There are a myriad of ways to use TennisONE to improve your game. From the high-speed film of various tour players executing their strokes to the huge lesson library, the site offers many opportunities to build your strokes, strategy, tactics, mental game, sport fitness, and more. In this article, I will outline strategies that will enable you to use TennisONE ProStrokes Gallery to upgrade your game.

The Pro Strokes Gallery features over 3,000 video clips of top professionals executing various shots from a variety of angles. This provides you with an incredible opportunity to observe and model strokes from some of the greatest players ever, both past and present.

Because there is so much variety in stroke styles, I suggest you consult with an instructor to find models that fit your game. If you are determined to go it alone, look for a stroke that you connect with intuitively and which represents where you want to go.

Obviously, if you use a one-handed backhand, you wouldn’t want to use Andre Agassi as a backhand model, unless you want to develop a two-handed backhand. Believe it or not, I have had people tell me that they wanted to use a model whose stroke was radically different from their own, just because they ‘liked’ the player.

How People Learn

Before we launch into how to use the site, let’s take a look at how people learn. Research has shown that most people learning sports have three primary learning mechanisms:

• Visual
• Kinesthetic
• Auditory

We employ some combination of these mechanisms to take in information, process, and integrate it. Basically, we tend to see and mimic, as in ‘monkey see, monkey do’ (visual), feel something like an internally experienced blueprint (kinesthetic), or hear information and convert that into images and feelings. What’s vital here is that whether you are more auditory or kinesthetically oriented, you will use some aspect of your visual learning system to learn sports.

Do you know your primary learning style? I often ask my students questions to ascertain their learning modes and listen for responses. For example, if someone says, “I’m getting the feel for it,” or “I don’t feel it,” they’re providing pretty strong clues that they are referencing their kinesthetic or feeling awareness. If they say, “I see what you mean,” or “Can you show me that again,” this person is engaging their visual system. Or if they say, “Say that again” or “Can you explain that again” they are using their auditory system.

Academic studies have suggested that a high percentage of sports learning is done visually and kinesthetically, with a relatively small percentage of learners preferring verbal or auditory information.

Although neither developed Rod Laver’s exact stroke styles, both McEnroe and Sampras used the great champion as a model.

Look inside yourself to find whether visual imagery seems predominant, a feeling for the movement or action is strong, or if you hear descriptions or keys and cuing words. One way to do this is simply to think about tennis – do your thoughts come in the form of images, feelings, or words? What seems predominant? Can you detect a combination of these?

My own learning system is primarily visual with a strong kinesthetic underpinning. For me, when I get ‘the feel’ in concert with the image, I can enter the zone and play extremely well. If I’m learning something new, I know to use the visual first and find the feeling that supports the imagery. So a first lesson in using a virtual learning opportunity such as TennisONE is to Know Thyself! If you know how you learn, you’ll be able to devise the best strategies to improve, which may include reading more or listening to information (auditory/verbal), practicing physical awareness skills (kinesthetic), or viewing images (visual).

We often model what we see. As children, we learn so much by observing and imitating adults and peers. This powerful system is built into humans and used naturally in our formative years. What I have observed through many years of coaching is that while adults have often developed their analytical minds, they have, in many cases, simply forgotten the modeling system that is their birthright.

Model the Best

Let’s look at a couple of modeling stories. Pete Sampras offers a great example, which was cited during the 2003 US Open. Pete modeled after Grand Slam champion Rod Laver – watching an old match film of the Australian great over and over until the imagery was thoroughly ingrained.

John McEnroe, likewise, spoke of modeling Laver, saying he simply wanted to play like him. Neither player, of course, developed Laver’s exact stroke styles or became a robotic copy. Rather, they converted what they ‘saw’ into meaningful information that could be integrated into their own games.

Both Sampras and McEnroe engaged their own imaginations by using someone they considered to be an outstanding model of how to play tennis. In both of these cases, the modeling was used to develop the larger picture of the player’s game, not so much specific stroke techniques.

