This is very interesting!

[hockeyscout]

http://utmnews.com/every-person-who-attempted-to-ride-this-bike-failed-the-reason-is-mind-blowing/

[bottle]

http://utmnews.com/every-person-who-...-mind-blowing/

Great video. But if I can't transition from a Federfore A-Train to a Federfore C-Train, I shall simply play with the A-Train, a very good stroke.

[GeoffWilliams]

It's the same reason why we can't change our engrammed strokes. With a lot of hard work, and learning how to as a child, you could ride that bike.

[bottle]

The next great player could be the one who ingrains nothing but how to constantly improve every stroke.

[tennis_chiro]

Back to The Talent Code

Fabulous video for all of us tennis pros who have been trying to change people's bad habits with very frustrating results.

It's so important to start out the right way.

But Bottle, it won't work to just adapt constantly and change. To be efficient at competitive speeds, you have to have nerve pathways that are sufficiently myelinated to enable quick response. That can only happen if you have repeated the motion thousands of times. If you are constantly doing it differently, you may be a wonderful artist, but you will be a lousy competitor and you will be too slow or make too many errors. At full speed, we have to be able to rely on the "auto-pilot". But, of course, we have to program that auto-pilot.

The argument might be that I simply program the auto-pilot to handle each ball differently, but such an auto-pilot will not be able to withstand the consistency of a Novak Djokovic.

Perhaps this is the conundrum that faces Federer. He has programmed his auto-pilot to be artistic and beautifully deal with each ball differently, whereas Djoker has programmed his auto-pilot to get in perfect position so that he can reproduce the stroke he knows he can count on over and over again. Not as entertaining, but far less prone to breakdown and failure.

Food for thought,
don

Fabulous find, HockeyScout!

[don_budge]

The Conundrum of Federer...

Perhaps this is the conundrum that faces Federer. He has programmed his auto-pilot to be artistic and beautifully deal with each ball differently, whereas Djoker has programmed his auto-pilot to get in perfect position so that he can reproduce the stroke he knows he can count on over and over again. Not as entertaining, but far less prone to breakdown and failure.

Food for thought,
don

Fabulous find, HockeyScout!

The only conundrum that Federer is faced with is two fold. Number one it is the legs of Djokovic that have a full seven years of tough as nails miles on them. With Djokovic's style of play…he isn't going to last like Federer. Number two is the artificial contrived conditions under which the game is being played to day. Slowed down as far as court surface is concerned…and dumbed down with the associated tactics.

[don_budge]

Continuous Improvement…Potential (room for improvement)

The next great player could be the one who ingrains nothing but how to constantly improve every stroke.

Every single great players does this. In fact I would venture to say that every real tennis player endeavours to do this. Roger goes to bed at night thinking about how to eke out just a bit more of his potential from his forehand and his serve. You and I would kill for either shot…it would be just a matter of who.

[bottle]

To be efficient at competitive speeds, you have to have nerve pathways that are sufficiently myelinated to enable quick response. That can only happen if you have repeated the motion thousands of times.

This is true, and I have the evidence from different sports-- especially an undefeated regular season in college rowing before 1960 Olympic Trial competition-- to prove it so. (Avery Brundage personally invited us.)

Member of Dartmouth varsity pre-race by the edge of the Connecticut River above Hanover, New Hampshire: "How come there's no paint on your oars?"

Still, I'd take Jack Nicklaus any day ("Cliff, I've changed my strokes every day of my life") over the small twerp Malcolm Gladwell who seems too much all the rage nowadays with his claims of 10 this, 10 that or whichever comes first.

I know that repetitions are essential for quick response, and that myelin is a fascinating subject, but it's a complex one too.

For instance, aging neuronal pathways can get cracks in them suggesting rotten insulation in old wires. Better if one can't replace the whole wire to lay down some new grey-white goop fast and if not that then black electrical tape?

(I'm sure that Geoff Williams would not approve of my approach to electrical repair if he fully knew it.)

A lot of discovery, it seems to me, is a return to something one did as a teenager if not as a child. Maybe when one comes up with something new he is returning to primal experience-- who knows? In any case, it was W.C. Fields who knew that one should never over-romanticize a child.

At one cocktail party, because of my passion for tennis, I got pushed over to meet some formerly great college star.

When he heard that I hadn't started tennis by the age of seven he refused to continue the conversation much less work toward a hit.

Hey, I can't beat everybody but I can hit with anybody.

To summarize, you've got to practice (10 MILLION reps in my case), but MOST PEOPLE DO NOT INVENT ENOUGH.

[stotty]

Fabulous video for all of us tennis pros who have been trying to change people's bad habits with very frustrating results.

It's so important to start out the right way.

I think what don_budge wrote now some time ago will resonate with any seasoned coach on the forum. It certainly resonated with me.

Some students have an unbelievable capacity to resist change and the amount of patience it requires from the teacher is another phenomena altogether.

I think all players have their own DNA (style) in their strokes. And some players are just wired a certain way and their strokes cannot be easily changed. Talented players often the most more maleable.

[don_budge]

The Importance of Fundamentals...

I think what don_budge wrote now some time ago will resonate with any seasoned coach on the forum. It certainly resonated with me.

"Some students have an unbelievable capacity to resist change and the amount of patience it requires from the teacher is another phenomena altogether."

I think all players have their own DNA (style) in their strokes. And some players are just wired a certain way and their strokes cannot be easily changed. Talented players often the most more maleable.

No kidding…how important is it to start a kid off on the right foot…the correct foot? With the proper fundamentals of stroke production and footwork…right down to the grip on the racquet.

Otherwise they take possession of their faulty strokes. It's as if…"it's mine and you aren't going to change it…even if it is the fundamentally correct (FC) thing to do.".

Fortunately for me…when it comes to tennis students I have the patience of an Indian that is willing to out wait any rock in the desert. I may repeat myself two thousand times and I am more than willing to repeat myself another two thousand if I think it is to the student's advantage. In their best interest.