Experimentation Mode

(This is a continuation of How To Play post below) -
Experimentation: Amongst the below modes, mode 6 (Experimentation with technique) is extremely important to learn any sport. A lot of people practice hard for hours/days/years with the same technique. If the technique is flawed, all that practice will not really show results/improvement. So if we feel that we have improper technique, it is probably better to spend a lot of time experimenting until we hit upon a better technique.

Ditto if our game has hit a plateau (i.e. not improving any further) with our current technique.

From what I have read/heard, even professional sportsmen, apart from normal practice, are always experimenting with various methods to improve on whatever technical flaws they might have.

From my experiences, after learning the basics, I think it is better to, first, try only minor modifications to our natural technique. Usually that itself can make a huge difference in results. If nothing minor works, then we go for radical changes.

EDIT (Sep 13 2010):Here is the perfect example - Nadal's serve during US Open 2010, which has been the main point of discussion during the entire US Open 2010. As I write this, Nadal is to play Djokovic in the US Open final.

Below excerpt shows how a minor modification to his service-grip has resulted in an enormous gain in speed - Washington Post - With reworked serve, Nadal is rolling along
Excerpts -

But Nadal has also used the 2010 U.S. Open to unveil a new serve - far more potent than the perfectly adequate one that has helped him to eight major titles (five French Opens, two Wimbledons and one Australian Open) by age 24.

The evolution begins with the serve, with the Spaniard now cracking aces upwards of 130 mph - a good 10 mph faster, if not more, than before.

Nadal has provided few details about where this extra power comes from, saying simply, "I change a little bit the grip." But it has been a key to his impressive results to date.

The MAIN point to note here is that, even Nadal, who has already won 8 Grand Slams, still continues to tweak his technique a little bit (i.e. experiment).