How Not to Improve — SS #9

Your forehand has been feeling off lately.

So you go to see your local pro.

They point out that you have a classic case of airplane arms.

(Your left arm goes to the net and your right arm goes to the back fence.)

The issue goes back to when you started learning tennis, and some acne-spotted teenager had you pretending you were an airplane before tossing you balls to hit on your forehand side.

The problem?

You can't get separation; you don't turn your shoulders more than your hips.

This causes you to swing with only your arm.

Not good.

You're excited at having this pointed out.

The pro gets you turning and using your body more efficiently.

You spend a solid 40 minutes working away at it.

They even film you, and your forehand looks completely different.

You are pumped.

"Okay," the pro says, "We've had a great session. Why don't we finish off with some serves? We need to work on that kick serve of yours."

Big mistake.

Massive.

What Does Motor Learning Have to Do With It?

Why is this a mistake?

Because of how your brain tends to store and retain information.

Switching focus abruptly from one technical adjustment to another in the same session can overload your motor learning capacity.

This is crucial: if your brain is still processing the new forehand mechanics, introducing another complex skill like a kick serve may hinder rather than help.

You’ll have a smaller chance of retaining the work you did on the forehand if you change your focus to another skill.

Archie Dan Smith calls this Law #5 of Muscle Memory in his book Muscle Memory and Imagery: Better Tennis. His work is basically a literature review on the research in motor learning and how tennis players can truly improve specific skills.

His law states: “Learning different patterns back to back may cause forgetting of the initial one.” And he backs it up with quite a few sources. And here I’m going just to copy/paste the research he summarizes in his book:

• “Interference with motor learning occurs when multiple tasks are practiced in sequence or with short interim periods… Analysis of movement after-effects suggested learning of the second task within 6 hours of learning of the first task lead to an unlearning of the first task, overwriting of the learning effects of the first task” (Chapman, Vicienzino, Blach, & Hodges, 2007, p.504, 513)

• “For a short period following the initial training session, the skill is liable to interference by other skills… Interference denotes the observation that training of a new task leads to forgetting of a previously learned task” (Luft & Buitrago, 2005, pp.205 and 209)

What does this mean in layman’s terms?

That the traditional tennis lesson where pros and players hop around from skill to skill is flawed if your goal is to improve/make changes to just one part of your game.

Not only that, but you are actively impeding your progression if that’s how you structure your lessons.

Switching to working on your kick serve after 40 mins of forehand work is a recipe for ensuring that the work that you did on your forehand has less of a chance to “stick” in the long term.

The Industry Standard

What’s the normal structure in tennis teaching?

Pros and players try to cram as many skills as possible into one session, thinking it maximizes court and play time.

They often switch between strokes too quickly, thinking that it will lead to faster improvement.

But it’s a scattershot approach and can hinder the development of any single skill due to insufficient repetition and lack of deep practice on each element.

What You Should Do Instead?

Spend a prolonged period on one adjustment.

Multiple sessions—weeks, even.

Going back to our example of fixing the airplane arms on your forehand.

You have to spend three to four weeks working on creating separation—with that being the only focus of your sessions—to truly make the changes permanent.

And this way is supported by the research in skill acquisition, which shows us that giving your brain time to deeply embed a change before moving to others leads to more durable learning.

You want the changes you create to be stable and lasting.

Remember, effective practice isn’t about how many different things you can work on at once, but about how well you can integrate each new skill into your play.

Stick with one major change at a time, allow your brain enough time and reps to make the changes permanent, and you’ll see more consistent and lasting improvements.

If you’re unsure how to structure your practice effectively or need help focusing on one area at a time, consider booking a session with me.

Let’s optimize your practice to ensure that every minute you spend on the court brings you closer to becoming the player you want to be

Thanks for being here—and don’t forget that you get discount codes for lessons and other perks by sharing my newsletter with your tennis friends.

Much appreciated,
Malhar

P.S. If you work in motor learning or related fields, and you feel I’ve misrepresented or misunderstood the information I’m presenting, please let me know. My interest is in presenting the best information to my students/readers.