Some of the most well known problems beginners face include:
1) Too much information.
2) Impatience.
3) Not relying on their own feel for the racquet and ball
• they are often too concerned with technique and »proper« form, mostly influenced by coaches
4) Unrealistic expectations.
Take your time and absorb each and every tennis tip for a beginner and apply the slight change of thinking to your game. It will help you learn at the fastest possible rate.
1. Don’t try too hard – Even when your coach tells you to do something, it’s not an order; if your body says you can’t do it, you can’t do it. Of course we all need motivation to surpass our limits, but you need to make sure you keep the balance. Not only should you try as hard as you can to improve, you should also make sure you don’t end up overdoing it. Even when you miss, your coach, your body and your racquet all give you feedback as to what happened. How did that feel, how does my racquet face determine where the ball goes, and what is my coach suggesting to me. When things don’t work, start from the ground up. Soften your grip and your muscles and hit average shots for a while. The best way to fix your shot is to make sure you’re not neglecting the basics, often done when you’re frustrated after a few misses. This is especially true when trying out a new technique; make sure you start slow and easy, then work your way up.
2. Keep your expectations realistic – Do your best to have minimal expectations. You are always improving as fast as you can. The only problem that can arise is in your mind; if you believe that you are not improving fast enough, then you won’t be. If you focus your mind on what you can’t do, your game starts suffering. Your shots begin to suffer as a direct consequence of unrealistic expectations and your game suffers even more. Most importantly, make sure you’re having fun, because if you’re not, your game will continue to suffer.
3. Focus on your feel and how this affects the outcome – you should of course listen to your coach and do your best to do the correct stroke. However, this is not the most important part of a good shot, feeling for the ball and racquet is. Not everyone has the same technique, so while your coach can provide excellent guidance, the best way to find your shot is to practice. Start looking for your feel in each shot as you practice. Many good drills for beginners are in the Inner Game for beginners section.
4. There are no mistakes, only feedback – If you hit the ball into the net, hit higher next time. It is that simple. You don’t have to complicate things with knees, going under the ball and follow through and so on. It will all happen by itself as long as you stay calm and keep playing your best.
5. Keep moving – dance, jog, make small hops, do anything to just keep moving. Standing still on the spot makes your moves even tighter than they already are since your muscles don’t stay stretched out. Not only will moving around speed you up, it will also help you get worn out much slower.
6. Most importantly, be patient – it takes time for your brain to start making adjustments from all that information coming in. So when a coach instructs you to hit in a certain way or aim for certain areas of the court, do your best to take that info in and work with it in real time. Then, wait for your body to adapt to the changes. Don’t look for results after 10-20 shots. Real results will show up much later, like during your next game. The results will come, be patient.
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