Acing In The Classroom, ACEing on The Court

April 11, 2024 | By Barbara Becker

In a world as fast-changing and full of information as our own, all of us—from school children to college students to career-driven adults—need to know how to learn well. Despite this, evidence confirms that most of us don’t use the learning techniques that science has proven to be most effective. A brute application of willpower isn’t the answer. The best ways to improve the odds that we’ll not only complete our learning tasks, but also maximize our potential to reach our goals are very feasible, and are similar in both the classroom and on the tennis court. The following are optimally effective strategies for both tennis players and SAT/ACT students.

 

Making Improvement Faster

The oddly addictive practice of tracking every calorie consumed or burned, every step taken or minute slept is very common. This practice of using data to monitor and motivate yourself is important to learning endeavors also. Oftentimes, students get discouraged in their attempts to improve scores on their standardized tests. They aspire to get either a perfect score on practice tests or a minimum number of correct questions. Even if their overall score improves, but they don’t reach their goal, they feel they’re not progressing. However, that is misleading. All practice tests label the Category and Difficulty Level of each question, and often, students have actually improved in a question type or have mastered questions that are considered “difficult”. Keeping a record annotating the types of questions, missed and correct, as well as difficulty level, makes their progress tangible and motivating.

The next invaluable step is to collaborate with a test specialist to ensure that the student thoroughly understands why the mistake was made. Without doing that, all the practice in the world is useless! Be sure to create a “Wrong Answer Journal” in which you write each missed question/correct answer next to the rule that pertains to it. Review that Journal frequently and you will never make the same mistake again.

Tennis players can profit from mentally tracking all negative/positive match data and also keeping a journal.  Position a camera when hitting with a ball machine or practice partner. Just like students should understand what types of mistakes they make, tennis players should watch a replay of their ball-hitting and practice sessions. Even better, watch it with a tennis pro and get feedback to log into an “Improvement Journal”.

 

Spending Less Time To Make More Progress

Here’s a prime example of “less is more”. Should you emulate the zealous students who brace themselves for marathon sessions of intense memorization? No! There is a scientific phenomenon called the “Primacy-Recency Effect”.  During a learning episode, we remember best that which comes first, second best that which comes last, and least that which comes just past the middle. This translates to:  ½ hour is the optimal study session length! Our brains are thirsty sponges during the first 15 minutes which sends everything to empty Long Term Memory. Then the door slams shut. Only in the last 15 minutes do our brains become a sponge again. That’s the most recent material studied so it’s indelibly imprinted in the brain. All middle material disappears.  Allocate all studying to 30-minute intervals and in between, do something physical, have nourishing snacks, play a video game, etc.

The optimal practice session for an adult is 2 hours, 2.5 hours for a teenager, and 2 hours for a pre-teen. When you’re preparing for a match, a warm-up should be just long enough to break a sweat. Concentrate on thinking about strategy, not technique.

Students must warm up before their test also. You wouldn’t accelerate your car on a cold day from 0 to 60 mph after it’s idled for eight hours. That also applies to your brain. Take 15 minutes before you leave the house to practice sample questions.

 

Reducing Anxiety

Anxiety among test-takers is ubiquitous, and that applies to tennis players as well. Fortunately, it’s scientifically proven that anyone can immediately stop that feeling. Anxiety causes us to do rapid shallow breathing which oversaturates our blood with oxygen and depletes it of carbon dioxide. That’s the sole cause of panic symptoms. To help with this, instantly switch into “Breathing Mode”: Inhale for four Seconds—Hold for four Seconds—Exhale for eight Seconds”.

Repeat.

The body’s chemical reaction quickly lowers our stress hormones. Practice this before you go into a test or a match or between games in a match.  Another classic strategy is Counting, a non-stimulatory activity, that distracts our mind from anxiety and refocuses it on a specific task.

My tennis tips aren’t secondhand knowledge.  I’m the parent of a highly-ranked player who juggled academics, tennis and social life. I saw how invaluable such traits as optimism, self-esteem and tenacity are.  It’s not the tennis lessons or the test prep lessons that you’ll remember in the future. It’s the life lessons you encounter on your journey that will leave their indelible mark and that’s worth everything!

 

Barbara Becker
Barbara Becker, M.A., M.S.  has tutored the Verbal sections of the ACT, PSAT and SAT for over 4 decades. She achieved perfect scores on her high school Verbal PSAT, SAT and ACT. Her unique copyrighted teaching materials facilitate rapid long-term understanding and memorization. She has Master’s Degrees in Clinical Psychology, School Psychology and Counseling Psychology and is a PhD candidate in School and Clinical Psychology. She also specializes in helping students relieve test-taking anxiety. Ms. Becker assists students in writing Application essays at all levels, and can be reached at 516-448-4343 or BBCKR100@aol.com.
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