Tennis Backboards - A Lost Tool Comes Back to Life
with New Technology
August 15, 2002, Santa Barbara, CA - Elite players
are superior in three main areas: strength, skill, and
speed. Speed is what truly separates the elite player
from the good player. Not sprint speed, but rather how
fast the body puts the mind in motion. Consistent use
of a backboard, in particular the Sports-PC Electronic
Backboard, will improve the speed at which the mind
functions! The faster the player's mind works, the slower
the game appears, leaving more time to apply strategy
and technique. That's what's meant by being in the "ZONE"
… the true "winners circle".
Backboards Improve Mind and Body Speed
On a backboard players will hit more balls at a pace
faster and more demanding than their natural game. The
level of efficiency called on is above and beyond their
existing skill level and comfort zone which forces the
natural process of adaption. By adapting to a higher
level of performance the neurological system naturally
adjusts by creating more efficient pathways. This is
where the backboard's true power excels delivering excellent
sensory integration skills such as speed, visual response,
footwork, hand-eye coordination and ball tracking skills.
The result is faster mind and body cooperation.
Sensory Integration Training
The sport of tennis has always understood the importance
of sensory integration training but they never named
it. Other sports are now discovering how essential the
development and improvement of mind and body speed is.
Research reveals that over 90% of the world's tennis
champions did their formative training on a backboard.
In the sixties backboards where everywhere and in the
seventies they disappeared with the arrival of the ball
machine.
We lost the backboard because we were not aware of
what tennis player's were doing during backboard practice.
Now we know - Sensory Integration Training! Stimulating
the hands, feet, eyes and ears at a pace higher than
what is comfortable. This is why playing with someone
better than you makes you a better player.
We also lost the backboard because we did not understand
them. As a result we did not build them right nor did
we include them in our teaching programs. As consumer
expectations changed they became boring, failing to
capture attention as we moved towards interactive life
styles. Traditional backboards became too expensive
relative to ball machines because they did not pay for
themselves in rental and teaching use. Finally, they
rotted and were thrown out.
Design Without the Errors of the Past
Sportwall International Inc. took a scientific approach
to its line of backboards by providing solutions to
the problems of the past in their designs and adding
electronic technology to make them more challenging
and a lot of fun.
Their designs also made them the quietest backboards
ever with deep, natural returns essential for developing
good technique and form. Skill training is very specific
and practice makes perfect only if players practice
perfectly. It is important that backboards provide a
natural return that most closely simulates match play
in order to ensure players will use the same muscle
groups and neurological pathways in practice as those
used in real play - making practice perfect.
The Sports-PC Electronic Backboard Makes Tennis
Practice Fun
Arcade and play-station type games have been instrumental
in setting a new level of hand-eye-coordination skills.
Sports-PC training uses the same principle and takes
tennis practice to a higher level to build champions
fast. Players are required to simultaneously track a
ball, targets, sounds, time clocks, and scores, while
engaging in a full-body workout. Challenging? Yes! Exciting
and rewarding? Definitely!
The Sports-PC electronic backboard quickly delivers
results regardless of the player's current skill level.
Training becomes fun, motivating, and efficient while
developing:
o quick hands and quick feet;
o fast reflexes;
o rapid thinking for strategy and technique;
o improved memory;
o improved vision;
o accurate ball placement;
o great balance, agility, body awareness and footwork;
o strength, endurance and flexibility;
o anaerobic, aerobic and cardiovascular endurance;
o sharp focus and concentration.
The first mobile backboard ever!
In the past backboards were put on the least used courts
because they were noisy and interfered with match play.
This made them less accessible for practice by both
players and teaching pros. Sportwall International Inc.'s
mobile backboard can be rolled out onto a court for
lessons, competitions and clinics and stored after use.
The Sports-PC Mobile offers easy, fast set-up and transportation
to shows, fairs, events, parties, and tournaments and
allows for safe and easy set-up in under twenty minutes.
It is great for moving the system from location to location,
either on-site or to remote sites using a low, flat-bed
trailer.
Growing Club Memberships
When asked why players don't play tennis the most prominent
response is: "I'm embarrassed because I can't keep
up my game. I am always short on time to practice during
the week and it is difficult to arrange for a partner."
