I’ve been coaching all wrong. That’s what I realized after seeing Craig O’Shannessy speak live.
Here are the top 3 changes that I will be making to my coaching.
- 70% of all points are rally’s that last 0-4 shots
Therefore, practice needs to be more hyper focused on these shots. The serve and the return and the plus one on each. That’s why I created a game for the Serve +1 that focus on that aspect of the game. Serve a lot more, return a lot more and focus on keeping the plus 1 in more often and more aggressively.
2. In doubles, don’t follow the ball, follow the player.
I’ve probably said follow the ball about a million times. And then Craig pointed out that is wasted energy because if the player is wide and hitting the ball from a low position, they are probably going crosscourt. So, what we need to focus on more is to look at the player and their body language because it’s going to tell you the whole story. If they are out of position and reaching for the ball or leaning back, that’s a perfect time to go to the center and look to steal a poach. If they are leaning in and having a ball in their strike zone then it’s time to hold my ground and cover the line.
3. The area that players hit the most winners is A, the deuce side of your opponent.
What that means is that the down-the-line backhand and inside in forehand become the shots to practice more. I never practice the down-the-line backhand because it’s a low-percentage shot. Instead, I will be focusing on working on that shot. I’ve always loved the inside in but now I have proof to work on that shot with my clients.
Those are the 3 areas that I will be coaching differently, they are counterintuitive. The numbers don’t lie so let’s start practicing the parts of the game that have the greatest effect. Then we will start to see the results we are looking for. We will have more fun because the game will become clearer to us and the patterns start to make sense.
your coach
Greg
Do you want to get better at first 4 shots and have fun doing it? Then grab my Serve +1 drill that focuses on just those shots and is gamified so it’s a lot of fun. You only need to do it 5-10 minutes every practice. Get it below…