Most players and coaches think of using video for tennis instruction as sitting down with a student and reviewing a video together, discussing technique or strategy or how both dovetail together in a particular situation. Which is great and I use it this way myself quite often. Another way though, that I stumbled upon more by accident than by design, is to video a tennis lesson that I give, and then watch it later by myself.
Now, I don’t sit around all day and watch videos, but in picking out the right spots, in just five minutes of reviewing a lesson I can see so much more to work on, and so much more that I missed (!) during the lesson. For example the other day I was working with a long-time client on her forehand footwork, and the different ways to recover after a shot. When I reviewed the video, I was shocked to see that she was not hitting with any topspin, something I would have stopped and worked on first as this was and is a big deal with her. The video also showed me that she was hitting an awesome backhand, and I complimented her on this the next week.
In summary, it’s hard to see everything when you are 70′ away feeding balls, and concentrating on just one thing. The video actually helps point out other things that can be so easy to miss! So every few lessons I review a video to see if I’m missing anything. Doesn’t take much time, and the client is impressed that I cared enough to take this extra step. And they keep coming back!
A view for the instructor to look at later on.
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