Break More Serves

You are not going to win many tennis matches unless you figure out a way to hold your serve and also break your opponent. Mentally, you should be prepared to break your opponent at least 4 times per match - one break per set to neutralize the effect of your own serve being broken (a loose point + a double fault + bad luck + good point played by opponent = easy to see how you can get broken at least once or twice a macth) and one break per set to gain an advantage over the opponent. 

So here are some Dos and Don'ts for getting more breaks in your favor:

1. DO pay attention to your opponent's motion. Most players have "tells" in their motion which indicate where they are going to serve. The movement of their hips and their ball toss are the most obvious points of focus for your eyes. But also see if you can pick up cues from the opponent's grip, his stance, and also serve positioning (closer to the center v. further away). 

2. DON'T be a hero. A lot of players want to make the highlight reel with their returns. Often, they try to hit a winner off their opponents' first serves or good second serves. If the opponent has a good serve doing so is a risky proposition. Yes, if the serve is a sitter than you can take some chances. However, if the opponent has a decent serve, the smarter play is to hit an aggressive return deep into the middle of the court. Doing so ensures that you're not fliting with the lines or changing the angle of the ball. If you hit a good return down the middle you have been successful at neutralizing the server's advantage. Now you can pressure him with your ground strokes. 

3. DO change your return positioning. A lot of players return serve from exactly the same spot. Just like servers should think about serving from various spots along the baseline in order to exploit different angles, returners should also seek to give the servers a different "look". Sometimes, stay more to the backhand, other times slide more to the forehand; stay further back and move in; stay further in and move back. The key is trick your opponent to server into your wheelhouse so that you can take control of the point. If you're just a stationary mannequin, the server will develop a blind spot with regard to your presence. At that point, it's just a serving practice for him. Make him think that unless he does something special you are there to put him on his toes.

4. DON'T assume that your opponent will just serve to your weak shot. A lot of returners become obsessed with protecting their weak wing (e.g. backhand) so much that they fail to register the times they are beaten to their strength (e.g. forehand). Especially on key points (e.g., 30-30; 30-40) look for the opponent to sneak a good serve to your strength and then swing the next shot to your weakness. It won't happen every time but if you stay clear-headed you will spot the times when the server will attempt to neutralize your strength. 

5. DO pressure the opponent's second serve. Once a game or, if you're comfortabe, even more try to come in on your opponent's second serve. Whether through a chip-and-charge play or topspin approach, force your opponent to pass you. Even if she does manage to get the ball by you, she will put more pressure on her second serve next time around which can result in more double faults. Passing shots are difficult to hit under pressure (if you move quickly and shut down the angles, the passer has very little room to work with) and the more you are willing to come in the more successful you will become at this play. 

6. DON'T approach the returns with a baseline mentality. It's helpful to think of returns are "topspin volleys" rather than ground-strokes. Groundstrokes are "swing-based" (power and control come mostly from the swing) where volleys are "movement-based" (power and control come mostly from your legs with controlled racket movement). Because of the nature of the situation (servers have an initial advantage), if you approach the returns with the mentality that you will swing at the ball, you will miss or mishit quite often. However, if you're thinking that you will utilize the server's pace against him (withough generating too much on your own), your movements will be quicker and more precision. Visualize smothering the bounce by moving forward and relying on shoulder turns rather than holding your ground and swinging "from your heels". With practice, your reaction will improve and you will give the server a shorter time to react. 

7. DO pay particular attention to critical games. In the first game of the set, it's easy to break a server who is not properly warmed up. Don't use this game as a "gimme"; seek to break the server right away. This is a golden opportunity that too many players do not take. Later in the set, it's easy to break a server who is fatigued. Pay attention to what is going on the other side of the net and see if the opponent is truggling physically. Make this server work for points. Don't give away points by going for wild returns. Stay disciplined. In the third-fourth game on your opponent's serve (i.e., when the opponent is warmed up but not tired), see if you can spot serving patterns. Humans are creatures of comfort...we practice in patterns and we play in patterns as well. Some players don't even know that they are starting every game with a serve down-the-T (or out wide). They do it without thinking because this is what comes naturally to them. If you think that you have a good read on your opponent's serving patterns, it's OK to take a guess once or twice by moving towards one corner or another (of course, don't "telegraph" your anticipation). 

8. DON'T overcomplicate the plays. Once the return is back in play, keep things simple. Some payers tend to think "ohmygod, ohmygod, I got the serve back now I have to do something special because she's going to hit a winner or blah-blah-blah." Realize that these thoughts are based on your body's adrenaline levels. Stay cool and work the point (not "pushing" but hitting comfortable yet pressing shots). Know that the pressure is on your opponent to do something to save her skin. Your job is to stay loose and in motion so that you are in optimal position to capitalize in the event the server trepidates on her second or third shot. Make the server work for her holds and you will not only get more break opportunities but you will relieve pressure off your own serve. 

Ten Tips To Help You Win More Matches NOW

Here are some tips to assist you in winning more matches. Some of them are fairly basic but it's amazing how many high-level professional players end up repeating these rookie mistakes. Therefore, keep this checklist in mind and feel free to add to it anything that may help you with your particular game:

1. Get a proper warm-up. The warm-up is an integral part of most players' preparation for competition. Unfortunately, a lot of players tend to confuse the warm-up with the work-out. They miss a ball in the warm-up and then spend an indordinate amount of time trying to perfect the shot so that it won't happen in a match. Many times, these players completely ignore the remainder of their game and it is this part that usually causes these players' games to collapse later on. Instead of hammering drills that should have been covered in practice, attempt to spend the warm-up period to get your body (muslces, blood vessels, enzymes, aerobic metabolism) ready for physical activity. Pre-match warm-up is not the best time to "cram for the exam". 

