Tag: kaizen tennis

Kaizen Definition

Kaizen is a Japanese term that means “continuous improvement” or “change for the better.” The philosophy and approach to life and in this case, tennis, is to focus on small incremental improvements over time. This leads to greater efficiency, quality and success.

How I use Kaizen to teach tennis

As a tennis coach, I try to break down each shot, and each movement pertaining to a particular shot or stroke. What is really helpful to me, is to have a reference book to use with the student, to help them follow along with the flow and visual aids for a particular shot or stroke. It is also helpful if you are using video analysis of a player, you can quickly compare the students stroke with the best practice example in the Kaizen playbook. Of course I demonstrate the stroke with shadow swings when I am doing individual coaching, but If I am doing remote on line lessons, it is very easy to compare the strokes with the students video and give instant feedback, and the player has a copy of the standard work playbook to refer to.
The playbook also works well with my online training courses.

13 steps to get ready to hit your forehand

Almost all shots in Tennis, require multiple movements, multiple positions, multiple patterns, which can lead to a wide array of standard steps in one process, such as a swing on a forehand.

In the photo above, the player is running towards the ball to strike a forehand. In this photo, the player has performed 13 steps to get into this position, and she hasn’t even struck the ball yet. The steps she has taken to get to this point of her shot are;

Standard Work Forehand Preparation

1. Ready Position
2. Visually tracked the ball to determine if the ball will be to her forehand or backhand.
3. Performed a split step
4. Stepped towards her forehand side out of the split step
5. Rotated her shoulder to face the net
6. Changed her grip to forehand
7. Tilt the racquet above her wrist, position racquet in power position
8. Bring her right arm up to track the ball and provide balance
9. Perform long stride cross over steps to quickly get to the ball
10. Begin her forehand backswing
11. Let the racket head drop below her wrist as she starts her swing
12. Keep her eye on the ball
13. Begin to slow down as she approaches the ball with small shuffle steps

Kaizen Standard Work/Work Flow

In the Kaizen world, these 13 steps would be characterized as Standard Work, or Work Flow. In the tennis world this is known as preparation before the shot. The positive side about looking at Tennis as standard work, is it helps a coach teach with consistency, the student will learn a consistent method, the player can refer to standard work when shots stop being consistent, or you want to add spin or power to your shot.Learning or improving tennis can be simplified with Kaizen methods. If you look at the 12 steps, it is imperative these steps are performed, but it is even more important, these steps are performed correctly.

Standard work for the Ready Position

1. Feet shoulder length apart
2. Player facing the net
3. Two hands on racquet
4. Player has forehand grip
5. Racquet slightly above wrist
6. Eyes on opponent
7. Knees slightly bent
8. Player in relaxed state but ready to move

Try this standard work for the ready position the next time you take the court. Use the standard work as a best practice to follow. You might be surprised there may be a few things missing from your ready position stance. If you are struggling with your forehand, start with the ready stance. It is extremely important as are all positions in tennis.

We will start a Kaizen series on the forehand!!! Follow along and enhance your game.

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