COACHING & INSTRUCTION: PLAYER ANALYSIS


Player analysis is a breakdown of the specifics of a player’s technical, tactical, physical, and mental attributes. It can be used for different reasons. For coaches this would be to make improvements or corrections and for players, to find clues to combat their opponent. For both coach and player, it can be very helpful to study an opponent to create a game plan. As players become more advanced, an extensive analysis is helpful for coaches to complement the developmental plan for instructions and corrections. Due to the various techniques and multiple styles of play, the complexity of instructions and corrections increases. It takes a great deal of experience and “a good eye” to find the proper methodology and approach to training in the fundamentals, let alone the specialty strokes.


Technical Analysis To make technical analysis for improvements or corrections it is important to have a method to recognise mechanical errors and to make comparisons to fundamentals. For that we need reference points in the stroke which include position and rotations of arms, legs, and trunk. So, as you can see, we need to look at the whole body, not just the arms and the stroke. These reference points represent certain recognisable positions of the body and racket and are called:


The Key Positions Ready Position Backswing Loading Forward Swing Contact Point Follow Through Recovery


The key positions can vary from player to player due to grips which lead to different contact points, racket trajectory, ball trajectory, foot stance, individual style, and intended stroke of the player - think of topspin, slice, etc.


Every player has strokes they favour. Either they are more comfortable with the execution so therefore feel more confident, or they can use the strokes to put pressure on their opponent. If you have never played a certain opponent before there is an easy way to find out which groundstroke, forehand or backhand, they prefer. Start playing the ball straight at them during the warm-up and observe which stroke they choose to return the ball. It will be their favourite shot and preference to start play with.


Tactical Analysis With tactical analysis, the reference points lie in the tactical applications of the game. In many cases the technical, physical and mental aspects influence the execution of the tactical aspects due to limitations or errors of the player. There are some fundamental points which generate the tactical abilities of a player and can provide feedback of their match skills: The basic tactical experience of a player - amount of match


play and years played The style of a player - i.e. baseliner versus serve-and-volley player The shot choices a player makes when under pressure The use of patterns of play in constructing points The consistency of execution of all the above points - consistency leads to confidence


These aspects can make a big difference in how a player is


www.isportgroup.com/InternationalTennisMagazine 24 | March 2017 INTERNATIONALTENNISMAGAZINE


able to play points and compete in matches and tournaments. More match play and practicing different tactical situations will progressively improve their skills.


Physical Analysis To make a proper physical analysis, you first need to observe all the components which can influence the physical ability and capabilities of a player. The most important elements that decide the physical make-up of a player are: Coordination Stamina Strength Speed


Flexibility Balance


The relationship between these components is different for each individual player. Percentage-wise they can vary in the physical make-up of every player and possibly be responsible in determining their strategy and playing style. Even though they are genetically influential, they are trainable to a certain degree.


All these aspects have a big influence on the timing of the ball in rally exchanges, on the consistency of execution and how long a player can last in rallies and matches, how hard they can strike a ball, or how fast they can run from corner to corner retrieving shots.


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