Whatever Problems You May Have, They Have Their Own Problems Too

Whatever problems you may have, just remember they have their own problems too. This is very practical advice that is very easy to forget in the heat of the battle. Reading this article, unemotional and clear headed, this makes perfect logical sense. Only problem is it is very hard to remember when you need it. Everyone needs to be reminded from time to time that it is easy to forget the task at hand (to win the match) instead of intensifying all your time and energy on your own problems (technique, feeling the ball, dogmatic strategies, etc). Tennis is never static, the elements are always changing. Your opponent is confronting their own demons as the match unfolds, you may not know exactly what those issues are, but they are lurking underneath the surface. If you are paying attention, good things can happen.

The most efficient players mentally play tennis from a 3rd person point of view as if they are observing the match from the stands. As the match unfolds, they take notes on all the jabs and body blows delivered and recieved. They see with clarity how their opponent is boiling inside, frosting at the mouth when things don't go their way. They see with crystal vision how their opponent plays 30-all points. They see how their opponent can't keep their cookies together when they get a break of serve. Sometimes these little cues and nuances can tip the match in your favor and increase your odds of winning.

Imagine the following scenario. You are down 2-0 to an evenly matched player who you have never played before. I say evenly matched because you have done your research and you notice you have similar wins and losses in comparison. The stakes are high and pride is on the line, you both desperately want to win. Your opponent serves at 2-0 and easily holds for a 3-0 lead.

FREEZE

Most players confronted with a 3-0 deficit hit the panic button. Uh oh, change strategy. Go for broke. Serve and volley. Pace around the court in-between points. Panic, panic, panic. Drastic measures have to be taken.

REWIND

It is only one break of serve. You were nervous to start the match giving them a handful of unforced errors. Lets settle down and make them hit some balls. "Aha, whatever problems you have, they have their own problems too!" This wonderful piece of practical advice pops into your head and your blood pressure goes down. You realize the match is not slipping out of your hands, but it is closely within reach. You buckle down and get back to work.

OTHER SIDE OF NET

Your opponent who just held for the 3-0 lead is overthinking it. "What a great start! Shoot, I don't know if I can keep this up. I'm playing awfully good, almost too good to be true. What if he starts to make some returns? He doesn't realize I don't like long rallies. I hope he keeps missing."

So if you remain calm and practical, just remember, whatever problems you may have, they have their own problems too. Sometimes your opponent is willing to lose the match if you give him a chance to choke. Better players don't crack til deeper in the match, your job is to hang around and find their breaking point. You got nothing better to do, so just keep hanging around.

Watch the Ball!!!

"Watch the ball" along with "move your feet" are two staple pieces of advice that a player is bound to hear throughout his/her career. Obviously, since one of the centerpieces of our sport is to hit a moving object, both components must be mastered in order to succeed. Although movement has been covered ad nauseum by tennis writers, less ink has been devoted to the concept of watching the ball. Here are CAtennis.com's thoughts on the subject:

1. Watch the ball so that you can pick up the speed of the ball. Remember that light travels faster than sound. Don't rely on the cracking sound of the ball to inform you that the opponent has hit a hard and heavy shot (or, conversely, a soft ball). Pick up the necessary information from your opponent's preparation and the velocity at which the ball is leaving your opponent's string bed. This will enable you to prepare early and adequately. The ball will slow down somewhat after touching the ground - due to friction - but your best guess at anticipating the speed is to analyze the trajectory prior to the bounce. 

2. Watch the ball so that you can pick up the spin of the ball. In addition to hitting fabulous shots, great players are also known for doing the simple things really, really well. They don't overthink or overcomplicate the basics. If the ball comes with underspin, they know how to get (and stay) under and adjust the face of the racket accordingly. If the ball comes with topspin, they know that the speed of the ball prior to the bounce is deceptive - that the ball will bounce and, due to forward rotation, will "explode" forward. Therefore, the high-level players will prepare a smidgeon sooner in order to avoid being jammed by the oncoming ball. As mentioned in a prior article, the ball (whether struck with top- or under-spin) may also come with a slight side-spin which further alters the trajectory of the ball and forces the player to take an extra couple of small adjustment steps. 

3. Watch the ball so that you can anticipate the angle of reflection. The basic physics concept is that when a ray of light strikes a flat surface at a certain angle (angle of incidence) it will reflect at the same angle (angle of reflection or refraction) in the opposit direction (see image to the right). For example, if sunlight hits a mirror at 45degrees, the light will bounce off at 45degrees in the opposite direction. Substitute ball for sunlight and the application is that when the ball arcs and then drops at a certain angle it will bounce, more or less, at the same angle (give or take a couple of degrees due to pace, spin, smootheness of the court, wind, etc). As a player, if you can anticipate the angle of the ball's "reflection", you can adjust - whether with your feet, balance, core and/or racket - your shot. A lot of developing players wait for the ball to bounce in order to prepare. Unless you're playing Criss Angel, there is no magic! The ball will not change trajectory in mid-air (and may only change very slightly after the bounce). Accordingly, if the opponent sends the ball your way in a certain manner (horizontal angle as well as vertical angle), you should be able to determine where and how the ball will bounce even before the ball crosses the net. If you truly watch the ball (as well as the opponent's biomechanics), you will shave precious time off your preparation. 

