The word practice is used very often when we talk about tennis and sports in general, but I believe it's an action that could be performed much better.
In most definitions of practice it describes 'repeating of an action' in order to create a habit. Habits need time to form, and depending on the individual or the habit being formed, it takes on average 66 days to create. To bring this back to Tennis, this would mean that making a skill like; 'creating good topspin on your forehand', would take on average 66 days of practice, just on that skill alone to make it automatic. This is to illustrate the attention to detail and time needed to be able to consolidate a skill.
What this would mean is that in order to accomplish the final skill one would need to acquire the smaller skills first before putting it all together. For example: In order to develop a good inside out forehand one needs to master the proper footwork then move on to other skills.
We are used to getting things very quickly, especially in our modern day life. Access to information, people, products have never been easier. If we need a definition; we ask Siri. If we need some food late at night, we order Uber eats. We need to view practice in a different light. Not just something that we do, but something that we work on and work through, in order to accomplish our goal however small or big. This is what is referred to as 'deliberate practice'. When practicing, we should be looking to be getting better at ONE specific thing, and that should be connected to your overall goal. We feel like we can multitask, but when developing or consolidating a skill, we need to be focused, and trying to adjust more than ONE thing at a time will make that very challenging. We need to deliberately try to work on the skill at hand, and be able to self evaluate if you are doing that skill efficiently.
Hope to see everyone on the courts deliberately practicing!
