In my experience as a tennis coach, the more I learn about players' own individual styles of playing tennis, the more I question what really are bad habits in tennis. How do you describe a bad habit? Everyone is so worried about developing bad habits that they run from teaching pro to teaching pro and stress themselves out attempting to stave off the dreaded 'bad habit'! They read books and tennis magazines and study videos seeking answers to the ultimate tennis strokes.
Now do not get me wrong. I'm not telling you that there are no guidelines to follow when learning to play tennis. What I am telling you is these guidelines are far too rigid and in many cases totally incorrect! Do you know how many 'bad habits' there are in tennis history of the past that are now not only accepted as correct, but often preferred?
From the 1950's through the 60's and on, tennis pros were teaching that holding two hands on the racket for the backhand was a bad habit. They claimed two hands limited the player's reach and had too many drawbacks. So when pros gave tennis lessons they insisted that players stick with the one-handed backhand. Onto the professional scene came the likes of Chris Evert, Jimmy Connors and Bjiorn Borg. All with the two-handed backhand 'bad habit.' Well now maybe it's not all that bad! So the tennis professionals and amateurs slowly embraced the two-handed backhand to the point where nowadays the majority of players have the two-handed backhand 'bad habit.'
An interesting historical fact to note is that in the 1937 Australian Open between Vivian McGrath and John Bromwich both played tennis with two-handed backhands. Was it accepted then? Not even close! In fact it was ridiculed. Below is a searing excerpt from the Time Magazine 1937 archives specifically describing the experts' response to Vivian McGrath and his backhand. See what you think:
Time Magazine, Monday, 10 May 1937: "When Australia's Vivian McGrath appeared on the international tennis scene four years ago, experts could not have been more astonished had he been a kangaroo. For all backhand shots McGrath held his racket with both hands. For a first-class tennist to do such a thing was so unthinkable that tennis experts, instead of trying to explain it, simply regarded McGrath as an antipodean freak." Lots of "antipodean freaks" are around today. You may even be one!
And how about the swinging volley that at one time was considered a bad habit. Just another 'bad habit' gone right! Don't forget the big looping forehand of Bjiorn Borg with massive topspin...again another 'bad habit' gone right! The so-called experts said he could not win Wimbledon with those big looping tennis strokes. He won five championships in a row at Wimbledon and the experts were nowhere to be found. Now everyone has the 'bad habit' of hitting with a looping forehand.
How about the 'bad habit' of tossing the ball high on the serve. I remember watching the great Ivan Lendl toss the ball so high on his serve it would go off the television screen. His timing was set for that type of ball toss. I say, leave him alone!
Not too long ago hitting with an open stance on ground strokes was a 'bad habit.' Now it is becoming the standard.
Can you see why I do not teach tennis lessons with excessive technical information? First, learning tennis is an individual process. A bad habit for one player is fine for another. Second, the tennis profession is constantly changing the idea of what a 'bad habit' is. Third, and this is the key, most players' 'bad habits' are just part of the learning process. An example would be taking the racket back late on ground stokes. This is nothing to worry about. Taking the racket back late is just part of the individual learning process. You do NOT have to force the racket back. Eventually preparing the racket properly will resolve itself. This is a timing issue that will be resolved by hitting thousands of balls...no need to overthink this so-called bad habit.
How about the bad habit of falling off-balance when hitting a tennis stroke. Not a problem. Just keep swinging and in time your balance will improve. Falling off-balance is just a phase of learning that all players MUST go through.
STARTLING CONCLUSION
There is no way you can monitor every little movement each minute you play tennis. Practice some of the simple techniques which you have learned in your tennis lessons, but do not stress yourself out if your stroke is not perfect. A 'bad habit' today could be the next great shot of the future. Just like remembering "the next shot is more important then the last mistake," remember, when it comes to the process of learning keep moving on. The wisdom of the body is smarter than you are! Spontaneous and intuitive playing will come to the rescue after you have spent hours and hours and hours hitting thousands of tennis balls.
Stephane sent me a question that relates to talking to a prospect on the phone:
"When I'm listening to my prospect, I take notes but that usually creates a situation where I'm a little off when he stops talking. Of course what I wrote down serves me well later but at that moment I don't have this cleverness you talk about in communication Quality #1. Any suggestions?"
For those of you unfamiliar with my MLM training program Professional Inviter, Communication Quality #1 is"Be interested in your prospect".
I'll bet you've experienced that the first and foremost quality that is obvious when you're in contact with a good communicator is that they are genuinely interested in you. It isn't that they are slick or that they shellack you with fake attention; they are really interested in you. You see it in them, or hear it when on the phone with them. They really listen to what you say and they let you know they heard it.
When you're interested in your prospect, he or she will know it and communicate more openly with you. The Inviting Formula will go smoothly and the result will be that you will have more people joining your organization and buying your products.
Here's the MLM training tip you want to remember: It's important that you not be multi-tasking when you're on the phone with a prospect. Meaning, don't be clearing email, watching TV or surfing the Internet when you're talking to someone. And, the reason why is because when your prospect has completed what they are saying, your reply will be slightly or grossly off and your prospect will sense this. This is a good way to make someone feel unimportant and they will then be less open with you.
Just in case Stephane is asking me -"Am I allowed to multi-task if what I'm doing while multi-tasking has to do with the prospect?" The short answer is"No".
The trick, and it's not really a trick, it's a skill, is to have a pen and paper there (do not use a key board) and only jot down a couple of words. I don't profess to be the greatest at this. For a perfect example of this MLM training tip, you can listen to a recorded call on Professional Inviter with a woman named Madison who answered my ad, you can hear exactly how I take notes.
She was running through her needs/wants and I was listening. Then when she stopped I was a little late in responding (because I was still jotting her needs/wants down) and I said to her,"And that was" then I read back the items I had written down. The only reason I was writing them down was because she had a rather long list. Normally I just write a word or two and never "mentally disconnect" from the actual conversation. Then after the call I'll make notes under the prospect's contact information on my computer.
On occasion (as was the case with Madison) I actually let the prospect know what I'm doing. If you are indeed caught (by your delayed response) writing something down when they conclude their sentence, then just say something like,"Sorry, I was just jotting down what you want to achieve. This helps me to help you achieve it. Let me make sure my note is accurate." Then list the item(s) for them.
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Gen Wright has sinced written about articles on various topics from Terrier Dogs, Acne Treatment and Lose Weight. Tom Veneziano is a professional tennis coach who runs a successful website offering Find out how you can learn to. Gen Wright's top article generates over 1220000 views. to your Favourites.
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