To assist yourself with watching the ball, try doing the following: right after the opponent (pr practice partner) has contacted the ball, tell yourself (in your mind) "Back" (i.e. racket back). Do you have to take the racket back as you're doing it? Depending on your strokes and the particular circumstances - maybe, maybe not. However, giving yourself this verbal cue will put you - mentally - in the position to prepare a split second sooner. In other words, you will trick your brain (and your eyes) to start watching the ball sooner and with a purpose. 

Steal This Drill: Switch!!!

Here's a variation of the 1-on-1 drill known as "corners" where one player stays in one corner and moves his paractice partner side to side. In the standard corners drill, one of the player moves side to side until he tires and then the roles switch allowing the dictating player to move as well. We find the standard drill to be somewhat artificial in that the dictating player's energy level is usually ratcheted back while the other player is moving.

In our version, every 3-4 shots the dictating player yells out "switch!!!!" and the moving player has to direct the shots to the open corner. The dictating player then moves to the open corner from where the game continues. Then, after 2-3-4-5 shots (or even 1), the dictating player yells "switch" again and the moving player directs his shots to the open court. The benefit of this drill is that both of the players are moving and that the moving player is forced to constantly shift the angles of his shots while on the run. The dictating player gets to move as well so this drill is usefull in maintaining a high level of excitement for both players. Furthermore, with both players being forced to move and change the direction of the ball, the drill is a lot more realistic and practical than your standard corners drill. 

A second variation of the corners drill is where the moving player (or coach) yells "switch" and the roles change in the middle of the rally. For example, wherever the moving player happens to be when "switch" is called out, that's his corner and the player who was previously dictating the play is now the runner (hitting all of his shots towards that corner. This is a great drill for practicing in a team format where 3-4 courts can perform the same task and the coach's directive ("Switch") controls all the courts at the same time. 

Biomechanics and Stroke Mechanics

The tennis development process is an interesting animal. Just as there are countless players one can easily find numerous coaches - all with their individual outlook regarding the game. Some coaches are great at fundamentals; others are awesome at the mental aspect; some may be better at strategy and tactics; then there are those who are wonderful at stroke development; a great deal of coaches possess (or like to think of themselves as possessing) a mix of all these attributes.

It is coaches in the latter group - the ones who specialize in technique - who are the focus of this article. I like to call these coaches "stroke mechanics." Some are wonderful of cleaning up even the biggest biomechanical faults in the players' games. They really have an eye for figuring out how the player can hit the "proper" shot and, a small percentage, can skillfully instruct the player to model their game after a variety of top players (suiting their pupil's body type, interests, mental attitude, etc.). Obviously, these types of coaches should be highly-regarder and well-respected for their keen vision, their fearlessness in taking charge of their students' technical side, and ability to mold the player to hit cosmetically-appealing strokes. However, is there a danger in sticking with these coaches for "too long"? We believe that a danger is very much present. You see, as the player develops and his/her physical characteristics change, the strokes will be affected. If you don't believe me, try touching your nose on your kneecaps or sticking your feet in your mouth. These are things that were routine as a baby but, as your muscles and ligaments grew stronger and, you became a whole lot less limber. So things that were routine as a child are a practical impossibility as an adult. 

The same concept applies when it comes to tennis and strokes. The strokes that you have as a child (or are expected to have) will shift, adjust and modify as you get bigger, faster stronger. Many coaches, however, find themselves (intentionally or inadvertently) on a mythical quest to find the picture perfect strokes for their students; strokes that will remain unchange from age 8 to 18 and later. Although well intentioned, coaches who limit their expertise - and how the game is won and lost - to technique are doing their charges a great disservice. Yes, players should always seek to perfect their strokes. But as we said in the past, tennis is more than just about groundstrokes. The entire game - mental, physical, emotional, tactical - must be developed alongside the strokes. By obsessing over strokes, the players fail to develop these other areas along with their peers. They may end up having the cleanest, most picture-perfect strokes but might not know how and when to use them. Strokes themselves are only the tools of the game; players must understand - just like mechanics - how to use them in order to obtain a desired result. If collecting tools is all you do, you will end up being the tennis-equivalent of a suburban garage mechanic. You'll have the nicest set of tools but you will not know how to use them. The issue being that one could always improve even the best and cleanest shots... even Federer's forehand can be more penetrating, be better placed, or more effective. Therefore, the best developmental coach would be the one who not only shows you the proper technique but also develops it in context thereby allowing you to grow the game. In other words, if the components of the game can be broken down into bars (each indicating a different field: strokes, footwork, strategy, mental, emotional management, physical, motivation, etc.) on a music volume analyzer display (above), the best coach would try to raise all the bars (sometimes at the same time; other times separately) and not leave certain portions of the game unattended. This will ensure that the player grows with and into the game and, as a result, will be in a better position to launch an attack towards the top of the rankings when it matters. 

