Had a great lesson yesterday with a player from back East. We started where we always start-forehand, backhand, and beginning footwork. The footwork is always brand new to players no matter what level of play. I still remember the stunned look on the faces of pros who came into town and worked out with me. They were told their footwork was great but when they hit the court with me they were in shock! With the secret sauce cooking and being careful not to spill any in public, let’s just say learning to move correctly for an infinite number of shots is impossible. As my good friend and professor of kinesiology would say “Practice makes perfect is not true. Perfect practice makes perfect is not true. Practice to adapt to infinite possibilities is true!”
In plain English that means there is no one way of movement. That does not mean you cannot strive to adapt to shots to create more offensive opportunities; no matter what level of play.
Back to my lesson. I had this player ripping backhands off the back wall and serving like never before. We agreed to stay in touch and I told him to get ready for the guys at the club calling more screens and shorts on the drive serve than ever before. My players get that a lot when their opponents get aced in practice!