Learn our proven system for enhancing player development with video in our new Technical Analyst Certification Course!
Video technology started affecting tennis many years ago, but today we’re on the cusp of a video revolution in our sport.
Below, we’re going to show you how video analysis is currently being used at the highest levels of tennis, why coaches who are early to adopt in this video revolution will benefit from it most, and how a coach can learn to start using video in the player development process starting from scratch.
You’ll also hear from some of the best coaches in the world on how video is affecting coaching and player development.
In 10 or 20 years, we’ll look back at player development and tennis coaching without video like we look back at the continental forehand now. It will be mind-blowing that we used to teach this way.
How the Best Coaches are Using Video Technology in Tennis Today?
We’ve had tennis on TV for a long time but today, tour coaches, top college programs, and even many high-performance academies are using video in their player development.
We use video with our tour coaches, colleges, & academies in two primary ways here at Tennis Analytics.
- Technique Development – Improving a player’s form in a stroke or serve.
- Strategic Development – Improving a players in-match strategy, tactics, & patterns they use to win. This also includes player scouting at the pro level.
For technical stroke development, coaches are creating side-by-side video comparisons with a pro player or with their own stroke from a few weeks ago, documenting the progress.
This has never been possible. Before, coaches had to guess or explain with words how a student’s forehand or serve has improved.
In strategic development, we use match film to document which locations players are hitting winners to and from, making errors to and from, including which serve and return locations are leading to winning.
Today, we’re focused on technical stroke development. This is where coaches often spend the majority of their time with students, and where players often get stuck. Here’s why video fixes that.
Learn how to create, edit, and share videos on the court from your cell phone. Enroll in our new Technical Analyst Certification Course!
Why the Best Tennis Coaches are Using Video to Improve Technique
We surveyed some of the top coaches in the world already using video to develop their players. There were 3 primary reasons they found video essential for their coaching.
#1 – It Makes Coaching (and Recruiting) Easier
Trying to analyze a stroke in real-time, from the other side of the court, at best doesn’t work very well, and at worst, hurts a players development.
When you start using video, you begin to more easily find flaws in strokes. You can play back the video of the student and compare side-by-side in slow motion with Federer, for example, to find the differences.
As you document each of your students’ strokes, you develop a library of objective video that shows clear progress in their game.
This helps massively in three areas:
- Player Recruiting – When players hear that you’re using video in this way, they will want to be a part of it. The coaches who adopt this early might have the only program in their area using video, making it a great recruiting tool.
- Player Retention – Existing students who see their own progress become more invested in the process of getting better, and won’t burn out or leave for another coach.
- Keep Parents Happy – We’re talking to you junior academies! Imagine how much easier your life will be when you can quickly upload and share a video of a kid’s progress with the parent.
Video is critical to technical teaching. Few if any students realize how their strokes actually look. By using side by side video with good technical models players can make fundamental improvements. Beyond that, they can translate technical information into the language of imagery and feeling and escape the paralysis that comes from trying to talk your way through a stroke with words inside your head.
John Yandell, Editor and Founder of TennisPlayer.net
Want to learn our proven video coaching system? Learn more about becoming a certified technical analyst here.
#2 – Players Improve MUCH Faster
Right now, most coaches teach tennis by talking to their students. This is called auditory learning.
Research has proven that auditory learning is less effective than visual.
Some coaches will try to mimic a Federer forehand to show the student what it looks like. They think they’re demonstrating it correctly, but we’ve found they’re almost always not. Plus, you can’t show the side-by-side visual this way.
That means video provides a huge opportunity for coaches to develop their players more effectively. The side-by-side and frame-by-frame capabilities of video allow players to see the stroke in the mind’s eye and make corrections much quicker.
Video analysis is a tool I could not live without. My students are simply better aware and have improved faster thanks to video analysis.
I recommend using video analysis on a level you are comfortable and build up from there. As with any new tool, we need practice to improve as well.
Alex Johansson, Tennis Techie
#3 – Add Revenue to Your Program
The last, and possibly most attractive reason to add video coaching to your tennis program, is the added revenue.
Aside from the added revenue, you’ll see through recruiting and player retention, you can also develop off-court coaching services.
Instead of limiting your revenue on-court coaching hours, video coaching allows you to charge students for 30-minute off-court training. Rainy days don’t have to hurt your revenue.
Video analysis is a proven teaching and learning tool for coaches and players. Video is objective and enables coaches to document a player’s progress over time. It also provides professionals with an effective way to generate off-court revenue. Remote coaching has recently become more relevant, so adopting the use of video is almost a necessity.
John Embree, CEO United States Professional Tennis Association
Start generating more off-court revenue with our proven video coaching system. Learn how to become a certified technical analyst here.
How to Get Started with Video Coaching
There are a few reasons many coaches are still not using video coaching.
- Coaches just don’t understand how effective it can be. Hopefully, now you’re convinced 😉
- It’s too much work to deal with recording, uploading, and editing video.
- They’ve never found an effective and simple system.
At Tennis Analytics, we have spent over a decade using video and perfecting a more effective coaching system.
We’ve already trained dozens of coaches on this system, and are excited to announce that it’s now available for coaches all around the world.
If you want to implement video coaching into your program, improve players faster, and start generating more off-court revenue, click below to learn more about our new Technical Analyst Certification Course.
Learn our proven system for enhancing player development with video in our new Technical Analyst Certification Course!
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