With the Sports-PC electronic backboard, you don't need
a partner and only 15 minutes of practice in your backyard,
tennis club or health club 2-3 times per week can keep
you in peak condition for social or competitive tennis.
Teaching with a Backboard
Teaching pros usually spend most of their time feeding
balls to students. Using the backboard allows them to
spend more time observing and teaching technique and
form. The Sports-PC electronic backboard excels with
groups with its short 15 second - 4 minute games and
instant freed back scoring. Kids love it and keep coming
back to beat their personal best score.
Billie Jean King Endorses Sports-PC
Billie Jean King endorsed the Sports-PC when she saw
how it influences an athlete's performance and gets
today's young computer game players off the couch and
exercising again. "This is the wave of the future!
Sports-PC training absolutely correlates perfectly with
what you are trying to do in match play, which is very
important for high performance".
Today, all of the World Team Tennis (WTT) teams own
a Sports-PC tennis model. The Sports-PC is also being
used to train Olympic athletes at the US Olympic-training
site in Springfield MO. With leading edge training facilities
moving focus towards neurological efficiency and mind
speed training as major components of their training
programs, Sportwall Sensory Integration Training is
guaranteed a long-term place in any fitness or sports
training program. High performance athletes always want
to improve their mind speed and the Sports-PC is the
fastest way to achieve this.
The United States Tennis Association and National Recreation
and Park Association have experienced the value and
excitement of the Sportwall sensory integration training,
and are incorporating it into their programs across
America.
Choosing a Backboard for your facility
When purchasing a backboard the following features should
be considered:
1. Performance: Some backboards can work counter to
good form because they vibrate too much when the ball
hits them. This causes them to be too noisy and the
speed of the ball is lost when the energy of the ball
is converted into noise. There can be three consequences:
-- The players stands too close to the backboard which
can cause them to shorten their stroke because they
don't have enough time to get their racquet back.
-- The players hits too hard to achieve a decent return
which causes them to prioritize power over control;
something we try to avoid when we teach tennis.
-- The player stands too close and hits too hard - I
have frequently heard teaching professionals say they
need a dampened backboard….. Only when you stand
too close and hit too hard. Here the player is trying
to compensate for the lack of performance in the backboard.
If the backboard is doing its job properly, the player
should be standing twenty five to forty feet back giving
enough distance to maintain good form without overcompensating
with power.
Quiet Backboards provide energetic returns. A double
bounce from a fast backboard is better than undermining
strokes with a backboard that has poor performance.
2. Maintenance and Longevity: Plywood backboards require
high maintenance. The vibration set up by the ball can
be so intense that the screws or nails can work loose
in a very short period of time. They also suffer from
extreme weather conditions. Most commercially made backboards
have been weatherproofed to some degree.
3. Noise level: If you live in a noise sensitive environment
try a sand-filled backboard, reinforced concrete or
concrete block. They meet most noise ordinance requirements.
4. Color: Some backboards are made of a particular
pigmented color which cannot be changed. Others can
be painted to the color of your choice.
5. All weather friendly: Check weather requirements
as well as wind velocity requirements in your area,
and ensure the backboard you choose meets those requirements.
The heavier or more solid the backboard the more wind
resistant it will be. Concrete or sand filled systems
are best in high wind areas.
6. Vandal proof: Some backboards are more susceptible
to theft and vandalism than others. Check with the supplier
if your location is subject to vandalism, graffiti or
theft.
7. Can the backboard pay for itself and be used as
a fund raiser or revenue earner? Although more expensive,
the electronic backboards can pay for themselves in
around six months if used as a profit center.
8. Shape of the Backboard: Today backboards come in
various shapes and sizes. Most manufactured systems
ship in 4' x 8' or 10' modular panels that can be configured
to any size by simply adding 4' panels. These modular
systems can be installed vertically or with a slight
back slope to facilitate a more natural return. i.e.
the back-slope provides a deeper return with a more
natural lift similar to the return off a tennis racquet.
Sportwall International Inc. is the manufacturer of
high performance training Sports-PC systems for tennis,
baseball, basketball and soccer. They also offer standard
tennis backboards, brain and body fitness for children
with their Sports-PC Electronic Playground, as well
as the first mobile backboard ever. Please call 1-800-695-5056
for more information.
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