Working in Movement

A Coach's Digital Tools Take Center Court. A California tennis coach, thinks that digital imagery can become a crucial teaching tool on the court. By Matt Richtel. [New York Times: Technology]

The article focuses on a coach using new, sophisticated video techniques to coach tennis players. His main concern is one familiar to movement educators: the tennis swing is so fast and so complex that it's very difficult to see (and feel) exactly what's happening. Acccording to the article,

He would like to change the way people teach tennis, which he said is "an invisible game" because neither coaches nor fans really know what is happening. The trouble, he said, is that the swing happens so quickly that the naked eye cannot pick up what separates the swing mechanics of the greats from mere mortals or near-greats.

"The basic issues of technique are in complete disarray, confusion and dispute among the so-called experts and authorities," Yandell said. "If you get the best coaches after a couple of beers, they'll tell you, 'I don't know what's really happening.'

Well, as someone named Feldenkrais once said, if you don't know what you are doing, it's hard to change it so that you're doing what you want. Looking from the outside, no matter how detailed, is not the same thing as making changes from the inside, or at least combining intention and observation as I've written about previously.

And, of course, there is the issue of raw athletic talent. According to the article, "...whether the good players can become great by trying to copy the mechanics of great players is another matter. "If you don't have the goods, I don't care what you look at," Bollettieri said.

Can you fulfill your athletic ambitions by looking at video images? It may help somewhat, but there are still the critical issues of clarifying intention and then turning it into effective action. I'm not holding my breath until the DVD for that one comes out. Another time, I'll write about my own (disastrous) experience with video-based golf lessons.