Bigger Better Tennis - Paul Dale

Teaching "Loading" Alone Is Ruining Your Players' Timing (And What to Teach Instead) By Paul Dale | The 3AM Method Every coach knows the importance of ground reaction forces in tennis. We teach players to "load"—bend their knees and thrust upward to create racquet-head speed. It's fundamental to every powerful groundstroke, serve, return, and overhead. However, here's the problem: teaching players to  only  load the ground creates  more timing issues than it solves. The Loading Trap That's Destroying Player Development Loading refers to a player interacting with the ground by bending their knees and thrusting out of that position to create greater racquet-head speed. While this happens on all good shots, the instruction to "just load" is backfiring for most players. Here's what typically happens: A coach tells a player to load. The player dutifully bends their knees—precisely what the coach wants to "see." For a small ...