Why You Should Stop Decomposing Shots When Coaching

Steve is a tennis coach and a leading authority on methods of learning. He wants to challenge perceptions and ask coaches to think about their own methods whilst detailing an alternative option that he believes will improve you as a coach

Tennis coaches love breaking things down. It’s been ingrained in coach education for decades—take a complex movement, strip it into its smallest parts, and teach each piece separately before putting it all back together. Sounds logical, right?

But here’s the problem: that’s not how humans learn to move.

In fact, decomposing shots—breaking down strokes into isolated technical components—can actually hinder skill development rather than enhance it. If you’re still coaching forehands, backhands, and volleys by teaching static grips, stances, and follow-throughs in isolation, it’s time to rethink your approach.

Let’s explore why decomposing shots doesn’t work and what you should do instead.

The Problem with Decomposing Shots

Tennis Is a Continuous, Dynamic Sport

Tennis is not a sport of fixed movements. Every shot a player hits is influenced by countless variables:

• The ball’s speed, spin, and trajectory.

• Their opponent’s position and intentions.

• Their own movement and balance at the time of contact.

A player never hits the exact same forehand twice. So why do we teach them like they will?

When we isolate and decompose shots, we:

• Teach players an idealized movement pattern that rarely exists in real play.

• Prevent them from learning how to adapt their strokes to the situation.

Instead of treating tennis strokes like they exist in a vacuum, we should be coaching them as responses to the environment—not as standalone, repeatable actions.

Movement Is Not Pre-Programmed

Traditional coaching often assumes that movement is something we "program" into players. The idea is that if we perfect the swing mechanics in a controlled environment, players will automatically apply them in a match.

But modern research in ecological dynamics and motor learning shows that this isn’t how skill acquisition works.

• Movements are not stored and recalled like computer files. The brain doesn’t execute a stored "forehand technique" when a ball is incoming—it reacts to what it sees in real time.

• Perception and action are coupled. Players don’t just “swing” at a ball. Their stroke emerges from how they perceive the ball, their opponent, and their position on the court.

By decomposing shots and training them in isolation, we break the natural link between perception and movement—a link that is essential for real-world performance.

It Creates Players Who Struggle in Matches

Ever coached a player who looks amazing in drills but falls apart in matches? Decomposed shot training is often to blame.

• Players develop beautiful technique in practice, but when they step into a competitive environment, it doesn’t transfer.

• They’ve learned to hit “correctly” in static, controlled conditions, but they struggle when forced to adapt to real match situations.

• Instead of making decisions based on the live game, they search for technical answers, leading to hesitation and breakdowns under pressure.

Coaching players in isolated pieces makes them overly reliant on technical cues rather than on reading the game and responding to it naturally.

What You Should Do Instead

Teach the Whole Skill in Context

Instead of breaking strokes into small pieces, teach them in the full context of the game.

• Let players experience full rallies from day one—even with modified equipment.

• Allow their technique to emerge from the task rather than forcing an idealized swing.

• Focus on intentions rather than mechanics (e.g., “hit deep crosscourt” rather than “finish over your shoulder”).

By keeping strokes connected to real tennis situations, you help players develop adaptable, effective movement patterns.

Use Constraints to Guide Learning

Rather than isolating technique, manipulate the environment to encourage the desired movement. For example:

• Want to improve depth on groundstrokes? Shrink the backcourt and challenge them to hit past it.

• Want better topspin? Lower the net and tell them to clear it with height.

• Want to improve movement? Play points where they must recover to different zones.

This keeps learning within the game itself, ensuring that players develop skills that transfer directly to matches.

Encourage Exploration and Adaptability

Instead of making every player conform to a “correct” technical model, let them find their own best solutions through guided discovery.

• Some players will naturally hit with more topspin, others flatter. That’s okay.

• Some players will have compact swings, others more fluid. That’s okay too.

• What matters is that they learn to adapt and solve problems in the game itself.

Your job as a coach isn’t to dictate a player’s movement—it’s to create an environment where effective, adaptable movement emerges naturally.

Final Thoughts

If you’re still decomposing shots in your coaching, it’s time to step back and rethink your approach.

• Tennis isn’t static—so why teach strokes like they are?

• Movement isn’t pre-programmed—so why train players like robots?

• Players don’t need perfect technique—they need adaptable skills that work in real match conditions.

By shifting away from decomposing shots and toward coaching in context, we create players who don’t just look good in practice—but who thrive in real competition.

If you’re ready to question the traditional norms and move beyond confirmation bias, I invite you to check out my “From Drills to Skills” course. Designed with modern skill acquisition theories in mind, this course will guide you in creating practices that focus on adaptability, decision-making, and real-game scenarios. You’ll learn how to implement representative learning environments and challenge players in ways that traditional drills can’t.

Breaking free from confirmation bias isn’t easy, but it’s essential if we want to develop players who can thrive in the dynamic, unpredictable environment of competitive tennis. With the right tools and an open mind, you can make coaching decisions that truly benefit your players and bring fresh insight into the way tennis coaching is approached.

https://mytenniscoaching.com/drills-to-skills-fast-track-to-match-success/