The following is a transcript from OnCourt OffCourt’s Game Changers webinar series, a free educational series for players and coaches of all ages. To see the whole series, click here!
Billy:
Joe, I want to turn it over to you and would you mind demonstrating and sharing some details on a couple of products?
Joe:
Yeah, absolutely, Billy. Thanks for having us. Good morning, Kalindi. We’re all over the world here.
I want to share, when you were saying about practical, in modern tech terms, it would be called click and play.
Training aids are a means to accelerate learning. And golfers have embraced that for decades and decades because you can actually practice golf in the backyard; it’s much more of a solo activity.
Tennis has become a little more difficult that way, and the aids that we have, generally speaking, you can use on your own. We have home practice products. There are walls on the sides of schools after school, you can slide over to and hit tennis balls or pickleballs, for that matter.
Let’s start with this, would you guys like to cover the pickleball one? Or the tennis one first?
Kalindi:
I feel like whatever you feel most called for, Joe.
Joe:
Alright, let’s do tennis first, pickleball second. And next time, we’ll try to remember and do pickleball first and tennis second.
This is called the Serve Right Racket, and it has the ‘SR’ right on it. It, coincidentally, has one of our whistling aids. It’s called a Whistler vibration absorber, so it’s meant to enhance the noise as you swing.
(Joe swings the racquet producing a noticeable whistle)
It’s a device that, as you’re swinging looser and faster, the device whistles.
If you’re slow, you don’t hear it. And if you’re fast, you do, so the idea of swinging fast is not necessarily an advanced concept because it ties into being relaxed.
And relaxation in all sports is essential. If it’s racket sports, throwing a baseball, kicking a soccer ball, bouncing a basketball, etc., it’s controlled, but relaxation is essential. I think we know this with all physical activities.
When you’re walking down the stairs, for example, you’re not locking up your legs; you’re walking down the steps; you’re relaxed.
And it’s that kind of feeling with the arm and wrist that will help you swing a little bit faster. Or a lot faster if you want. And the ball speed will coincide with that increased racket speed, and you’ll be a better player. Even if it means making some mistakes all at once.
Tennis versus pickleball. Pickleball grips are important. But perhaps not as important as in tennis because you see, at the recreational level, they can get away with it a little bit more than tennis.
But there is one common grip to both sports that is essential to learn.
The difference between pickleball and tennis is that with pickleball, you can get away with just this one grip which is called the Continental Grip.
With the Serve Right Racket, that grip is molded into the racket. And I was thinking about this last night; who is this applicable for because we put this on a 23-inch racquet, which is a junior tennis racket, so it’s somewhere in between the size of a regular tennis racket and a pickleball paddle.
So, it’s kind of interesting as it provides a different kind of tool for pickleball as well.
The Serve Right Racket and the Whistling Vibration Dampner are two examples of how players can accelerate the learning they do on the court. Both these tennis and pickleball aids can be used during regular practice, and players will see targeted results much faster.
Accelerated learning is a huge Game Changer out on the court for players and coaches. So keep learning by checking out the rest of our free Game Changer webinar, where we show you how simple and effective training aids can accelerate learning while having a blast.
Watch the rest by clicking right here
Kalindi Dinoffer is trained in multiple aspects of mindfulness in life and in sports, sharing on her blog MindfulKalindi.com. She is also certified to teach yoga, fitness, reiki, and MFR. Kalindi also serves as VP marketing at OnCourtOffCourt.com, a leading supplier of tennis, pickleball, fitness and yoga training aids and equipment and has been published in Tennis industry Magazine and Pickleball Magazine, and has conducted workshops at conferences around the world. In her spare time, Kalindi plays tennis, pickleball and table tennis and enjoys outdoor activities such as hiking and biking and cross country skiing in the winter.
