Be Unpredictably in Control

Next time you roll up to a standard private lesson and your coach feeds the obligatory 20 balls side to side, try a different approach to your warmup.  Try to be as random as you can be, as creative as you can be.  Vary the heights, spins, and depths.  Hit a gentle forehand dropshot DTL, soft rolling backhand looper DTL, CC forehand drive, slice backhand CC, slice forehand crosscourt, inside-out forehand angle, curving away from middle slice DTL...the possibilities are endless when you start to consider pace, height, and depth.  

The tennis computer in your brain will find this warmup very refreshing and fun.  Tennis should be fun!  Try to challenge yourself and see how many different shots you can add to your arsenal of weapons.  The more weapons you have, albeit they are not big bazookas and AK-47s, but more sly like a Gilette Razor or a wooden toothpick- the more options you will have to dissect your opponent.  The ability to think on the fly and create some fun opportunities for yourself takes diligent practice.  I promise you, some of the best tennis memories you will ever have will be specific points where you dropshot-lob someone and they are running 15 mph straight into the fence!  I promise you will find immense joy in their suffering and it will take everything you have to resist rolling on the floor, laughing hysterically.   

Another way to work on shifting gears from shot to shot is to compete against weaker players.  Usually weaker players will be honored to hit with you and will always put forth their best effort.  See how many times you can purposely bring them with a short slice and then pass them softly with a lob.  See how many drop volleys you can hit from awkward spots around the net.  See how wide you can hit a slice serve to set up your open court volley (give them enough time to run it down so you can maybe lob volley them on the next ball).  Get familiar with awkward areas of the court and experiment.  While they are sweating and running for all your shots, you can comfortably work on your variety and creative decisions.  

The better you can manipulate your racquet in different ways, the better off you will be.  I can equate a player with a multitude of skills to someone like a Fat Tony in the Italian section of town.  Fat Tony owns a bunch of small business in NYC, doesn't drive a flashy car, has almost a million in cash in his account, never went to college, everyone laughs at his jokes, and he carries 50 extra pounds of weight.  Across the net from Fat Tony is someone who went UCLA, earned a Graduate Degree in Accounting, worked for one of the top accounting firms, dresses perfectly, nobody laughs at his jokes, drives a BMW, owns a house on the hills, no cash in his account, does Yoga every Tuesday, and shops at Whole Foods.  I will take Fat Tony everyday, he is practical, he is logical, he plays to win the game.  He will make you suffer, he will make you run, he will make Mr. Perfect sweat- all while he is only taking a few steps here and there to execute his shots.  Mr. Perfect will be cr
ashing into the net chasing down his dropshots, crisscrossing his feet while Fat Tony shifts gears from a junk ball to a drive, and Mr. Perfect will be wondering why his perfect country club strokes are of no use.  People gathering in the clubhouse will be cheering Fat Tony on, ready to buy him a beer when he gets off the court.  Even the ladies will love him.  Fat Tony will be using 3 different racquets with 3 different tensions, but he adjusts.  He is playing to win.  Mr. Perfect is befuddled about his aesthetically pleasing strokes, not that they aren't any good, but he never had a chance to set up to use them consistently.  So who would you rather be?  Fat Tony or Mr. Perfect