Shift in Learning

Something that I have noticed over the past 10 years is how youth tennis has changed or has it?  Something that we see now is more skill based lessons using a games based approach. Yes, we always want to have fluency and rote where we teach technique, but lessons have moved more to a cooperative games based format. It used to be that we would stand in a line, hit a forehand, a backhand, run up for a volley. Then we might practice our serve and then play.  Now we are seeing more cooperative learning strategies to help kids learn skills and apply their technique in context. 

"Long gone are the days of coaches barking orders and saying overused and empty phrases like “see the ball hit the strings” and passing that off as high-level learning." (Kalindi Dinhoffer, 2020)

Very few players can actually learn with auditory commands alone. It just doesn’t stick. And, when the player does kind of get it, they aren’t learning optimally. This where kinesthetic learning comes in. Kinesthetic learning is all about the feel of the game.  Something we are always encouraging is for the students to love the feel of the ball on the strings. If they can love the feel of the ball hitting the strings, that becomes a reason to keep playing. We want our students to remember how each stroke feels and when it felt good. That is why you will often hear us say, make it look good, make the finish look good, you may inspire yourself. How you finish helps with balance. We emphasize learning to be friends with the ball as 

Most players can recall, with excitement, when they finally figured out a certain shot or concept that had been giving them trouble. Kinesthetic learning is creates emotional involvement. .Students want to play more, be present, and stick with the game longer when they’re experiencing kinesthetic learning.