I recently witnessed an interesting conversation between a tennis coach and a group of students. After they were forced off court due to rain, the coach had his students sitting at a table discussing a variety of topics. It was a group of 10 and 11-year-old students, and the chat began with the coach asking three questions: Who their favourite player was, can they name the Grand Slams and general tennis questions to get an understanding of their knowledge and interest in the sport.
After the coach's questions, he asked if the players had any questions for him. One boy raised his hand and asked: "Why is it that you can win more points than your opponent and still lose a match in tennis?" The coach tried to explain the scoring system with the difference between games, sets, and different formats, but the group were unconvinced. This led to more questions being asked of the coach who had to be on his toes with his responses.
A young girl was next to ask her question. "Why is tennis so confusing?" "In what way?" asked the coach. "Well, you always tell me to run fast but then you tell me I get too close to the ball and need to take my time! Then when I do take my time you say I am slow and need to run faster: very confusing!" The coach tried to explain about reading the ball flight, preparing early and footwork patterns, but he didn’t have much luck.
The next girl raised her hand and said: "Yes, tennis is so confusing." "What makes you say that?" replied the coach. The girl answered: "You always tell me to be consistent and don’t make errors but then you say I should be more aggressive, but that makes me make errors." The coach explained about shot selection, the importance of being consistent, but being able to take your opportunities when they were presented. This prompted several raised eyebrows from the group.
The students were all on the same page now and the questions and comments continued. One boy commented: "You always say I need to think about what shot I am hitting and why I hit that shot, and I need to think about my opponents’ strengths and weaknesses as well as my own but then you say I need to relax, don’t overthink and just hit the ball. How can I relax when I have so much to think about?" The coach tried to justify the difference between training and playing, experience, routines and having a clear mind. However, the group were sceptical.
The next young girl then admits: "I think tennis is very confusing as well." "Why is that?" asks the coach. "Well, last term I could beat everyone in this group easily but then you made me use continental grip to serve and now I am losing to everyone. You said sometimes I need to get worse before I get better, but I was already better!" The coach detailed the long-term advantages of using a continental grip but I’m not sure the young girl was buying it!
Time was up and as the students left, the coach said to me: "That was much harder than any lesson I’ve done on the court!"
It was certainly a thought-provoking afternoon and it made me think that even though we think we know the rules, techniques and tactics of the game inside and out and it all makes sense to us, in our young and impressionable students' eyes... is tennis really that logical or is it full of contradictions?
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