Modeling Strokes

Since many recreational players want to refine their strokes, which in turn can improve their performance consistency, let’s look at using the Pro Strokes Gallery. I suggest viewing different angles of the images. Find the angle (side, rear, front) that speaks to you the most and from which you can best imagine yourself.

For example, I ‘see’ my strokes most clearly from a side angle, movement and tactics from the rear (fence height view). At the same time, I encourage you to explore viewing the strokes from different angles, as a visual model from different perspectives will expand your understanding of the stroke movement.

Spend some time with the imagery, viewing the time on TennisONE as a practice session. If you’re working on your forehand, dedicate a half hour to watching video. Watch the player, then close your eyes and imagine yourself hitting the same stroke. If you can’t quite imagine yourself doing it, try imagining the player you are using as a model. Then replace the player with yourself.

Mirror Modeling

Watching the video clips on Pro Strokes is helpful to clarify what a good stroke looks like – what ties the image to stroke production is a physical rehearsal of the movement. One tool I have found helpful with my students is combining the Pro Strokes Gallery with using a mirror to model strokes.

Mirror modeling is a great learning tool because it supplies ‘real time’ visual feedback while experiencing kinesthetic awareness. You can literally see your strokes and make adjustments to reflect the refinements you want to make.

If you are working with an instructor, the pro can help you define reference points to visually imprint. Read Monty Basnyat’s article on, The Art of Self Coaching, in the TennisONE Lesson Library. You can pick up some excellent tips on how to self-correct on court. A more visually inclined player may simply run the self-correcting image in his or her mind’s eye.

A kinesthetically inclined player might shadow the stroke and ‘feel’ it. Remember Boris Becker? When he made errors, he often asked the ball kid for a ball and would simulate the correction of the mistake, as if to say to his mind and body, ‘That’s what I want.’

Linda’s Story

Years ago, before TennisONE became available, I trained a woman who started with me as a 2.5 with a weak forehand technique.

In addition to our on-court training, I had her watch videos of various players to imprint images of a solid turn and racquet take-back, recorded videotapes of my forehand for her to model, and spent hours in front of an aerobics studio mirror having her shadow stroke while working with her on correcting and modifying her turns, technique, and movement.

Over three year’s time, Linda improved from a weak 2.5 at her club to the top 15 in the state in the women’s 35 and over. To her credit, she worked very hard, spending countless hours on the practice courts, in the gym doing strength training, playing matches, and losing a lot. There is no doubt in my mind that the repeated use of imagery combined with the physical rehearsals and mirror training substantially improved her strokes.

Remember, when using the imagery in the ProStrokes Gallery, choose the angles that best connect you to the model. If you ‘see’ a stroke or movement more clearly from the rear, the left side, the front, or any particular standpoint, use that angle most often to view the strokes you are modeling. Use your mouse to stop the stroke at different points and take the time to model what you see. Again, the mirror is a great tool to use in conjunction with the imagery on the site.

Another tip is to focus on particular aspects of the stroke fundamentals, such as Agassi’s beautiful unit turn in preparation for your groundstrokes. Using the pros as models to develop fundamentals such as balance, stillness of the head, and rhythm, may help you more than trying to model and copy an entire stroke.

Remember, many of the top pros are not sure exactly what they do to generate their strokes. The unconscious genius implied by that phenomenon is, to me, what Jim McLennan was pointing to in his piece “First Things First,” in which he emphasized rhythm, balance, and feeling, suggesting that many recreational tennis players probably think too much.

The ‘no brain’ approach used by many of the pros may be what unlocks their authentic swing, or a stroke that can’t be taught, only elicited naturally by the athlete.

Your comments are welcome. Let us know what you think about Stephen Robinson's article by emailing us here at TennisONE

Stephen Robinson is the co-founder and developer of The Magis Group, LLC, a company providing stress-management, personal development, team building, and leadership training to businesses, education, government, health care, and non-profit organizations.

He is a 20-year USPTA veteran and has served as a college coach, club and resort professional, private coach, personal trainer, exercise leader, and tennis and fitness consultant.

For more information on how Stephen can assist you, contact him at tennisfit@yahoo.com or call (303) 444.2912.