Playing Better vs. Improving
 
Last week, coach Massimo Costantini was discussing with me the difference between playing better and improving.
 
I can play better if I continue to practice hard.  My strokes become more solid and possibly my mind will become sharper from getting more experience.  However, my progress curve will be fairly slow.
 
Improvement is totally different.  In order to improve my game, I must make some good changes.  By merely practicing the same things as I have always practiced them, I won’t make as much progress.  As soon as I change some of my problem areas, my progress curve will be much better.
 
So how do I know what to improve first?  Through watching many videos of my training and matches, I have now identified 30 small areas that I need to change.  Thirty seems overwhelming.  So, I have selected 1 part of each stroke to correct.  One area of my serve…  One area of my loop…  One area of my block… etc.  It takes time to make improvements, but once I have made the change, I will be a better player and my progess will be much faster.
 
Now it’s your turn.  Record yourself and write down all the areas that you would like to change.  Each month, focus on making a couple changes and you will be well on your way to rapid improvement.