Learning to Play Tennis - KISS Is KEY!

What are you talking about Bradstreet? KISS? This is an article on how to play tennis, not romance.

No, no, no. I mean keep it simple Sally/Sam. When you first start to learn tennis, the key is to not over complicate things.

As a tennis coach for over 21 years, I have personally changed my approach to teaching this great game of ours. When I started, I placed heavy emphasis on the technical side of the game. Grips, backswing, follow through, etc. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

Read on...

I have also run a successful tennis school and tennis management company which means that I have hired many coaches over the years and have seen many different coaching philosophies. Some coaches attempt to fly past all technicalities and move to advanced strategy and tactics. Not the right approach. On the other hand, I have seen other tennis pros micromanage technique in our students to a fault.

The ideal approach is a hybrid of the two approaches above. When first learning tennis, a student can most benefit by learning basic methods to sustain a rally and play a modified form or "real tennis". Enjoyment of the game is a key component to one's future success. If a new tennis player focuses too much on technique, the student may become overwhelmed and frustrated.

My suggestion is that you, as the student, experiment with modified rules and formats for play. Try playing with three bounces, then progress to two bounces then one. In other words, as you improve over days or weeks of beginning play, you can use fewer and fewer bounces until you are eventually playing with once bounce. Small children may want to use a good til rolling rule then progress to three, two, one bounces as they improve.

Serves are always a tough new tennis skill to learn. Toss this way, use this grip, hit in this box, don't foot fault. The list goes on. How 'bout doing a 5 serve rule for serves instead of 2? As you improve, you can progress to less serve attempts. Or, perhaps, you should allow any serve that lands inside the singles line to count. Eliminate the need to land the ball in the service box.

What I 'm getting at is this...

Don't be afraid to modify the rules a bit so you can learn. Enjoy your start to this sport of a lifetime. Smile while you learn and get fit.

I encourage my coaches to get our students rallying fast - whatever it takes. As students improve, we can slowly bring fundamentals into the mix. Don't get me wrong. If fundamentals and proper technique are not introduced and learned, you, as a student, will hit a wall. Your ability as a tennis player will hit a lid. You will have a hard time progressing past a certain point.

So, get out and play a bit. Get fit, have fun, smile and enjoy!