Engineering Elegant Technique
That Wins

Chris Lewit

As a technician working in the trenches building technique over many decades, I have gained a wealth of experience about how to build world-class modern techniques that look pretty. This third article in the series will share that knowledge and convey my methods on how to engineer elegant techniques that win. (Click Here for Part 1. Click Here for Part 2.)

Whether you are a player, coach or parent-coach, this article conveys some golden nuggets about the technique engineering process.

3 Step Process

Let's say that you want to teach or learn a new stroke, like a forehand, or you want to fix something in your technique or the technique of a student, if you are a coach. Where do you begin? What are the initial steps to take when building or remediating the technique of a stroke? It's a 3 step process. I believe you start first with an analysis of footwork and the body positioning when receiving the ball. Second, at the same time, you evaluate handwork, which is the swing technique.

And third, in this process, you use slow motion video analysis to confirm what you think you are seeing. These three steps are crucial during any technique changing process.