Knowing Your Opponent

Again, Master Sun Tzu tells us

"If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles."

In battle, as in tennis is important to know and fully understand your opponent's likes, dislikes and motivations. If you do, you can tailor your strategy to defeating him. Evaluate your opponent from the ground up and in both a technical and tactical sense. 

For example, is the opponent fast (i.e., does he cover long distances quickly)? Is the opponent quick (i.e., as opposed to being fast, a quick player is great ad adjusting to shots struck with pace right at him)? Is the opponent strong (i.e., can he punish sitters)? Is your opponent smart (i.e., is he the type who plays the same points over and over or does he have several cards up his sleeve)? Does your opponent have endurance (i.e., will he be able to go the distance or is he looking for a quick kill)? Is your opponent aggressive or passive? Does he wait for returns with a forehand grip, backhand or neutral? Is the opponent protecting her backhand? Is the opponent comfortable at the net or hitting overheads? Is the opponent a front-runner or a snake in the grass (i.e., does she play better when she's ahead or is she the type to wait until you break your concentration to topple you? How does your opponent serve under pressure? Who are the type of players that have beaten her before (bashers, counterpunchers, pushers, serve-and-volleyers, dinkers, slicers)? How does your opponent handle pace, spin, height? Is the opponent quick out of the starting blocks or does it take her a while to get going? How is the opponent mental state - is she easy to rattle or ice-cold? Does he look like want to be on the court or is there another place he'd rather be at that particular point in time? What are his favorite "plays" or "patterns"? Does he prefer to serve at certain targets at big points? Does he take chances with the returns or does he play steady? Does he have any "hitches" or peculiarities in his shots which either prevent him from hitting certain balls or are likely to break down under pressure? Is he a fast-court player or does he prefer slower courts? Does he handle wind/sun/heat/altitude well? 

In other words, evaluate your opponent so that you can formulate a game-plan in advance (if you're the "nervous type", thinking about strategy in advance will also help you take your mind off the player or the situation). If you've never played against this player before (and none of your friends have either), determine if you've played against a similar player in the past. Go through your mental "rolodex" of plays and figure out if this player resembles someone you've played against before.

 

If not, figure out if his forehand is like Player X's and Backhand like player Y's and draw a composite sketch of what you'd do against those players. Get a proper warm-up in advance so that your actual match warm-up is utilized to pick up on the subtle movements from your opponent which either indicate likes/dislikes or weapons/weaknesses and also "where" the opponent might go with that particular shot during the match (e.g. does he always go cross-court when he's hitting an open-stance forehand? If so, start leaning towards that spot early).  

Make Your Opponents Quit

Sun Tzu, in the Art of War, said

"For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill."

In other words, it's the sign of a good warrior when he shows up on the battle field and the other side puts down its weapons. Conversely, having to constantly prove yourself over and over again may end up costing you. Think about all the 3-set matches that you have won in the morning only to be too exhausted for your afternoon match. Wouldn't it be more desirable to defeat your opponent outright in the morning match and still have the energy to do the same in the afternoon?! 

This goal can only be achieved by being the toughest, fittest and smartest warrior out there. Think: Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray, Serena, Venus, etc. These players - through their presence and preparation - intimidate their opponents into losing before they've even stepped out on the court. Take Nadal, for instance. How many players think that they can outlast him in a 5 set match?! Not many. Not a guy you'd want to meet in a dark alley. He is so fit, strong and mentally tough that every player knows that he has his work cut out for him if he wants to take him on head-on. Many choose to not fight at all. Same with Federer. He intimidates people through his skill that he often cruises through the first 3-4 rounds of a Grand Slam without so much as dropping a handful of games, breaking a sweat or changing their shirt. Djokovic - same thing (see how he dominated the 2011 season). Due to their individual characteristics, they have bullied their opponents before they've even stepped onto the court. At that point, going through the motions of actually winning the match is merely ministerial. As a consequence, they are capable of going deeper into the draw than players who are, on paper, just as good but who don't possess the same aura. 

So the advice is to improve every aspect of your game to the point where people will lose the match before it ever starts. Your opponents need to think "geez..I don't want to play this guy. She's too fit/strong/tough for me. There's no way I'll win". Often, they will "go in the tank" before the match has even started. Make them doubt their preparation, skills, and commitment to the game. Don't just beat your opponents! MAKE 'EM QUIT! Send them the message that you mean business and this is not just a game to you. 

Backboard Training

Among the most useful (and underused) training tools is the backboard. Generations of great players have honed their strokes by practicing against the backboard yet, for some reason, modern American players think that they are too good for this device. In addition, some parents believe that unless some-high priced coach is on the court with the kid, that the player will not be able to learn on his own. I have seen dozens of junior players who are simply incapable of hitting 100-200 balls in a row against the backboard without missing. And volleys?! Forget about it. You'd be lucky to see someone hit 10-20 before losing control of the ball. 

