We do not strive to teach you how to hit a tennis ball, but rather we aid you in developing the components necessary to hit any ball. This is the brain's natural method of learning. There are no rules such as "hit through the ball," "keep your eyes on the ball," "keep your feet moving," etc. Rather we teach you the "why" behind every aspect of stroke production. For example, the rule "keep your eyes on the ball" is pointless unless you understand the mechanics of human vision, which is explained in Vision. Further, learning by the use of rules drastically retards the learning process and may actually prevent you from learning important aspects of tennis.   

In this note, we discuss the significance of the three critical aspects of every shot in tennis without ever referring to a rule or a template. You must explore and experiment with these ideas just as if they were tools. Discover their scope and limits and how to utilize them to your best advantage. By learning these three aspects of every stroke and why they are needed, you are more in charge of your development. You do not have to ask anyone what is the right way to hit a ball. You can discover this from your own experimentation. 

Every tennis stroke must have three things in varying degrees:

• A source of stability to ensure that the entire course of the stroke can be efficiently controlled.
• A linear interval (also called a straight-line interval) near the point of contact to maximize the probability of clean contact.
• A source of controllable acceleration  to produce racquet speed that can be directed into the ball.