Bailey’s Blog

When you first learn to play the piano you are taught where to place you hands while also being taught the names of the notes on the music sheet and their corresponding keys on the piano.

With The Bailey Method I have done the same thing in tennis. You read an approaching ball and try and position your body and your feet and hit the ball just as you would respond to having read the notes on the sheet of music and played the appropriate note on the piano. I have called these contact moves. My research has found there to be 15 distinctives ways we hit a tennis ball. 

There are uniformed notes and keys in music …Why? Because a universal language can be spoken….And, of course this makes so much sense!! …so why is there so much opposition to doing the same thing in tennis? ….Wouldn’t it make the teaching and more importantly the learning of tennis so much easier if we all spoke the same language?

Please if you read this blog and agree…e-mail me at david@thebaileymethod.com and lets gets some ideas going on how we can get the language introduced.

• Shadow tennis is designed not to be observed but experienced
• It is ‘creatively responding’ to various rhythms and footwork patterns
• Acquiring information is passive, practice is active
• The human nervous system cannot tell the difference between an actual experience and an experience imagined vividly and in detail
• Shadow tennis will not only get you fitter and change your physical appearance, but will also give you a “spiritual lift” because just by doing it will change your attitude and thoughts. It show commitment to your craft.
• Imagination rules the world. Shadow tennis is really imagination training. I believe the “more specific” the training the easier it is to imagine. Create a “mental motion picture”
• Shadow tennis needs to be associated with POSITIVE THINKING, associated with positive images. The mental picture of yourself is the strongest force within you
• Great tennis starts with a picture, held in your imagination, of how you would like to play on the court. Imagine yourself playing calmly and deliberately, acting with confidence and courage.
• With shadow tennis you “shadow box” you practice without pressure..and this is crucial. It is kind of like a fire drill - fire drills teach crisis conduct in non crisis situations. With shadow tennis you practice self expression with no inhibiting factors. It relies on muscle memory to perform the contact moves correctly.
• Learn the moves that work for you. Form a “mental map” which is retained in your memory. A broad, general flexible map. There is a “carry on” in your muscles, nerves and brain from practice to the actual situation. Moreover because your learning has been relaxed and pressure free, you feel free to rise to the occasion, improvise and act spontaneously. Build a mental image of yourself -acting correctly and successfully
• Winning feelings, evoke winning actions
• Success comes from passion and gradualness. It is not about prestige symbols but creative accomplishments     

” You where not put on this earth to stuff around,

You where put on this earth to make a difference!”

You know I have been in the tennis fitness/footwork industry for over 25 years and have loved every minute of it.

One of the reasons I have loved it so much is the variety of training…the sport has been designed in such a way that every fitness component is included and I think the athletic challenges are terrifically dynamic!

You  need speed  to reach a drop shot, power  to leap for that scissor kick smash, aerobic capacity to last and recover from those long matches, muscular endurance to serve for 5 sets, muscular strength to prevent repetitive strains, flexibility to stretch for wide balls, agility to stop and start and change directions and an a great anaerobic capacity as tennis is a game of short sharps bursts time and time again.

There are so many skills athletically. You need to spin and pivot the hips, shift and transfer the weight, slide to and fro, hop in multiple directions and lunge + jump to reach wide balls. You must master movement on a variety of different surfaces and be forever confronted by ever-changing weather conditions, game styles and personality types.

And….think of all the following fun ways you can get fit for tennis, all which can be easily justified at certain stages of a fitness program…

You know what! …..it should never be boring!…..you can swim, ride a bike, stop and start in sand, reactively catch balls, weave in and out of cones, touch lines and shadow tennis. You can throw medicine balls, use resistance equipment like vipers, parachutes, athletic belts…you can sprint, run stairs and hills, do track work,  jog bush tracks, do jump and slide training, lift weights, do Yoga, Pilate’s, boxing training  and react to funny bouncing dog toys. You can play squash, soccer, badminton, touch football, basketball and mini soccer…you can even go skiing on water or snow….it’s all good…more variety means less injuries…and that is what I love about tennis you can really do anything and justify it connection to tennis….my God! …imagine being a marathon runner or swimmer where all you do is move in a straight line….lets give tennis its due…it is a fantastically athletically challenging sport….Go you good thing!!!!