Learn our proven system for enhancing player development with video in our new Technical Analyst Certification Course!
Video technology is quickly changing the way we coach tennis. Many coaches aren’t sure how to get started, or they’re “stuck” coaching the way they’ve always done it.
If using video sounds intimidating, or you’re just not sure where to start, the 5 tips below will help. The good news… all you need is a cell phone!
Soon all tennis coaches will be using video for player development, simply because it’s far more effective than… not using video.
Tip #5: Show your players video of their stroke immediately after they do it “right”.
Tennis is taught audibly, visually, and kinesthetically. Audible is the least effective way to teach, but it’s the most common 🙁
Let’s say your student is practicing serves. You’re standing to the side, filming with your phone.
Here’s what you should do after they hit a good serve…
- Stop the video.
- Walk over to them.
- Show them the video of the serve they just hit.
This combines visual and kinesthetic learning, an incredibly effective combination.
Kinesthetic learning is feeling, and after you hit a good serve, you still feel it for about 10-20 seconds. This is called the carpenter effect & is covered in our new course.
This short window of time is the best time to show your player what they just did. Adding the visual helps cement the technique into the players head.
Tip #4: Film your students’ strokes from the side of the court. ⦝
Coaches feed balls & analyze stroke technique from straight on, but the best angle is 90° from the direction of the motion!
When you’re feeding balls, 50 feet away from your student, how can you see if they’re balanced on their forehand?
Answer: You Can’t!
Filming from the sideline is the best way to find technical flaws in a student’s stroke. You can see the details of their swing from a different perspective, and correct the root flaw which fixes other issues in the stroke much faster and more effectively.
Learn how to create, edit, and share videos on the court from your cell phone. Enroll in our new Technical Analyst Certification Course!
Tip #3: Spend time studying film with your players off the court.
This makes your on-court time more efficient and generates off-court revenue…
🎾+🎞=💰
If you’ve ever tried to solve a problem for hours, then woke up the next morning with the solution, you’ll understand why this works.
Your students may be struggling with their backhand, and not understand the problem until they can study the film.
Reviewing video footage of their strokes off the court is a great way to get a player unstuck without even hitting a ball. They’ll often go back out there and see improvements in just a few shots.
Another benefit is the added revenue for your business.
- You can finish your on-court lesson and charge for an additional 30 minutes of off-court film time.
- During this time, another coach can use the court.
- You can also study film before a lesson to review/gameplan what you want to work on over the next hour.
Tip #2: Compare video of your players side-by-side to video of pro players they should emulate.
Create videos like this 👇 to have your student start serving like Federer 😉
Here’s why the world’s best coaches are doing this, and you should be too.
- Research shows that players learn MUCH faster with visuals. If they can see the differences in their stroke and “the right way” to swing, they’ll make corrections faster 👀
- It is much easier for you, the coach, to find flaws in the stroke. Many coaches make the huge mistake of thinking they can see everything from the other side of the net. This is often why a players skill level plateaus. Video lets us dig deeper into each stroke 🛠
- You can pause the video at key positions and find the exact point where the player needs to make a correction. This is simply not possible without video, and you’ll be amazed how much easier it becomes!
Tip #1: Keep a library or collection of videos for each of your players so you can document progress over time.
Why?
- It allows you to show your students their improvement, which gets players excited and more invested in tennis! 🎾🎾🎾
- It also makes parents happy to see the improvements their kids are making. You don’t have to explain the progress anymore, simply show them 😉
- You can use it as a recruiting tool to attract more players. When someone sees that you’ll be documenting their progress in this way, they’ll love it 👏
Want to learn how to start using video every time you coach?
Become a Certified Video Technical Analyst.
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