Does learning by teaching apply also in sports?

Question

I like explaining programming skills and mathematical theories to others because in the teaching or writing process I can learn more than I study alone. Some theories in education psychology also prove that this method works very well, and we can see that on the Wikipedia page, but most articles only mention two out of the three domains of learning proposed by Bloom like the following (quoted from the Wikipedia page):

respect for other people, planning, problem solving, taking chances in public, and communication skills

The above skills are only cognitive and affective learning but not psychomotor.

Can we improve ourselves better in sports (like tennis) by teaching others (mostly who play worse then ourselves)?

Answer 1

Yes, you very much can. Tennis is a very technical sport and often times we tennis players slack off on technique, causing unforced errors or become lazy, not positioning ourselves properly. We often don't realize this from our perspective, but believe me, we all do it. I was teaching some JV kids basic technique and positioning, which made me realize how I often also slack off sometimes. With doubles, it especially helps clarify strategy as well.

Answer 2

It's easy to see, when teaching things like programming, how you have to have a solid understanding of the subject matter, in order to be able to explain and articulate ideas and concepts. It forces you to inspect things at a deeper level.

In tennis, I have similar experiences. In order for me to explain a technique to someone, I sometimes stop and break down what I'm doing in my head, and try to figure out things like: how am I moving?, why am I moving like that?, what am I trying to accomplish?

After doing this for so long, it forces you to understand the mechanics of tennis better, and how you can too improve, based on your new observations.

Moreover, like with teaching programming, after teaching tennis for so long, you get to the point where you can solve seemingly complex things with a simple suggestion. Serve hits the bottom of the net "Hold your hand in the air longer during the toss."