*Every Student and Client will receive a Student Evaluation on their first lesson and last lesson or clinic of the month. We will constantly update the evaluations and feedback to track student progress and areas of improvement. We will create a program for every client individually to help you move towards your goal on every lesson. Our student evaluations look like the following (This is for a left-handed player):

Client: 

Chris L.

Goals:

Become a solid 3.5 player pushing towards 4.0

Lesson:

First Lesson

Level:

Beginner 2.5-3.0 

Strengths: 

Positive Attitude 

Quick Learner (Binded into most adjustments effectively)

Good Striking Motion/ Good follow through on strokes

Proper Grips on most strokes 

Left-handed

Areas for Improvement:

Forehand:

Problem-Forehands are sailing long when going for power

Solution-Shifting your grip to a Semi-Western Grip is key to take you to the next level. Your traditional forehand (flat) will plateau and has taken you as far as it can, which is causing your stroke to sail long when going for more power. The Semi-Western Grip will allow you to have more acceleration on the head of the racquet (head racquet speed) and will help you add top spin on your forehand. This will give your ball more arc which will help the ball drop in instead of sailing long. 

Backhand:

Problem-Hitting the ball late, getting cramped up, and lack of consistent depth.

Solution-Creating room on your backhand side is crucial. When you miss the ball, 80% of the times is because you get too close to the ball or hit the ball late. Your major area of focus should be your point of contact. Your ideal point of contact is finding the ball slightly in front of your left foot. Secondly, you need to create that space between you and the ball with your footwork. Substitute that large step for three small steps. And third, once you make contact with the ball, allow your right arm to take charge. This will give you better extension on your backhand side and will allow for more depth.

Forehand Volley:

Problem- Racquet Horizontal. Too flat.

Solution- I think this is the stroke you improved the quickest over the last lesson. Next lesson we can take it to the next level by adding a bit of a chip into the volley to keep the ball lower. While you hold the racquet vertically or towards a 45 degree angle, squeeze the handle at the point of contact to deny guiding the ball straight to the net on your volley and keeping your wrist firm.

Backhand Volley:

Problem-Used to do a two handed volley. Stiffness with one hand.

Solution- I also believe you picked up the one handed backhand volley amazingly. It’s just a matter of doing it again and again to create comfort. As we talked about it, shift the grip a tiny bit where it feels comfortable. Remember, be careful of shifting the grip TOO much because because when we get you to the next level, you won’t have time to be shifting grips drastically at the net. Relax your elbow and forearm to avoid stiffness.

Smash Overhead:

Problem-Letting the ball drop too much, not measuring the ball effectively.

Solution-Your right hand should be pointing at the sky as if you were going to catch the tennis ball off the air. This will help your chin stay up long  enough to deny your head and upper body from pulling down and missing at the net. Relax your wrist so you can get a snap (we’ll work on this next lesson). Turn your body sideways and finish across your body.

Serve:

Problem-Inconsistent Toss

Solution- The toss is the foundation and basis of the serve. We need to perfect the toss before we adjust technique on the serve. If you hold your racquet straight over your head and pretend it’s the hand of a clock, the hand would be pointing at 12 o’clock. If you shift the hand to your left, it would point at 11 o’clock. You want your toss to fall between 11 and 12 o’clock for all of your serves. Let the ball rest on your hand but hold it with your fingertips. As you are going to toss the ball, carry the ball to your eye level and then release the ball. This will allow you to toss the ball more consistently on the same spot. Be wary of tossing the ball too far into the court.

Footwork, balance, and movement:

Problem-Off balance on low shots, getting cramped up on backhands and forehands

Solution-Baby steps to success! Your steps should be getting smaller and smaller as you get closer to the ball. The more steps you give, the more accurate you’ll be to your comfort striking position when you get to the ball. On the backhand side, this will give you that extra room so you don’t get cramped up. On the forehand side, keep getting your right hand involved to create that space between the ball and your body. Use your knees to get low. DON’T BEND YOUR BACK! I don’t want you to have lower back aches because you bend your lower back too much. Use those knees to get low! 

Other Technical Tips: Breathing, control your breathing patterns. Inhale when preparing, Exhale when striking. This will help you for relaxation on the court and conserve your overall energy.

How to get to your goal: 

You have tremendous potential to becoming a player! Your goals are realistic and within your reach! You bring great assets to the court which will allow you to get to your goal at a fast pace. In the next lesson, we will reinforce all the technical adjustments we’ve made and drill every stroke numerous times to get you to feel comfortable with your new and improved technique. Repetition of proper technique creates comfort and eliminates bad habits. Once the proper technique starts molding into your strokes, we will try to start rallying back and forth to create consistency and reliability on your shots.