Deliberate Practice, Explained — SS #37

This is Part 2 on how most tennis players monumentally screw up how they practice because they believe this myth of 10,000 hours. Read the first part by clicking here.

Hello! Based on Part 1 (last week’s issue), my hope is that you’ve:

• Stopped hitting mindlessly down the middle

• Created a plan for your progression and what you need to work on

• Asked yourself if you’re really practicing appropriately to improve

Last week, we covered Larry’s story of engaging in “Naive Practice.” Or, thinking that by simply hitting more balls and spending “10,000” hours on the court, he would be able to achieve tennis mastery.

As discussed, Malcom Gladwell misunderstood the researcher he was quoting when he conveyed this message in Outliers. Unfortunately, as is the case with most inaccuracies, they travel halfway around the world before they can be rebutted.

So we’re doing some rebutting.

We return to Larry’s story today, but now with the idea of “Purposeful Practice.” It's still not the best, but far better than practicing without purpose or intention.

Purposeful Practice

This is a practice type that is actually useful. Purposeful practice involves breaking down overarching goals into specific, achievable targets.

Someone’s told Larry that he needs to have some purpose in his matches and goals that he’s trying to achieve. (Good job, someone) and that he can’t just play matches and expect to improve drastically.

Based on that input, Larry decides he needs also to target his serve… and the way he’s going to do this is to try and keep his first serve percentage at 75%.

He buys SwingVision and meticulously tracks his matches and his first-serve percentage. He reviews footage to keep himself accountable, and sure enough, after a few weeks, his first serve percentage is averaging around 75%—which is incredibly high.

Larry is doing well. In fact, he’s doing better than most club & recreational players. But there’s still a problem.

Do you see it?

Even though Larry’s improved his first-serve percentage, he’s still barely cracking 65mph.

His serve is more of a glorified rally-starter than a weapon.

Sure it helps him out against the players at his level, but against those playing at higher ratings?

It doesn’t do much.

This is the limitation of purposeful practice. While it’s a significant improvement over naive practice, it might not fully address the fundamental weaknesses in Larry’s game.

He’s become more consistent, but he hasn’t pushed himself out of his comfort zone to develop a truly powerful serve.

Deliberate Practice

The gold standard.

Deliberate practice goes beyond mere purposeful practice. While purposeful practice is a component of deliberate practice, there are specific tenets that exemplify deliberate practice.

We’ll first lay them out with Larry’s example and then go further into detail about what they are in the section, “How You Can Use Deliberate Practice.”

So, in this alternative scenario, Larry knows that he wants to improve, but he also knows that simply playing matches is not the way to do it. He consults with a knowledgeable, educated coach and mentor and together they develop the following, detailed plan in descending order of importance:

1. Learn how to hit topspin on the backhand: The coach and Larry both agree that against better players, this inability to hit a drive on his backhand has been his downfall—skilled players often approach the net to this side or pick on it relentlessly. Based on observing a few matches and conferring with each other, they make this a priority.

2. Improve serve mechanics: Larry still uses an eastern forehand grip on his serve. The change to continental will allow him to serve with spin on the ball, give him variety, and in the long term allow him to serve faster and use his serve as a weapon.

3. Strengthen volleys: Larry’s inability to close out points at the net is related to his lack of confidence at the net which is related to his poor mechanics. They commit to learning to volley efficiently.

4. Apply new skills in realistic and challenging scenarios: The coach is aware that recreating new skills means changing/altering motor programming and making these skills the preferred motor program for your brain—especially for competitive scenarios. This is a considerable challenge for most players and also means accepting that Larry will be uncomfortable and “challenged” for the majority of his time on the match and practice court. He makes sure to inform Larry about this and prepare him accordingly.

Based on these goals, Larry and his mentor commit to meeting twice a week. Once on court for an hour and then for 30 minutes as a check-in. The coach gives Larry a practice plan that he has to work off which is carefully calibrated to factor in these developments.

Larry still spends five days a week on the court, but now he has a specific structure that he follows. The coach has designed practices so that Larry is constantly challenged. The practices are tough and mentally draining, and Larry never feels “fantastic” during the sessions or like he’s on cloud 9. There are always things he’s working on.

For example, the coach has designed a drill where Larry is not permitted to slice the ball on his backhand. Instead of keeping Larry in blocked practice, he also progresses him through the short court to the back-court and eventually to open rallies where Larry is forced to use topspin on his backhand side in a variety of circumstances.

Larry notices what is “automatic” for him; getting ready to slice the ball! The instinct he’s developed through years of repetition is to hit floating slices. To make a new pattern the preferred one for his brain, the coach explains, he has to execute it more often than the old. That means having appropriate mechanics but also recreating them consistently.

