What makes tennis practice effective? And what does not? Many players use the same routines over and over again and never change, then they wonder why they have stopped improving.
Most athletes get the most enjoyment from their sport when they are improving. It is good to remind your tennis coach to keep things fresh and to change routines.
Anybody can improve their game no matter how old or at what level. The solution is to find the best practice sessions that a tailor made to improving your game.
The Key For Improvement
In order to improve you have to set the right targets to achieve in your practice sessions. Don’t challenge yourself too much as disappointment can be a big demotivator.
What usually happens in tennis is that people are not challenged enough because they keep performing the same practice routines over and over again with the same intensity.
Certain drills performed again and again is they do not challenge the player for other turn of events. A return with spin on for instance or a faster return.
Getting The Right Challenge
The best drill in the world can be done ineffectively and the simplest can be done most effectively. In the end, you need to be taken out of your comfort zone.
One key aspect here is to create the right challenge but also making it measurable. You need to know on what aspects to work on and then how to measure it.
Effective Technical Practice
After so many years of playing and practicing the same way it is hard to get the brain to kick in and accept changes.
Your first step is to clarify what you want to achieve and want to work on. Once you have identified this then break the movement down into small parts and work at a slower speed. It is hard to change your technique playing at normal speed.
Once you have found the right drills you need to repeat the new correct movements over and over, first slowly and controlled then gradually build up the speed.
Effective Mental Practice
Every player has mental habits, these quite hold us back in a match environment. You subconscious does not always accept change, and as with technique you have to repeatedly remind yourself how to improve mentally.
You need to be prepared to lose some matches in the short term as a result of playing more offensive for example.
Changing habits is hard to do, but if successful the changing of these habits will also lead to the biggest results.
You will need to challenge yourself in the right amount during your tennis practice sessions. To improve you need to leave your comfort zone.