Rock Paper Scissor Strategy

"If I beat Johnny and Johnny beats Bobby, why do I always lose to Bobby?" Sound familiar? If you're a junior - or even a developing adult player - this type of thinking will have crossed your mind at one point or another in your tennis career. It is attractive to think that, just because you're better than player X (objectively or in terms of ranking), and player X defeats player Y on a regular basis, you are automatically entitled to a win over player Y. The sooner you learn to get out of this mental quicksand, the better player you will become.

You see, when it comes to tennis, there are several factors that need to be evaluated before determining whether you should take a win over player Y for granted. For example, you may possess a huge serve while player X has only a spin serve. Although on paper it may look like you should have no problems holding serve against player Y, the reality is that player Y may love returning big, flat serves and may have difficulty adjusting to kicks and slices. Also, where you may be a righty, player X may be a lefty. This is only the tip of the iceberg but in terms of winning and losing you must objectively evaluate your game, player X's game as well as player Y's game to determine how X beat Y and what kind of trouble player Y may give you given your game. 

Let's delve even deeper into these concepts by looking at three examples. Player X is a counter-puncher; a pure defensive player. Player Y is an aggressive baseliner; he is comfortable at the baseline (perhaps right on top of the baseline) as well as at the net. Player Z is a pure serve-and volleyer; he looks to get in every chance he gets. For purposes of this example, let's also assume that the players are closely matched in terms of results and rankings. From experience, we have found the following to be generally true:

1. Player X (grinder) will generally beat Player Y (aggressive baseliner). Reason: although player Y is comfortable at the baseline, Player X is a baseline specialist who can run shots down all day and not miss. He has more stamina and more patience. Long points and longer matches (especially in tough conditions) do not bother Player X at all. The longer the match goes on, the more confidence is gained by Player X. Player Y does venture into the net once in a while but, not being a volley specialist, he wins as many points from inside the service line as he loses - resulting in frustration and over-hitting (just what Player X wants). Althoug the match is close, Player X usually snatches victory from the jaws of defeat. 

2. Player Y will beat Player Z (serve and volleyer). Reason: Player Y is more comfortable at the baseline that Player Z. The shorter points - which offer lots of tagerts - are just what Player Y desires. Player Y loves to thump weak pop-ups and he zeros in on openings like a sniper. Player Y is also skilled at coming in and manages to steal some points that way from Player Z. Player Z seeks to come in but, by having Player Y "hug the baseline", he is forced to come up with better serves and tougher volleys under pressure. With flatter shots from Player Y (i.e., enough topsin to clear the net and then dip), Player Z has less time to come in and must make contact with the volley further back than normal. Sometimes, Player Z will be forced to stay back where he is like a fish out of water. Unless Player Z serves and volleys well beyond his skill level, chances are that Player Y will run away with the victory. 

3 Player Z will beat Player X. Reason: Player X is playing further behind the baseline than Player Y would. Therefore, Player Z has a split-second longer to come in and punch the volley. By being closer to the net, Player Z is in better position to open up the court and, as a result, he forces Player X to cover more ground. Sure, Player X will hit some tough passing shots here and there. However, with his loopy topspin, they are too few and far between. Player X is fighting a losing battle where he has to work extremely hard for every point just to have a fighting chance. All this time, Player Z chops him up with solid serves and deft volleys. Player X lacks the opportunity to "get in a rhythm"; the points are simply too short for this and he is forced to hit against a skidding ball (as opposed to a ball with some topsin that would be hit by someone like Player Y).

With the foregoing in mind, the general advice would be to (1) determine how you win and how you lose; (2) determine how your peers win and how they lose (evaluate the information objectively and in a cold and calculating manner); (3) understand that, despite your rankings, you are fallible (definitely not immortal); and (4) practice mastering every gamestyle so that you can apply it when necessary. As you play, keep your eyes open and stay cool-headed so that you can shift strategies as necessary. Try to refrain from pigeonholing yourself as either this type of player or that. Be malleable; do not impose limitations upon yourself. By remaining flexible in your thinking and playing you will be in a better position to utilize the correct tool(s) for the job. 

To assist you, keep the following quote by Bruce Lee in mind: 

“Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless - like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup, you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, you put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”