Jorge Capestany - TennisDrills TV

Practice or Match Play

Many players find that they have several shots in their arsenal they can use in a practice setting, but they are not usable to them in a match setting.

While this is frustrating for players, it is also a typical and common progression for many shots we learn. Coaches must teach players about this reality or the player may develop a mindset that they are “losers” and can never come through when it counts.It is helpful to look at each shot as it progresses through 3 distinct stages of mastery.

• Stage 1 – Can not do it in practice or in a match.
• Stage 2 – Can do it in practice but not in a match.
• Stage 3 – Can do it in practice and in a match.

The trap to avoid is having too many of your shots in stage 2. These are the players that believe thay are “broken” and can not compete very well. If players realize that stage 2 is a natural progression to stage 3, they will be more likely to hang in there with a new shot until they master it.

Match play is a powerful tool in helping players realize what stage their shots are in. This is a real problem for most America junior players who typically play 4-5 times fewer practice sets than their counter-parts in other countries.

The real lesson to be learned is that match play should not be avoided and is simply a method for getting feed-back about your shots and game and not a measure of how “valuable” a person may or not be as a human being.

Jorge Capestany - TennisDrills TV

Jorge is the Founder of www.tennisdrills.tv - a video based website that shows more than 700 videos of tennis drills and tips. Jorge is one of only nine people world-wide that is a Master Professional with both the USPTA and PTR. Jorge is a 6-time Michigan Pro of the Year a 2-time Midwest Pro of the Year. Jorge has coached hundreds of ranked juniors including 3 national champions.