Deliberate Practice

Practice is loving the feel of the ball on the strings. Practice is the pursuit of mastery. To make your game look effortless and to be the example that will inspire someone else. How do we get there though? It isn't just practice for the sake of practice, but deliberate practice. Deliberate practice refers to a special type of practice that is purposeful and systematic. While regular practice might include mindless repetitions, deliberate practice requires focused attention and is conducted with the specific goal of improving performance.Taking the time to work on the little things like the forearm turn on the serve or the swing pattern on the forehand. It is that deliberate action of practicing the tedious movements as well as playing games and sets. The key to mastery is this intentional focus of 10,000 hours. When someone commits over 10,000 hours of intentional and hard work, suddenly they are an overnight success. We always incorporate the deliberate practice, the routine of working on the mechanics of the strokes and applying it in a game situation in our lessons. By incorporating that routine our students have a practice plan they can use outside of our lessons on their journey towards mastery.

The Standard Method

For twenty years I have been trained in the Standard Method. What is the Standard Method? The Standard Method is the name of the teaching methodology the Professional Tennis Registry uses as the framework to design lessons. This method is a Gradual Release of Responsibility that allows students to see a model, get guided practice, and then apply their new skill on their own. 

What makes this system so unique is how we are able to use cooperative learning and differentiation to allow students of all ability levels the chance to learn in one environment. We can adapt the lesson to the student strength and area of growth. We also focus on mastery of the skill by focusing on repetition and learning goals. Over the next couple posts I would like to discuss more about our methodology and how it helps me as well as your child  create a framework for overall mastery.