If you take tennis lessons, you probably want to learn how to play points better, not just hit the ball better. If you focus on stroke mechanics during a tennis lesson, you might not be able to turn what you learn into shots during next week's match. Make your tennis lessons more like your matches, and you'll be able to transfer what you learn in practice to your league or school competitions.
Start With Shots, Not Strokes
Tell your pro not just what you want to work on, but why. For example, if you're having problem hitting your backhand down the line, your pro will know you are not rotating your upper body enough. If you can't return serves with your backhand during doubles and you play the deuce court, your pro will know you are having a problem hitting inside out and will work on your footwork.
Set Up Realistic Angles
Make sure your pro feeds balls from areas on the court that approximate where the ball is coming from during your match. If you play mostly doubles and in the ad court, have the pro feed balls crosscourt from the opposite ad court. If you play singles, have your pro feed from the middle of the baseline, not from the net. You have from the time the ball leaves your racket until it gets to the other baseline and returns to you from the other baseline to recover from your last shot and prepare for the next. If your pro feeds balls from the net, you only have half that time, which isn't realistic. Many teaching pros also mistakenly place their baskets off to the side of the court and feed from angles you never see in a match. Make sure your coach creates ball feeds that simulate what you'll see during your matches.
Finish With Rallying
If you hit the ball well during lessons but can't do it in a match, that could be because your pro feeds the ball right to you each time. This only helps facilitate short-term learning, not retention, of a skill. Finish your lessons with live-ball rallies. Even if your lesson was on the backhand, finish with rallies in which you hit serves, forehands, backhand and volleys and run forward, sideways and backward, just like you would in a match, to help with retention of your newly learned skill.
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