19/10/2023
There's no doubt that power plays a decisive role in today's tennis. Professional players are tall, strong and able to generate great racquet acceleration. But how do they develop this skill?
The original philosophy of training is pretty simple and logical: first you develop good technique and solid control, then you work on power. But as power becomes a more important element in gaming, a different training theory emerges: focus on the speed of the racquethead as soon as possible, even if that means losing control. With time you will develop control.
Both approaches have its issues. Players who grow up with an excessive emphasis on control, find it very difficult to change their play style and develop a more aggressive style in the future, especially when they have been very successful in emphasizing the consistency of junior categories.
When it comes to ultra-aggressive players, trust is often difficult to build when they constantly lose games over unforced errors.
So what is the best approach? It's most likely a mix of both philosophies, combining exercises that only emphasize control, exercises where the racket acceleration is the only objective, and exercises that combine control and acceleration.
For example, in a pure control exercise, players are required to hit 20 balls in a row with a partner. Example: One player strikes cross, the other hits the long line. The goal is not to make mistakes.
In a combined drill, players increase their strike speed at set intervals. For example, two players hit five slow balls and then increase the strike rate of the next five strikes and so on, after every five until someone makes a mistake.
Combining all of these drills and constantly working through practice to find the fastest speeds the player can still control the ball, players can develop both control and power at the same time!
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