, so in order to stay ahead of them, my players need to improve faster.
And in order for them to beat the players currently better than them, they’ll need to improve at a faster rate than they do.
So I’m constantly trying to figure out how fast can my player learn the shot they’re currently working on. What’s the formula? What’s the secret?
Well we all know the more a player practices, the faster they’ll improve. The better the coach teaching them, the faster they’ll learn.
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But at this point in my coaching career, I’ve accepted that there isn’t a timeline where if we do things in x,y, and z way, then they can learn a particular shot in 4-6 weeks or whatever.
I actually don’t know when a player will learn something well enough that it becomes muscle memory. It’s possible they’ll never learn well enough to execute in competition.
That’s not just because everyone learns at their own pace. It’s because everyone has their own insecurities, fears, and frustrations to deal with that get in the way of learning things.
I had one player learn how to stay sideways longer on their serve within 2-3 weeks. I had another player work on the same thing, and it took them 6 months to do it without me reminding them. And a third player who still struggles with it a year later.
I had another player learn how to recognize short balls and move up to them before the ball starts to drop within a month. I have another player who’s been working on the same thing for a year and they still don’t implement it without me reminding them.
And that’s why I’ve learned the following:
The more a player can let go of executing a new shot well immediately, the faster they’ll improve.
The more a player cares about hitting the shot the right way than if it goes in, the faster they’ll improve.
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The more a player accepts that learning a new technique or shot will feel different and uncomfortable, the faster they’ll improve.
Finally and most importantly, a player will learn fastest when they’re simply trying to master the game as opposed to win now.
The player looking for immediate results will quickly revert back to bad habits. They’ll try the new technique or strategy, but if they don’t win enough points or matches immediately, they’ll revert back to old habits. They’ve seen more success with their old habits than their new improvements so they start to doubt the change.
But what their desire to succeed fails to keep in mind is that when you first try something new, you’re going to fail. They just learned it! Of course they’re going to struggle. They need practice to develop new muscle memory.
Players understand that concept away from the game, but as soon as they start competing, their desire to win takes over.
The player trying to master the game cares more about improving than they do winning. That doesn’t mean they’re not upset when they lose. They definitely are. But they’re more excited about the possibility of hitting amazing forehands and backhands, booming serves, and flying around the court, than they are afraid of losing.
And they’re passion for learning the sport is so strong that even though they want to win, they want to win seeing their game improve. They’re willing to risk losing if there’s a chance they can win implementing their improvements. Coincidentally, they’ll learn faster and win more.
Dr. Gio Valiante, one of the world’s best sport psychologists said this about golfers:
“Mastery golfers play for the sake of learning and improvement. They care about their golf games, not what others say about their golf games.”
“Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, and Ben Hogan are all mastery golfers. Research shows that a mastery orientation in achievement domains tends to lead to better, more consistent results.”
So if you’re looking for a shortcut to improve your game as fast as possible, play to master the game. Work as hard as you can and love working on your craft. Don’t play for the results. Don’t play to look good so others can think you’re a great player.
Enjoy getting better and the process it entails. If that becomes your sole purpose for being on the court, you’ll improve faster than if you’re just trying to improve to win more.
Author Info: J.Y. Aubone is a former professional tennis player, and coach of Reilly Opelka. He started the most personalized online tennis platform available AuboneTennis.com.