It is a very special pleasure for us to have Heinz Schwarz , the author of the book "Are you still playing real tennis or are you already winning something?" for a more than entertaining gloss. Under the title “Different hing`looks” Heinz will introduce you to his very own perspective on the topic of “real tennis” in a three-part series.
“The idea of real tennis, which clearly dominates our industry, is not a closed scientific system but rather tennis teacher folklore that is passed on from one generation to another and which, let's not hide it, is also expected by the customer. However, this system is designed in such a way that, in addition to the undoubted, although usually not so spectacular, main effects (as suggested by commercial reasons), it produces a lot of irritation and a lot of stress as system-related side effects, among the students, among the teachers, between the teachers and the students and so on among the teachers,” says Heinz.
“Anders hing'wacht” is therefore primarily about perhaps better balancing the main and side effects of the desired and goal images of “real tennis”. New food for thought, perspectives and very practical examples will certainly inspire you! Let's start with part one, which is called "Two tennis teachers - three opinions". Have fun while reading!
And now Heinz gets started with his first part of the three-part gloss "Anders hung`wacht":
"Who doesn't know it, tennis camp, you look forward to it all year round, the location is beautiful, the weather is good, the hotel is great, the après tennis with like-minded people is wonderful, the trainer is somehow ok, but it totally confuses me.
From the other side, i.e. from the trainer's side, there is no more “pleasant” question statement than the one that almost inevitably arises from the student's partial stress scenario: “My trainer at home or my trainer from last year says but this and that?!”
Can the tennis teachers not agree on a variant and second question, should they?
Apart from the fact that these questions are particularly acute in the camp situation because there is, so to speak, a “forced assignment” between coach and student, which generally does not exist at home (with the exception of team training and youth training) and which certainly does not exist in higher-class sports (you simply change the trainer if he doesn't suit you), these are questions that ultimately fall short and don't solve the problem.
In this respect, I would like to see other questions and other solutions to the problem “Trainer confuses students and student cannot escape the trainer!”
To get a little more out of the box, the most popular approach from a coaching perspective is to redirect the student's discomfort with the content to other levels, usually to the athletic level (by letting the student run himself to pieces so that he can at least get away from it In terms of physical performance, he is satisfied and then usually “keeps his mouth shut” because he is too exhausted to continue complaining).
Of course, there would also be diversions on the social level (emphasis on charming or authoritarian behavior) and on the tourist level (boat rides and grilling sardines).
In my gloss articles I would like to bring you a solution through understanding the content.
Apart from the fact that you could of course have been really unlucky and got a bad trainer or at least a trainer who doesn't suit you (then in the organizational reality of camps you will probably have to walk a lot and eat a lot of sardines, next to this toad) and apart from the fact that on a vacation that you were so looking forward to and that you so needed, as a customer you tend to see a nice room as bad and sometimes a good trainer as bad, there is a fundamental one content level in relation to tennis lessons, an understanding of which could be helpful in such situations.
This is essentially based on the basic expectations of tennis lessons (which usually coincide with his self-image): Tennis lessons should show you as objectively as possible how everything should ideally be in this sport; Tennis lessons are usually based on a “could, should, should” paradigm.
And the descriptions of how it should be done are usually of a (tennis) technical nature and tend to be “apodictic and pseudophysical”, i.e. simply put “this is how it works, because scientifically it cannot be done any other way and if one If you tell me otherwise, he’s a bad physicist!”
And that's exactly why everyone has a problem that is usually quite emotional when things clearly don't go the way they should in “the evil reality of recreational tennis”.
If everything is "physics" and it still doesn't go as planned, then there are only two explanations for this situation: either the explanation is wrong or the student is too stupid to implement it correctly, and if the explanations are from us "sun-spectacled physicists in... Our guest lectures by the sea” are obviously contradictory, then there is usually a “really good” atmosphere.
Even if the entire system of “tennis lessons and learning tennis” is far more complex than I can describe in a glossary, the problem described here can usually be solved or at least defused with two basic approaches to understanding:
Everything we tennis teachers recommend (or command) can be reduced to a basic goal matrix. We basically recommend suggestions for improvement in the following directions:
Everything that we recommend (or order) tennis teachers can be reduced to a dual information system:
Most stressful situations in tennis lessons can be resolved relatively easily with an understanding of this content matrix in combination with an understanding of this information system (if you want to do that at all, because it also contains a lot of the “magic of the optional and ideal” that is inherent in tennis , breaks down).
For example, if one trainer raves about the “open position” on the forehand, then he is usually looking for swing orientation, while the “side standing” trainers are more focused on lateral stabilization.
If a trainer wants to help you directly, then of course he is not allowed to touch your usual position (regardless of whether open or sideways, the main thing is “your position”) and if you touch it (your trainer and you), then you have to decide and know it together that “you hardly have to practice it intensively for 5 years to get it to a certain extent!”
“People don’t understand,” said Niki Pilic, the grand master of simplification in our complicated industry, whom I was able to work with and watch for many years, “that’s the forehand spin not the forehand spin” or to put it another way, a lot of things are “right.” , you just have to learn to assign it “correctly”!”
The author Heinz Schwarz actually has a doctorate in law, but discovered his love and passion for being a tennis teacher during his studies, which has never let go of him to this day. Coaching stations included the Niki Pilic Academy, which he headed as managing director and where none other than the young Novak Djokovic trained at the time.
Today Heinz runs a tennis school in Dachau, Bavaria, and is a very active and successful senior tournament player. He is also a fellow expert and brand ambassador at Zischka Tennis Reisen . You can also experience Heinz live there on certain dates.
Part two of Heinz Schwarz Glosse "Right hing`look" will be published in February and is entitled "Listen to how they're hammering!". Everything in tennis lessons seems to be limited to technical errors. Heinz Schwarz thinks that this is because we love the hammer of technical arrangements and corrections so much and are therefore constantly looking for nails. Are all errors in tennis really technical errors? So stay tuned!
If you would like to read more from Heinz Schwarz, we highly recommend the book “Are you still playing real tennis or are you already winning something?” Of course, we have already reviewed the book, so you can get the best information in advance.
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