Larry peeps ahead at the practice plan and can see that he has a match scheduled where one of his process goals is that he is not allowed to slice the ball at all. If he slices the ball, he loses the point. The coach has instructed him to film the match so that they can review it appropriately.

After systematically addressing his weaknesses over months, trialing them out in competitive scenarios, and lots of struggle along the way, Larry finds that he’s playing at a higher level.

Players he once lost to comfortably? He’s winning sets against them and even a match or two. Those who were at the same level as him? Straightforward victories.

“It’s not magic,” the coach constantly reminds Larry. “It’s deliberate practice.”

What Does This Mean For You?

I hope that Larry’s story is not only inspirational but that it’s also instructive.

You need to understand that mindlessly hitting balls is the route to staying at the same level—not improvement! That is a naive way to practice, and it is naive to think that this will take you to the “next” level.

If you’ve been stuck in the same place for a while, seriously consider that the problem is related to how you practice rather than any self-imposed limits you’ve placed on yourself.

There might be some confusion about the difference between purposeful and deliberate practice here, so let me clarify: purposeful practice is a tenet of deliberate practice.

They are related, but in essence, purposeful practice is about setting specific goals and creating a structured plan, while deliberate practice extends this by emphasizing intentional effort, seeking feedback on the process, and continuously challenging your limits.

How You Can Use Deliberate Practice

When thinking about your own practice sessions, you need to critically assess whether or not they contain the following components.

Ask yourself these four questions at the end of your sessions… and if the answer is no then you need to seriously reconsider why you’re even on the tennis court.

To have a hit and giggle?

Sure.

But to improve, your practice needs the following components

Purposeful & Goal-Driven

“Was this practice purposeful in improving my game?

This means engaging in practice with a clear goal, focusing on specific aspects that need improvement rather than just repeating the same tasks mindlessly.

You need to have a plan for progression with your game. And your practices should reflect that plan as opposed to a haphazard, scattershot approach.

Feedback

“Did I receive appropriate feedback—either during or after the session—to ensure that I was making adjustments as required and continually pushing myself?”

This can be feedback from yourself, a hitting partner, or a coach. Receiving timely and constructive feedback is crucial for learning and improvement. This feedback loop helps individuals make necessary adjustments to their performance.

Concentration

“Was I truly focused during the session? Did I avoid distractions like looking at my digital devices? Did I walk off the court feeling as if I expended a decent amount of ‘mental bandwidth’? Was I 100% engaged?”

Maintaining full concentration and avoiding distractions during practice sessions is essential. This kind of practice requires mental effort and a high level of engagement. I was recently visiting family in a different city and went to have a hit on the courts with one of my siblings. Two boys, probably about 17 or 18, were training and then playing a set. At the change overs, instead of reflecting and staying present, they were both scrolling TikTok and Instagram. Not good.

Appropriate & Varied Repetitions

“Did I spend enough time recreating the challenging tasks under varied conditions? Did I consolidate the work I did by doing multiple practice sessions focusing on the same and corollary skills?”

Repeatedly practicing specific skills or challenging tasks contributes to the development of expertise through the building of mental models and myelin. You cannot do deliberate practice on a skill once a week and expect to improve drastically. The rule of thumb is that no more than two to three days should pass before you are back to practicing the skill you’re working on. The focus is on refining and mastering particular elements through consistent and challenging repetition.

The Big Question

Are you practicing your tennis with these principles in mind?

If the answer is no—then you’ve most likely been wasting your time.

I’ll leave you with a quote from Peak:

“The hallmark of purposeful or deliberate practice is that you try to do something you cannot do that takes you out of your comfort zone. And that you practice it over and over again, focusing on exactly how you were doing it, where you were falling short, and how you can get better.”

The largest problem presenting club & recreational players is a lack of information on how to practice. Information on how to hit particular strokes abounds; details on setting up practice sessions to ensure continued challenge and improvement?

That’s a lot rarer.

I hope these newsletters have been useful, I wish you the best for your continued improvement.

Disclaimer: I am not an Association of Applied Sports Psychology CMPC, certified sports psychology practitioner, nor am I a licensed mental health counselor, PsyD, or clinical PhD. I am pursuing a master’s in sports, exercise, and performance psychology, and I am a sports psychology practitioner-in-training. I have over 20 years of experience in tennis, including playing, coaching collegiately and with professional players, along with club management experience as a director of programs. I am certified by the Professional Tennis Registry and am a member of Tennis Australia. My aim is to bring the best information to tennis players around the world so that you can apply it for long-term improvement—but sometimes I will make mistakes. If this is your area of research or expertise, and you feel I’ve misunderstood something, please get in touch with me and if required I will happily issue a correction.