Hitting the Courts – That ‘Greiner’ Thing
Alright, so I decided to try out this approach someone mentioned, some kind of structured tennis practice. Let’s just call it the ‘Greiner’ way for now, sounded fancy enough. The idea was to really break things down, stage by stage, almost like building something. Sounded good on paper, you know?
So, I got my gear together, grabbed my racket, bunch of balls, and headed to the local court. First step was just warming up, basic hits. Forehands, backhands, just getting loose. Felt pretty normal, like any other day. The plan said to focus heavily on consistency in this first phase. Just keep the ball in play. Simple, right?
Then came the structured drills. This is where it started feeling a bit… manufactured. Instead of just playing, it was like:
- Hit 10 crosscourt forehands.
- Hit 10 down-the-line backhands.
- Move to the net, hit 10 volleys.
- Practice 10 serves to the deuce court.
- Practice 10 serves to the ad court.
Repeat. Over and over. It felt rigid. My arm started feeling like a machine, just executing commands. The flow wasn’t there. You know, that natural rhythm you get into? Gone. Replaced by counting hits.
The tricky part, the ‘crisis’ as they might call it in business speak (which is maybe where this ‘Greiner’ idea comes from?), was when I tried to put it all together. After drilling individual shots like crazy, trying to play actual points felt completely disjointed. My brain was still stuck in ‘drill mode’. I’d hit a good forehand, then just stand there, waiting for the next ‘command’, instead of anticipating the return. It was messy.
I spent a good hour just feeling clumsy, messing up shots I usually make. It was frustrating. You drill something into the ground, expecting it to be perfect, but then the real game situation throws you off completely. All that structure seemed to fall apart when things got unpredictable, which is, you know, kind of the point of tennis.
Eventually, I ditched the strict plan. I just started hitting freely, trying to incorporate the feel of the drilled shots but without the rigid counting and sequencing. It slowly started coming back together. Maybe the drilling helped tighten things up a bit subconsciously, hard to say for sure.
So, what’s the takeaway? I don’t know. Maybe these super-structured methods work for some folks, maybe beginners who need that A-B-C approach. But for me, it felt like it sucked the life out of the game. You gotta have structure, sure, but you also need to let things flow, react, adapt. Felt like I spent more time following the ‘rules’ of the practice than actually playing tennis. Probably won’t be doing that specific routine again anytime soon. Just give me a good old-fashioned hitting session next time.
