Kelly Jones: Top Ten Overrated Teaching Methods
Kelly Jones is a former #1 Doubles player and top 100 singles who coached Alex O'Brien to #35 in the world, Xavier Malisse, and Mardy Fish to number 17 in the world. Kelly runs LMS Tennis Academy in Tampa and is an Oscar guy. I love how you don't think about going through the target line though Kelly now realizes after meeting with Oscar personally that the followthough over the shoulder in MTM up by the ear is only emphasized in beginning stages of learning (though Djokovic still finishes there every time...it's whatever finish works best).
TOP 10 OVERUSED & OVERRATED TEACHING METHODS” by Kelly Jones
Kelly Jones: “I have now spent the last 11 years coaching and teaching junior and professional players. The same overused and overrated methods that challenged me throughout my career are still being taught today. It has become a passion of mine to help players navigate through all this misinformation so that they have a much better understanding of the game. By removing the myths, rules and structure from these popular teaching methods, players will have the ability to develop a much more natural way of playing tennis.”
RULE #1) GET PREPARED EARLY; What does this really mean? Prepare your racket first, prepare your body first, or both? This concept is very confusing. It seems logical when a coach says you are late swinging to the ball, you must prepare earlier. In truth, more times than not, it is actually the early preparation that results in the awkward, rushed feeling that many players associate with being late. Preparing early can disrupt a kind of natural rhythm and flow. Instead it is more important to prepare according to the situation or to the speed, spin, height or angle of the ball.
RULE #2) MOVE FORWARD INTO EVERY SHOT AND DON’T MOVE BACK:
It is amazing to me that this teaching method is still being taught. I would not have made a dime playing professional tennis if I didn’t rid myself of this #1 overused teaching method. All of the great players continually move in all directions, forward, backward, sideways, etc. It is impossible and unnatural to go forward all of the time. Using foreword momentum as a rule will cause all kinds of problems with your swing. You cannot get away with playing all offense like you could years ago. Changing from defense to offense requires great flexibility and few limitations. This method is responsible for players at all levels never reaching their full potential.
RULE #3) GET THERE AND GET SET: This rule implies that you get to that perfect position as quickly as possible in order to set your feet and have your racquet prepared. The flaw with this thinking is that very rarely in tennis are the conditions perfect and allow us to be in the perfect position. It does not allow for flexibility and the ability to adjust to the wind or bad bounces or playing on the clay. Thus, it will be really hard to find any kind of rhythm with this thinking unless the conditions are always perfect . Movement and preparation needs to be more instinctive. Sometimes it will be fast and sometimes slow depending on the situation. Too much structure when it pertains to preparation takes away from instinctive decision-making. It is much better to react naturally instead of being consumed with how you are going to react.
Rule #4) DON’T WAIT FOR THE BALL: Here in America we are taught to never let your opponent back into the court and always take time away from them. Learning to wait for the ball changed my career. Much of this philosophy is a result of playing on faster surfaces. The problem with this method is that players get in a panic mode. They will tend to rush easy put-a-way balls and often miss because of rushing. All the great players today know how to do what is called “hold” the ball. What does holding the ball mean? Well, they have essentially learned to wait for the ball. By waiting or holding the ball the players take the time to hit the right shot or take time to let their opponent make a move and then play the appropriate shot. The concept of “holding the ball” often can leave many of your opponents literally incapable of making a move for your shot. Sometimes you’ll take away your opponents’ time and other times you will deliberately hold the ball until your opponents made a move before you hit the shot.
RULE #5) EXTEND THROUGH CONTACT - FOLLOW THROUGH OVER YOUR SHOULDER: This method was popular years ago and remains a common teaching method. The idea is that after contact you can keep the ball on the strings longer by extending your follow-through towards the target. On film it is easy to see how the better players extend their racquet after impact. The arm does NOT control this. The arm is a passenger along for the ride. As the body unwinds or uncoils, the arm will naturally extend depending on the situation. This is a huge misconception. To physically move your arm forward trying to extend is an arm movement and independent of the body and will eventually cause all kinds of injuries. Finally, it is completely unnatural to have a predetermined follow-through like- over the shoulder by the ear. The follow-though will change depending on the situation.
RULE #6) STAY DOWN: It is commonly heard that you need to stay down though your shot. The fact is that sometimes you stay sown and sometimes you don’t. It is completely unnatural to stay down through impact most the time. If you stay down all the way through the shot you are not allowing the forces of rotation from a forehand or backhand to naturally take affect. It is not the staying down that keeps the ball in the court, but the rotation of the body. The rotation helps create the spin that is needed to keep the ball in the court. It is not that you don’t get down or load for your shots; it’s just that you don’t stay down through the entire shot. With the massive rotation of the body on your groundstrokes your body will have to come out of the down position.
RULE #7) HIT OUT IN FRONT: Today’s game is one of power and athleticism. Because of this fact there cannot be one set contact point like hit the ball out in front. Instead, there should be a strike zone and the actual contact point will happen within this zone depending on the type of shot you’re hitting and where you are in the court. From the center of the court you will likely make contact our in front of you. But, as you move laterally and /or backwards the contact pint will move further back in your strike zone. To have success in today’s game you must be able to play both offensive and defensive shots and that requires you to have flexibility with the contact point.
RULE #8) TAKE SMALL STEPS: Good positioning is obviously an important piece of the game. By consciously focusing on taking small steps takes away from allowing your mind to think and decide what shot you are going play. Small unneeded steps can actually result in poor balance. I believe that good footwork needs to be efficient and according to the situation. Your footwork needs to be smooth and fluid and “happy feet” does not promote this. It is much more effective to quiet your feet and let them react more naturally. Don’t get me wrong, there are times when small adjustment steps are necessary but you are not being efficient if you take 10 little steps to a shot that need 2 regular balanced steps.
RULE #9) TWO-HANDED BACKHAND IS ALL LEFT HAND: For anybody who has struggled with their two-handed backhand I can probably guarantee that you’ve heard someone tell you that it is because you’re not using your left hand enough! Boy, if only it was this simple. Yes, the left hand sometimes feels more active when you are trying to direct a certain shot, use more spin for a topspin lob or cases when you are in a defensive position. But the thing to understand is that this usually happens after contact. A breakdown with your two handed backhand is more likely from our chain link being out of sync from the beginning of the stroke. What this means is that instead of your left hand not helping enough it is in fact your bigger muscles that are not helping enough. Many players with great two-handed backhands, when asked say the shot is driven by the right hand, the same as in golf. (For a right handed player)
RULE#10) YOU MUST HAVE PATTERNS: The idea of patterns in today’s game has changed. The game has gotten so fast that it’s impossible to think that you could hit two crosscourt, one down-the-line every time and it will work. It is way to confining and uncreative. Also, who is to say that your opponent is going to hit just the right shot every time that will allow you to accomplish this pattern. In today’s game patterns are more about the ability to develop a strong foundation of repeatable high-percentage shots. In other words, if you can consistently hit your backhand crosscourt with depth, pace and accuracy this will enable you to create opportunities and take advantage of them. It is about setting up a point around your strength. Conventional thinking is that if you are getting to hit your strength most of the time, you will win most of the time.
Summary: Remember, Tennis teaching methods are based on opinion. My opinion is based on using these methods unsuccessfully in competition with my mortgage at stake. These limiting methods are really band-aids for the real problems that exist in improving technique. In order to reach your potential, your game should consist of these three elements; flexibility, ease of movement or flow, and rhythm. Flexibility in your strokes and having the ability to adapt is essential
