How long will it take to learn tennis?
Former UW baseball star, a NASCAR driver’s dad: "I win - I don’t lose. If I am not first - I am last . What kind of training should I start with? What types of abilities and physical assets should a tennis player have to win?"
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| Tennis Pro Dusko Andreic and CAC - Pine Lake Member |
The questions are fair - get ready, here are the facts…
Tennis is a SKILL-BASED sport.
This puts it in the same category as learning other skills like typing,
reading, or driving a car. It is true that the more you practice, the better
you get, and the faster you'll learn. However, you want to really stress
QUALITY of instruction at the beginning. Tennis lessons are expensive, but you
want to get started on the best path possible, because bad habits in tennis are
close to impossible to break. You don't
want a friend, who might be a good player, but has no teaching experience,
teaching you how to hit like they do.
You want to find a teaching pro who specializes in PLAYER
DEVELOPMENT. This person can put you on
track to maximizing your inherent ability, and can assure that you will become
the best player you physically are capable of becoming.
Also, remember that there are really only SIX shots in tennis. Once you are taking lessons and have good fundamental strokes in place, play as much as you can! Experiment and try to play matches and compete. Every ball you hit increases your sensitivity to the ball (your "feel"), and this will give your fundamental stroke more power, spin, depth, and accuracy, as you continue to play.
So to answer the question, "How long will it take?" you will never master tennis to your satisfaction! Even Federer misses shots, and that is the essence of the challenge in this sport. You will feel satisfied and happy with your playing level, when your technique and skill level will allow you to maximize your athletic ability, in order to win matches. Whatever that level happens to be, depends on your athletic ability, your competitive spirit, and your talent level.
Something about the “next level”… Do not try to progress to the "next
level" until you get the basics down really well: proper, uncompromised
stroke technique, how to judge the ball, how to play with an arc, how to vary
the speed of the ball, etc. I would very
highly recommend attending one of the Bollettieri, Macci, Newcomb, or similar
tennis camps that are available in all regions of the U.S. They typically run in single week sessions
and amount to about 9 hours of tennis per day.
They are expensive and intense, but the benefits of attending one are
tremendous for new or already semi-competitive players. This is where you will
learn to be a more competitive player in a relatively short amount of time.
I have played both at the local, low competitive
level, and against excellent players from different parts of the world, and now
I teach others how to play. Whether as a
player or as a tennis teaching pro, I have never shown up to a court and felt like
I didn't have something to learn that day!
Enjoy the process of learning the game, the best way you
can!
Written by: Dusko
Andreic Tennis Director CAC - Pine Lake Dusko@columbiaathletic.com
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