The backboard is an awesome training device for supplementing your practices. First of all, there are generally very few distractions (due to massive green background) so that the player can totally focus on the ball. Second of all, the player must develop control in order for it to keep coming back to her. Third of all, the constant repetition is physically taxing on your forearm.

The forearm muscles are very important in imparting control on the racket. By having a strong forearm (like a wall), your volleys and slices will improve dramatically (since these are strokes that depend more on blocking/punching than on swinging). With a soft forearm, your arm (similar to a hanging towel) - instead of punching the ball - will actually absorb the pace of your opponent's shot (so players often compensate by swinging at volleys or slices which usually results in "easy" errors). Visualize Bruce Lee and his famous one-inch punch (where a lot of power was created in a short distance). Lastly, practicing against the backboard is great for improving the hand-to-eye coordination. There's nothing as useful for your eyes as staring at the ball coming back to you in rapid succession 2-3000 times per workout (Note: it is said that Rocky Marciano trained his eyes by staring at a tic-tocking metronome at the foot of his bed).

I recommend that, at least twice per week, developing players hit at least 2000 balls/session against the backboard. This may sound like a lot but, done right, it should only take 15 minutes to accomplish this task. One of my favorite routines is the tap-tap rally where the player hits 100 forehand volleys in a row, followed by 100 backhand volleys, followed by 100 side-to-sides, followed by 100 slices. Five sets of this and your forearm will be fried and you won't even break a sweat. If you want, you can also work on overheads (note, you hit the overhead into the ground and then it ricochets upwards into the backboard and arcs back to you for another overhead). There is no excuse for any player not including at least some backboard practice into their routine. 

Hitting Winners

One of my pet peeves is when I see players going for flat-out winners at inopportune times. Now, winners come in all shapes and sizes, and it's difficult to encapsulate this concept without some form of live demonstration. Nevertheless, it is important to understand that a smart winner will take place when (1) the opponent can't get to the ball (obviously!!!); and (2) when the risk of missing is small or non-existent. 

Often times, I see a player going for a winner that appears to be aimed directly from the line. If we freeze-frame the positioning of the opponent, we can sometimes see that her location is in the middle of the court. In effect, the ball is 12 feet away from the opponent (i.e., satisfying the first element) but the ball is also 2inches from the line/over the net (coming dangerously close to not satisfying the second component). This is very frustrating for a coach to watch because it's a lot like watching someone go "all in" in a Poker match with a weak hand.

A player has, generally, no business going for winners unless the SECOND element is satisfied. The player will be effective at achieving this objective when the player manages to move the opponent away from the middle of the court. For example, try to move your opponent 2 feet towards the backhand; then, 2 feet towards the forehand side; then 4 feet towards the backhand, then 4 feet towards the backhand side of the court, then maybe 6 feet towards the backhand. At this point, if you go for a winner (the other way) that is 12 feet from the opponent, you are only still aiming 6 feet from the middle of the court (cutting the risk for missing long/wide dramatically). Conversely, if you go for winners when the opponent sits on top of the center-T on the baseline, you HAVE to hit the lines in order for the opponent to not get there. This is HIGH RISK tennis and should be avoided 99% of the plays. 

Practice Patience

In terms of tennis, technological developments have had a positive as well as a negative effect on tennis development. Improvements in racket, string, ball and shoe technology has resulted in an exponential increase in power but with a detrimental effect in the artistry of the game. American players, in particular, are affected the most because we don't tend to play as much on clay (which takes away some of the advantages of power and teach the player how to create opening with angles, placement, spin, depth and guile). 

Now, we can talk about the benefits of playing on clay until we're blue in the face. The fact is that until clubs and parks figure out a way to make clay court maintenance as financially efficient as hard courts (maybe a wash once every two weeks) the fact remains that we will continue to be a hard-court nation. So, with this in mind, how do you learn to patiently push your opponent around the court and create openings? One answer is to PUT THE RACKET DOWN! Literally! Put the racket down and play games where the players have to THROW the ball around the court. This game will not only develop your throwing ability (good for serves) but is is also a great way to figure out the geometry of the game. In addition, this is one of the best ways to improve tennis-specific fitness because the points last longer and you don't have a racket with which to reach the ball. 

I suggest that, once in a while, you spend 10-15 minutes (perhaps as a warm-up, perhaps as a way to finish the workout) by playing games up to 15 where the players have to catch and throw the ball. The rules are fairly simple: the player must throw from the place from which s/he catches the ball (or, like frisbee games, can only take one more step to stop and throw). The clever player will figure out how to push their opponents around the court with just as much angle to make the opponent sprint for the ball, but not so short that the player can "attack". Your tennis IQ will improve dramatically when you learn how to open up the court and make the opponent work for every point.