Form or Feel

Should I focus on form or feel?  This is a great debate because the answer is both.

Each person has a dominant approach to the game.  It is based on how you approach all things in life.  Are you a left brained or right brained?  Left sided people see things from a logical, empirical perspective.  Right sided people from an artist, feeling perspective.

When you first start playing tennis, you will find yourself following one path or the other.  As you develop in the game, you incorporate some of both.  But you will still have a dominant approach.

I’m a very form oriented person.  When I started playing, I wanted to mimic the perfect stroke and make it repetitive.  That’s the way it has been for me in all sports.  It has helped me to accelerate my proficiency.  However, the downside has been that my competitive side became the late bloomer.  In golf, it was the short game – pitching and putting.  In tennis, it was touch shots and point construction.  I was a great hitting partner, because my strokes were very repetitive.  What was missing was the creative element.  That has taken time.

That is why I now recommend a method that uses a blend of drills that develop good form and enhanced feel.  One quick way to work in this is to develop great racket skills.  Try bouncing the ball in the air using backspin on both sides of the racket; alternate sides. Also, bounce the ball on the edge of the racket.  Try playing mini-tennis (service area only) using only underspin.  Practice drop shots and lobs.  Don’t worry about perfect placement; focus on feel.

As you work on other strokes (forehand, backhand, service) remember to not only work on the muscle memory of repetitive motion, but also try to feel the ball on the strings. Ultimately it will be the feel that makes you a good competitor.  The form will accelerate your growth in terms of level of play, but feel will dictate your success.