EIGHT SECONDS

The ability to execute a good serve in percentage and speed terms resides in the head, starting with the image of the shot a remembering (the image is based on past experiences) how much strength (the measurement or intensity of the shot) we have used in the past for a similar serve. The feeling is an acquired ability based on past experiences. It is stored in your memory data bank and plays a key role in generating the image of the shot. There are two types of ‘muscle memory’: riding a bicycle is a good example of long term muscle memory, stored in one’s head and never forgotten. Everyone has a second kind of muscle memory called short term – thoughts and sensations that disappear from our bodies and minds at a rate of about 30% every eight seconds. An example of this type of memory is a pinch: in eight seconds about one third of the feeling is lost. In the next eight seconds another third of what is left goes and on and on until there is nothing left to feel. Most humans operate with this same eight-second clock so it is called the “time constant” of short-term memory. It is also a good measure of one’s loss of awareness acquired in the execution of one’s serve. Both memories, both long and short term, are important in the serve. Once you learn and know the feeling of your shot it will reside in your long-term memory and never be totally forgotten. The feeling will come back just the way it does when riding a …

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