Tennis Improvement Memo 599. Why does focusing on 'correct form' make your tennis worse?

"Bend your knees, and keep your contact point in front."
Such straightforward form instruction might actually be a 'sweet drug' that eats away at your mind and body.
Instruction that mimics the appearance of a pro is foolproof.
However, whether they are actually 'conscious' of it is a different matter.
I will deliver the 'naked truth' to help you escape the quagmire of form and improve dramatically.

▶ Why 'appearance-based instruction' is popular

"If you bend your knees, your shots will stabilize."

"If you cock your wrist, the face won't wobble."

"If you keep your contact point in front, you can hit powerful shots."

It is very easy to say things like that.

After all, if it's about appearance, such as how to hit or form, it's easy for the instructor to convey and easy for the student to understand.

It's easy to understand, simple, and makes you feel like you can do it if you just grasp it with your head.

These are so-called 'sweet talk'.

▶ Because it's 'unconventional,' it becomes a potent medicine

However, 'good medicine tastes bitter.'

The world of focus and imagery is invisible and hard to understand, so it might be difficult for both instructors and students to swallow.

Nevertheless, that bitterness is what 'works' for the mind and body.

Since the content is completely different from the hitting methods and form corrections you've known until now, you might receive a 'shock'.

That shock is exactly what becomes a 'potent medicine' for struggling players.

Your previous 'inability to hit disease' or 'fear of hitting disease' will be cured instantly.

▶ Why do serious people end up in tatters?

On the other hand, 'drugs taste sweet.'

Hitting methods and form corrections certainly 'look delicious'.

If you understand them with your head, you can feel like you can do it.

However, there is a danger that it will actually eat away at your mind and body.

As proof, even though you started tennis to enjoy it, aren't you in tatters, thinking, "Why isn't it going well!" "I hate this..." "Should I quit?"

▶The cause of tennis elbow is not 'overdoing it'

You might even be experiencing specific symptoms, such as 'my elbow hurts too!'

As I wrote in my book 'Tennis Base Method',suffering from tennis elbow is not caused by playing too much tennis as is often said, but is triggered by 'being conscious' of your hitting method or form.

It is not a simple reason like pros don't get it because they have strong bodies.

If you don't focus on your hitting method or form andyour timing for hitting the ball matches up, you won't get tennis elbow even if you play as much tennis as a pro or receive powerful balls.

A good hit, not just in tennis, is because as Masataka Yoshida, who hit two consecutive come-from-behind two-run homers in the WBC Australia game, said, there is'no' feeling of impact (related article 'The misunderstanding of 'having a good feeling of impact'').

▶The trap of 'sound arguments' that no one can deny

I don't mean to say that form instruction is wrong.

No, form instruction is 'impossible to be wrong'.

Form instruction begins with the analysis of players evaluated as having an ideal form.

'The take-back pulls the racket from above'

'The knees are bent properly'

'The hip joints are being used'

'The left hand is pointed toward the ball', and so on.

These are compared to point out the student's mistakes.

'The take-back is too low'

'The knees are stiff'

'The hip joints are not being used'

'The left hand is dead', and so on.

▶Even if you trace the shape, you cannot become Sinner

All the points made should be correct.

Because they are explaining by tracing the appearance.

It is true that Jannik Sinner faces the hitting surface backward during the take-back, but since the student's faces sideways, the two are different.

Because it is a point about appearance, it is 'impossible to be wrong'.

However, whether Sinner is 'conscious' of the take-back where the hitting surface faces backwardis a different matter.

If he is not conscious of it, then instruction that makes the student conscious of it is a matter of 'being conscious vs. not being conscious', sothe approaches of the two become completely opposite.

▶Form consciousness is an endless quagmire

As mentioned earlier, there is no end to the list, such as 'take-back', 'knees', 'hip joints', 'left hand', etc.

I should add thatform instruction has no end.

I can point out as many things as you like, such as the 'palm,' 'index finger,' or 'first knuckle.'

Things like 'taking the racket back early' are also instructions on 'creating a shape' to take it back early, so they are at thecore of form instruction.

▶ The mystery of getting worse the more you focus

Moreover, these things change depending on the situation.

It is not enough to be able to do them only when feeding balls.

And since tennis deals with 'one unique ball,' the situation changes rapidly, so there is literally no end to it no matter how far you go.

In other words,as long as you try to improve through form, that endeavor will continue forever.

Furthermore, because it doesn't go well when you 'focus' on form, it is not only endless but also exhausting.

That is why you end upfalling apart, thinking things like 'Why isn't it working!', 'I hate this...', or 'Should I quit?'

▶ The naked truth will save you

The world of concentration and imagery is certainly difficult to understand, but I will deliver it as a'truly effective medicine' wrapped in a sugar coating so that anyone can swallow it.

If your strokes improve dramatically, there is a 'secondary effect' where that benefit spreads to your serve, volleys, and so on, but there are absolutely no side effects just because it tastes bitter.

In short,the 'Tennis Base Method' is a 'secret medicine' that is all good, such as improving your tennis, stabilizing your mental state, and allowing you to lead a healthy life because you are less prone to injury.


▼'Tennis Base Method: A Theory of Improvement Without Fixing Form'
Paperback version
https://amzn.to/497GdIy
E-book version
https://amzn.to/4v4Ws1z

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