Tales From Tennis: The Court is the Classroom

From the desk of Alice…

I didn’t start playing tennis until I was an adult.  I picked it up gradually with a few friends who were patient enough to allow me to “just hit” and not keep score.  Over a few years, I was able to keep score and actually win.  I thought it was the most fun workout I had ever had and played afterschool as often as I could with my teacher friends.   Eventually we all went our separate ways and my afternoons of tennis slowly went away.

Years later, I decided to try a tennis league as a way to get back into the game.  I found the games very serious and the players were much more focused and more skilled that I was.  Not surprisingly, I didn’t return to the league after that season.

Over the years, I told myself I would start playing again once my youngest children were in school and a little more independent.  That time is now.  This time, I decided, I would actually seek out instruction related to tennis.  I wanted to learn the game in a more strategic way and begin to consider strategy on the court instead of just hitting the ball to win the point.

Fortunately for me, I found a wonderful tennis instructor.  He runs his tennis clinics like a well run classroom.

Teacher and student

He starts with simple warm ups to assess each of us in the clinic that night. (Anyone can come…this creates a range of levels.)  After the warm up, he either conducts short skill sessions with all of us or breaks us off to rally (hit the ball) while he works in small groups on the skills those players need.

Practicing serves

By the end of clinic, we are all playing in an authentic format.  Regardless of the people in our clinic, he always uses solid instructional practices and I have been so struck by the parallels in education that I just have to share them.  The court is truly a classroom:

1.  He assesses us constantly in the act of learning.  As we play, he watches.  He notices, and he adjusts his feedback for each of us.  This is authentic formative assessment.

2.  He responds to our needs based on what he sees.  He changes the groupings and the tasks so we can all be successful, but also benefit from the clinic. Sometimes we play in pairs, threes or fours.  We play games designed to focus on certain strokes.  He switches up the games and activities based on the people in the clinic on that night.

3.  He gives precise feedback.  If I hit the ball too short, he tells me what to adjust.  If I serve the ball perfectly, he points out what I did well.  It’s all informal and short, but powerful to me as the student.

4.  He models.  I tend to have a weak follow through on my back hand when I am plahing near the net.  He noticed so he physically comes onto the court, talks me through the motion and then shows me with the ball.  Then he walks off the court so I can practice what he just showed me. And he watches to see how I adjust.

5.  He uses gradual release.  When we warm up or learn something new, he has us start at the service line to get the basics down and focus on control, then he moves us halfway to the baseline to create more distance, and then we practice the same thing at the baseline which requires more power.

6.  He lets us apply our knowledge by playing the game.  He gives small pieces of instruction and quickly has us apply it in short bursts at the beginning of class. At the end of each class, no matter how many people are there, he has us play in an authentic game format.  Sometimes it is singles, sometimes it is doubles, but he always circles back to the concepts he taught us at the beginning of class.

7.  He scaffolds as needed.  He uses his feedback, a variety of grouping and the actual games as a way to create success for each of us.

8.  His focus is on the present.  He is not worried about any of us losing in a tournament or “not living up to our potential.”  This practice of focusing on the here and now is very freeing so we can invite out distractions and really absorb his instruction.

9.  He paces the class appropriately.  The clinic is 90 minutes and each week he uses individual instruction, small group instruction and whole group instruction as a way to increase our capacity.  We also get breaks for water in the transitions as well as time to pick up balls.  This gives everyone time to catch our breath and chit chat if we want to.

10. He promotes a love of the game.  I once pointed out to our instructor that the way he runs our clinic is what I wish all teachers could do in their classrooms.  He blushed and said, “I love this game.  I just want each of you to love it, too.”

The result of his best instructional practices is a class that is fulfilling, engaging, and has built my understanding of the game of tennis in a new way.   This format for our clinic addresses us as complete players.  It’s not a particle approach or based on fear of losing.

Whether you teach 1st grade or high school biology, these are important principles of instruction that can be part of daily instruction.  If it can happen on a tennis court, it can happen in our schools.

The whole group