This new series of articles are thought experiments about the future of tennis--where the sport could be headed, at the club and competitive professional level, in the teaching and coaching realm, and even in the more distance future with the evolution of machine intelligence. Let's start in this first article by discussing the evolution of players.
Bjorn Borg: a genius who anticipated the future.
If coaches can predict the next evolutions, they can be on the cutting edge in player development, building players with advanced skills who can compete better in the present era. Players can then buy into this foresight, developing and practicing skills that will give them a competitive edge in the future.
Anticipation of Future Technique
Imagine, for example, having an impenetrable two-handed backhand, a heavy topspin forehand, and the fitness level of Rafael Nadal—not now but back in the 1970's. That was the game of Bjorn Borg, a genius who had technique that anticipated the future of tennis. He was a player ahead of his time.
In the 1980s, players like Jimmy Arias and Sergi Bruguera continued this anticipatory trend with forehands that were decades ahead of their time. The point is that the spoils go to the players and coaches who can predict future trends and train those skills before others either see the trend or admit there is a trend in that direction.
Chris Lewit, former #1 for Cornell and Pro Circuit player, has coached numerous top 10 nationally ranked juniors and is a leading coach, educator, and author. He has written two best-selling books, The Secrets of Spanish Tennis and The Tennis Technique Bible.
Chris runs a popular high performance summer tennis camp in the beautiful mountains of Vermont and coaches players world-wide through his virtual school, CLTA Online (CLTA.teachable.com).
Chris also produces a weekly high performance tennis video talk show and podcast, The Prodigy Maker Show, which is available on Apple Podcasts and all other podcasting directories. All shows can be accessed at ProdigyMaker.com.
Check out Chris's blog, also at ProdigyMaker.com for free articles on high performance junior development and Spanish training. Learn about his camp at ChrisLewit.com or visit the online academy at CLTA.teachable.com
The Secrets of Spanish Tennis
What makes Spanish tennis so unique and successful? What exactly are those Spanish coaches doing so differently to develop superstars like Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer that other systems are not doing? These and other questions are answered in The Secrets of Spanish Tennis, the culmination of five years of study on the Spanish way of training by USTA High Performance Coach Chris Lewit.
