The first in a series of insights from professional instructors that can help you transform your game.
All tennis players have elements of their game that they want to improve. Sometimes, getting better can be as simple as having a teaching pro point something out, show you the proper form, have you run a few drills and, pretty soon, the correct technique is ingrained in your muscle memory. But often there can be a huge disconnect between what we know we should be doing on court, what we think we’re doing, and what we’re actually doing. Think of it as an athletic blind spot that makes it difficult to correct or improve whatever stroke it is that needs work. So what’s the best way to get rid of any blind spot? Expand your view! According to Joe Perez, Tennis Director at CityView racquet club in Long Island City, New York, recording and watching yourself play is not only a great way to understand what you’re doing wrong, but also one of the best ways to make that mind-body connection that leads to lasting change and improvement.
Thanks to advances in technology, the ability to record and watch yourself play is something virtually everyone has access to. Using the video mode of a basic camera phone, you can capture raw video of yourself and be able to self-analyze your form and strokes. Having done this myself, I can attest to the fact that what we think we’re doing on court and what we’re actually doing are sometimes vastly different: when I first started adding a jump to my serve, I was convinced I was leaping at least two feet into the air, but my homemade recording showed that my leap was actually more of a bunny hop that got just a few inches off the ground. (One word of caution about using camera phones on court: you may need to find some creative and potentially risky ways to balance the phone against fences or benches or other objects, so consider a tripod to optimize camera angles and prevent phone flop-overs.)
The next level of tennis analysis comes with platforms like PlaySight. Available in a limited number of tennis clubs and facilities around the country, this platform uses multiple cameras and proprietary software to record and analyze match play. The technology used in platforms like PlaySight is similar to that of “Hawkeye” used on the professional tour, and can provide an in-depth summary of statistics on everything from first-serve percentage to groundstroke net clearance to RPMs of your topspin forehand. I've used PlaySight before and, while the wealth of data it offers is definitely fascinating, it doesn’t actually provide any guidance on how to apply that data towards improving your game.
While platforms like Playsight provide quantitative data that paint a picture of your game, newer platforms like Twooog use video along with qualitative analysis from teaching professionals to not only show you what you’re doing, but also provide guidance on what you need to change, and how. With this system, you can have a lesson or match recorded and, within a day, have an edited reel that includes a detailed voice-over analysis from a teaching pro. For stroke filming and analysis, this can include a full-screen analysis, a side-by-side analysis of your “good” and “bad” strokes, and even a side-by-side analysis of your strokes and those of a professional player (see the demo videos here).
If you’re looking for a deeper understanding of your match play and strategy, Twooog can provide you with a tightly edited reel of your match highlights, along with professional analysis of your strategy and patterns, and what you could be doing to improve your game. One example includes focusing on what Joe Perez refers to as “tells,” which are patterns we play out unconsciously that telegraph our strategy to an opponent: “It’s just like in Poker,” says Joe, “if your opponent can read your tells and figure out what you’re going to do next, it puts you at a big disadvantage.” A classic example of this sort of tell is what Joe refers to as the “Crescendo rally.”
If you’ve reached a plateau in your tennis game but can't quite figure out what's holding you back, you should absolutely find a way to record and watch yourself play. Just like listening to your own voice on a recording, watching yourself play might feel strange or even cringe-worthy at first. But having the ability to see yourself from a different perspective -- the way an objective observer would see you -- can help you discover those “A-ha!” insights that can be powerful catalysts for transforming your game.
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