WHAT TENNIS CAN LEARN FROM FORMULA 1
To replicate the
success of Andy Murray, moving from an outlier to World No.1, tennis would be advised to adopt principles from Formula One
The Formula One Opportunity The engineering pedigree of high performance motorsport has meant Formula One has traditionally taken a different approach to that of others. The thing Formula One teams are really good at is putting information in context. You see, or rather hear it, when racing coverage tunes into team radios and you hear engineers informing drivers that their speed was faster than the previous lap, or that they will catch the driver in front of them by taking a particular action.
What tennis can learn from Formula One is not how to deliver advice and support, but how coaches can deliver this as and when it is needed. Efficiency and processes are what engineers, and by association Formula One, is really good at. Implementing technology in the right places means people can do their jobs better, making well-informed, intelligent data driven decisions.
Where I see the real opportunity in tennis is in the behind-the- scenes area. Using experience from Formula One, coaches can deliver advice and support with much more confidence and objectivity.
www.isportgroup.com/InternationalTennisMagazine 20 | March 2017 INTERNATIONALTENNISMAGAZINE
For example, the biggest challenge for competition players is always how to adapt to each individual opponent. A six-foot big server is always going to require a different game-plan to a fast cross court player. At the moment all of this is taken into consideration, but I’d question how many adjustments to equipment and strategy are made in game. For example, if rules allow, could changing racket tension throughout a game make a difference? Is there an advantage of having a dynamic string tension manager with optimised settings for first serve, second serve, forehand top spin or drop shot? In F1, drivers adjust their brake bias, the amount of braking force applied between front and rear brakes, constantly throughout a lap. This enables them to maximise the entry phase for each corner, for any given condition such as changes in tarmac, wind direction, gradient etc. Taking a more objective, engineered approach to coaching should involve questioning everything.
Applying an engineering mindset Engineers tend to follow a relatively strict approach when looking to innovate and develop new ideas, following a research, do, review and repeat process until the optimum outcome is
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