This term at my club, we’ve set an intention to help players become more efficient and effective at changing direction during play. Traditionally, achieving this goal might have involved simple, closed drills: feed a deep ball followed by a short ball, direct the deep ball cross-court and the short ball down the line. Such methods would showcase me as a great coach—but only superficially.

However, viewing the world through an ecological lens has transformed my approach. Telling players when to change direction doesn’t just undermine their perception-action coupling—it also strips them of their individuality. Just because I might choose to go down the line off a short ball doesn’t mean it’s the best choice for everyone. This realization underscores what I love about this approach: it embeds problem-solving directly into the playing and coaching process.

So, faced with the challenge that my players aren’t changing direction as much as they could, I’ve had to think creatively about how to encourage more dynamic decision-making. Reflecting on my own play, I realize that even though I understand high-percentage tennis strategies, I sometimes make unexpected choices, like hitting down the line from a deep, fast ball to my backhand. Why do I make these decisions? Watching videos of myself playing and coaching provided some insights.

This is where the concept of affordances becomes intriguing. An affordance is an opportunity for action provided by our environment. A big red button, for instance, invites us to press it. A door handle suggests pulling, even if the sign says push. These cues are based on our individual perceptions and capabilities. For instance, faced with a gap in a bridge, I might hesitate due to my less powerful jump, whereas someone with more athletic prowess might see it as an easy leap. The same environment presents different opportunities to different people.

Translating this to tennis, consider a short ball to my backhand: my instinct might be to chip or slice down the line because I know my drive isn’t strong, but my slice is effective. Another player might see the same ball and decide to hit a heavy topspin drive. We’re presented with the same situation but perceive different actions based on our skills and confidence.

To address this, I’ve designed three unique practices that introduce ‘affordances’ for players to explore changing directions. These are now available in the practice design tab under my resources on My Tennis Coach Academy. Over the next few weeks, I will be updating my blog every Saturday to share this journey of exploring affordances and aiding my players’ decision-making in changing direction.

Stay tuned, and let’s see how this exploration unfolds, as we delve deeper into the ecological dynamics of tennis and unlock new potentials in our players’ games.