Regression of a skill

Hello,
I have noticed something that happends to me very often and I have no explanation for it. I hope you can help me here. Whenever I learn about a new stroke and try it in the beginning everything works very well. I need to say that there are no clubs around the place where I live and I mostly play with my friends at least once a day. So when I tried thing like backhand chop and backhand topspin in the beginning they werw working quite well for me, I was even surprize with myself, I did not know I could do it so easily. Almost every attempt was a point and if I missed I missed very close. So beginning was good but over time, like in a week or so the skill was going away. I was doing the same thing but I was not getting the same results :( Not too good, right? I don't understand why it's happening. Am I just getting used to the stroke and pay less attention? Or maybe people learn my style and try not to give me opportunities? Does this happen to everyone?
Thanks,
Pavel.

Hi Pavel,

You have hit upon a very interesting part of learning.

If you think about when you are playing around with something like a basketball and you have the first shot that goes in or goes really close.  It may be with a piece of paper that you crunch up and throw at the bin.  When you keep trying, often the skill gets worse.  It may take you another 30 shots to get another one as close as the first.  We pass it off as beginners luck, but it is much more than that.

This is an interesting thing that happens to many people.  Think about for yourself and see if you can remember circumstances where this has happened.

I will try to explain it.  When we take that first shot, we do it instinctively.  When we see that first shot go close we take over and think I can do this and then we try too hard and rather than doing it instinctively we start thinking too much about the skill.

With your situation, you are seeing the videos, getting good images of how to do the skills which your brain is recording.  You are then just going out without any expectations and doing the skill well.  But, when this happens you are then thinking "I can do this" and start analysing and thinking the strokes through.  The images are the best teacher, because your brain records these and uses them naturally and instinctively.  As soon as you start thinking too much about them, things will start to go haywire.  Of course with lots of practice you will learn to do the strokes properly, but remember those first few times you try things and the natural feeling you have.  You can have that all the time without trying to take over what is happening.

This may sound a bit way out but watch out for it in other skills that you do.

If you have any further questions about it let me know.