Why Scorelines and Ratings are Outputs Rather than the Inputs Required for Player Improvement In tennis, performance is usually judged by two things: the scoreline the rating or ranking Both are widely accepted as indicators of progress. But there is a fundamental problem. They are outputs — not inputs. The Illusion of the Scoreline A … Read more
A Language for Improvement in Tennis Profile Understand the player Benchmark Compare appropriately Measure Track progression The 135 Methodology For more than a century, tennis has judged player development using two crude instruments: score and ranking / rating. On the surface, they appear to tell us everything we need to know. But the deeper you look, … Read more
Is There Enough Tactics and Strategy Coaching in Junior Tennis? Modern junior tennis training is increasingly dominated by stroke production—the biomechanics of hitting a forehand, backhand or serve in isolation. While technical skill is undeniably vital, it raises a fundamental question: Are we teaching juniors how to play tennis? Or just how to hit tennis … Read more
The Problem with “Big” Tennis Data; Confusing Messages, Lazy Metrics 135 Founder & Director, Nick Scott, speaking to coaches at John McEnroe Tennis Academy, New York Watch video In today’s game, tennis players are being bombarded with what we call “big data”. Broad stats are everywhere – on the screen, in the app, on the … Read more
135 Assist – Adding Depth to Tennis Player Analysis At 135 Tennis Intelligence, the foundation of our work is the 135 Framework – a system that breaks down the start, middle, and end of every point to create a detailed player profile. But sometimes, to understand the full picture, you need to go deeper. That’s … Read more