John's Legacy: Visual Tennis

[jeffreycounts]

Would love to get your thoughts on "John's Legacy: Visual Tennis" as well as any personal experiences of learning visually?

[neilchok]

Yeah it is funny how many times I have just quickly checked a video on this website looking at how Sampras or roddick hits a serve, or how Federer hits his forehand, or how Agassi or Novak hit their backhand. I think this article is great, as I think it shows the work John did and how different it was. I think seeing with your eyes is a key part of learning.

I think this is one of the best websites for learning about tennis, as well as coachlife.com. Just seeing recent discussions on how far Draper's hand is at point of contact on serve, I think visually seeing things really, really helps.

It is amazing how one persons idea can cause such a cool movement of people to share their ideas on tennis in one place. And how much worse my game would be from not having this website.

[doctorhl]

I think John's legacy is his hours of analyzing pro footage which identified those critical elements in pro strokes. Identifying critical helped one to distinguish between "style" elements and those elements necessary for an efficient and effective stroke. The emphasis on visual discernment and minimal verbal explanation advanced teaching methodogy and as well as advancing self directed motor skill learning.

[jeffreycounts]

I think John's legacy is his hours of analyzing pro footage which identified those critical elements in pro strokes. Identifying critical helped one to distinguish between "style" elements and those elements necessary for an efficient and effective stroke. The emphasis on visual discernment and minimal verbal explanation advanced teaching methodogy and as well as advancing self directed motor skill learning.

I completely agree. I also appreciate how John would say you have to understand what is just an effect rather than a cause. He was brilliant at figuring that out and pointing out where coach's were teaching the effect that they saw rather than the cause the preceded it. And of course it's the hours of analyzing pro footage like you mentioned that drove all his insights.

Self directed motor skill learning - 100% agree! Here is one of my favorite articles he wrote on how to analyze your own strokes using the resources of Tennispalyer: https://www.tennisplayer.net/members...nisplayer.html

Everything I learned about taping strokes (cameras, shutter speed) and using QuickTime for frame by frame was all from John. What a gift.

[stotty]

John's legacy is right here under our noses: the Tennisplayer website. John himself was always open to questioning everything, regardless of a coach's credentials. One of the last forum conversations I had with him was about Robert Lansdorp's training methods with Sharapova. I wasn't particularly impressed by Lansdorp's coaching in a clip on the website and said as much. It turned out John wasn't all that impressed either. We came to the same conclusion: it's mostly about the player rather than the coach, and Sharapova was always going to make it, no matter who coached her.

Having an opinion endorsed by John was what most posters were looking for. He kind of rubber stamped things. Now that is what I call high standing.