Tennis Technology and Training
Are you spending time during tennis practice sessions, or are you investing that time?
In 2022, I set out to maintain a player journal as inspired by the USTA’s Player Development Journal. After a week of using those post-practice evaluation logs, I made some serious tweaks to that worksheet and now have my own unique version. When used at the USTA Training Centers, the data collected in the PD journal is augmented and supported by paid coaching staff. My customized form fills in the gaps for players who are self-directing their own tennis development journey.
The first major difference in the form is recording the basic attributes of the practice session. That includes the date, location, and playing conditions. I also added a space to record the practice partners for the session. Finally, since I am now collecting copious amounts of video due to my continued love of SwingVision, I added a space for marking whether video was captured in association with the practice session complete with a nice long space for reminding me of the format and location where it will be stored.
I also added a large box for capturing the overview and focus of the practice session. I try to have a clear sense of what I am working on when I walk onto the court. However, with the exception of a paid private coaching session, there are usually other players involved with their own objectives and agendas. I try to ask my practice partners what they are working on as well so we can build that into the session.
The next major section is the Self Assessment. The 1-5 scoring for engagement and attitude were directly inspired from the USTA PD Journal Post-Practice form. However, I provided my own definition of what engagement means. I also added a space to rate Energy and Effort. That last one resulted because I discovered that I was free form writing that down anyway.
The next part of the FiendAtCourt version of the Post-Practice Evaluation is a block to capture observations from the practice session. This is where I record what went well as well as things that were not executed to my satisfaction. I personally try to come up with at least two things, which is the number that was more formally imposed on the USTA version of the form.
The last block poses a simple question: What Can I Improve? That applies to both future practices as well as match play. Additionally, I have conducted training sessions that were essentially practice matches during the past week. I made a conscious decision to evaluate the use of the practice form form for practice matches, and based on a couple of data points so far will probably stick to that decision.
My customized version of the form is included below. It is free to download/copy/share to anyone who wants it.
I would love it if other people would join me on maintaining their own Tennis Player Journal as well as hearing about any tweaks you might be making to the data that is collected.
