TEACHING METHODOLOGY
The fundamental principles of tennis are the building blocks of true knowledge for being a good tennis coach.
Fundamental principles thinking is what is sometimes called «reasoning from first principles» and involves breaking down complicated problems into basic elements and then reassembling them from scratch. It is one of the best ways to learn to think for oneself, to unleash creative potential and to move from linear to non-linear outcomes.
We teach how to learn, we reason our method from the fundamental principles of tennis. The rules of tennis are the fundamental principles: they govern what you can and cannot do. And everything is possible as long as it does not go against the rules.
That is why the method we have designed is based on the fundamental principles of the strokes and movements of those who play best: tennis professionals (women and men).
I have been recording videos of professional players playing competitive matches since 1987, studying, analysing these videos and observing, not the particularities of a particular player, but what they all do in common.
Our teaching method is based on the fundamental principles of tennis stroke technique, and the movements to execute those strokes with precision.
Methods there may be a million, maybe more, but principles there are few. The coach who understands these fundamental principles can create his own method. The coach who tries out methods while ignoring the fundamental principles of tennis will certainly not be able to help his students properly.
Reasoning from these principles I have designed a training method in order to accelerate the learning process of our students. This is why we can use our method with players of any level of play.
First by feeling the ball, clearly explaining the fundamental principles, but leaving it up to them to interpret them, but always keeping the principles in mind.
Feeling the ball means that you can control it, that you can do what you want with it. Once you have acquired this ability to execute your strokes and respect the principles, we introduce the fundamental principles necessary to be able to execute your strokes in movement.
From here, a huge range of possibilities opens up: effects, directions, speeds, heights, footwork, displacement and support according to strokes, use of the geometry of the court, tactics according to the personality and ability of each player.
In the end, what we teach them to learn is to overcome frustrations and mistakes, to make decisions, to manage their emotions, to make an effort and to commit themselves to the objective they want to achieve.
In other words, life itself. All this has led us to design a method with the aim of helping our students to develop as people and to reach their maximum potential.
Mariano Peinado