Why Should a Junior Tennis Player Use Video to Improve
Can the average junior tennis player improve by taking and looking at videos of himself/herself ? How much does it help? I think any good coach will answer a resounding “yes”! For the typical junior tennis player, I think it is invaluable that he receive accurate, blunt feedback. It is so easy to think that your strokes are picture perfect, or your footwork is okay, because they feel that way, when in reality, they are not at all what you think they are.
Early in his career, one can make changes without having to first break down ingrained habits. As a tennis coach, one of the biggest (and most dreaded) challenges I face is trying to correct a stroke of someone who has been playing a certain way for a number of years. It’s nearly impossible, and it’s only possible if the client is extremely motivated. Very few are.
So for any junior out there I say, look at yourself truthfully with video and make any corrections now. Sure, your coach might be telling you something, but I contend (and many coaches will back me up on this one) that seeing yourself doing the behavior is worth a thousand times having someone tell you you’re doing a certain behavior. What I hear from coaches and parents all the time is that they are tired of repeating themselves over and over to seemingly deaf ears, so they finally avail themselves of video. Problem solved.
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