2. Understand your opponent. Not many players do a good enough job of getting to know their opponents' likes and dislikes. If you cannot review footage of your opponent prior to the match, spend a couple of minutes visualizing her game style and strokes and imagine how your weapons fit against against her weaknesses and how you can best neutralize her stregths. Even if you are COMPLETELY wrong, you will be in a better position to change your stride during the match than if you go into battle without a plan. 

3. Stay flexible. Understand that a strategy that works in the beginning of the match may not be as successful as he match goes on. Therefore, keep looking for opportunities to win points through alternate methods. Be like more like a hunter who sets several traps and doesn't just wait in one clearing for the prey to arrive. 

4. Stay positive. If you can win a point you can win a game; if you can win a game you can win a set; if you can win a set you can win a match. Don't get down on yourself simply because things aren't going your way on the scoreboard. If you can string a bad mistake by the opponent (point one) with a tough physical play by you (point 2) and a smart play by you (point 3), you are in great shape to win the game. All you have to do is believe in your game and your abilities. 

5. Play one point at a time. A lot of players - whether they are up or down - think about the end result more than it's necessary. This is similar to a professional poker player who thinks about the $1Million jackpot during every hand rather than cards and chips on the table. Doing so brings way too much pressure into the mix and you end up overplaying or underplaying the point. Instead, try to think about ways to win each point. Learn from past mistakes and pattern but do not become obsessed by either the past or the future. Simply focus on that point and keep the end result somewhere in the back of your mind. 

6. Make effective use of time. Use time - during the point as well as between points - to your advantage. A lot of players simply rush way too much between points. They don't allow their bodies (or minds) to recover from the stresses of the previous point. In addition, rushing only ensures that you will fail to learn the lessons of the past condemning you to repeat them in th future. Furthermore, rushing during the point - for example, by hitting flat/hard when you're in a defensive position - increases the chances that you will not have time to recover for the next shot (the faster the ball goes towards the opponent, the faster it will come back). As a result, learn how to make effective use of time - be it by going to the towel after long points or slow-balling your way out of trouble. 

7. Don't become complacent. We covered this in a previous article. Briefly, allowing the opponent to hang around without crushing her spirit. When you're up, be more like a tiger who's gotten that much closer to the prey; the tiger doesn't let up - it ACCELERATES. It smells the blood and all the killer instincts get that much sharper. The closer it gets the more it wants to taste the blood. 

8. Pressure the server. The more pressure you put on the server, the more energy (mental and physical) he has to expend in order to hold serve. The more energy the opponent utilizes on holding serve, the less energy he will have available to use against you on your serve. Therefore, make every effort to get as many deep returns in play in order to put the server on his heels. There's a school of tennis that advocates going for big returns (winners) as a general rule. This type of thinking fails to take into account the risks and rewards of such plays. For the most part, the serve is one of the top 2 weapons for most decent opponents (before or after one of the groundstrokes). Therefore, you are taking a huge risk in trying to hit a ball that's moving in an unpredictible manner (i.e., the serve is a serve; it's not a feed). If the serve is a sitter - fine; take a chance. But if it's not in your wheelhouse, do as much as you can to get the ball back in play and then grind your way out from a neutral position. 

9. Don't hit your way out of trouble. There's an expression that goes along the lines of "for the person who carries a hammer everything looks like a nail". In tennis terms, a player may possess a huge weapon (e.g. forehand) and said player may be tempted to use it all the time - for good or for bad. The fact is that a 100mph shot followed by a 100mph shot followed by a 100mph shot, etc., loses it's "sting". As the point goes on, people become accustomed to the "pop" of the ball are no longer fazed by the speed. A 100mph shot that follows a 65mph "looper" with some spin/depth is, on many occasions, way more effective...it's just harder to adjusted to a changing tempo. Same with serves - if you keep dropping bombs, your opponents will just back up and wait for the ball to slow down. Use angles and spins to break up the rhythm before dropping the hammer. 

10. Give your opponent the credit that she is due. In simple terms, you should seek to remain objective about your opponents. Too many players overqualify their own skills and underqualify their opponents. Listen, there's a reason why you are facing this particular player in this match. Somewhere along the line, she has done something well enough to get to "your level." Therefore, give her credit for being there and try to break down her game objectively. A lot of superior players (on paper) have been stunned by lesser players...players who may be fat; players without serves; players without backkhands; players who are old; etc. A fat player knows he's fat - the second he touches the ball he will tag it knowing full well that he might not have the juice to got he distance. A player without a big serve is expecting to be broken; however, he knows just as well how to break and how to maximize the openings you provide to him. An old player - the most dangerous of them all because she's SEEN it all - should be approached with the greatest degree of caution (things that are over the hill tend to pick up speed LOL). Therefore, stay objective and worry about carrying your trophy through customs only when the appropriate time comes. 

On-court Coaching

Coaching is defined by the USTA as [a] "communication, advice or instruction of any kind, audible or visible, to a player." A broad interpretation of this rule would make it impossible to hold competitons of any kind. Think, for example, of a scenario where the player double faults and the parent/coach lifts her eye-brows in shock. In theory, this is a visible communication by the parent to the player with the implied message being that the player should do a better job of getting her serves in.

Therefore, the anti-coaching rule is a bit of a gray area and some communication between spectators and players is tolerated (e.g. "let's go", "nice playing", "stay tough", etc.). But with so much confusion between what's allowed and what is not allowed, how does one know when the line is crossed? 

The simple answer is that the interpretation of the rule depends on the official(s) in charge. However, in our experience, we have found that while lengthy diatribes and complex discourses among players and coaches are frowned upon, some expressions of encouragement are acceptable. Although you are advised to proceed at your own risk, you may consider the following prompts during a match where the no-coaching rule applies: 

1. "Good Start": this innocent expression can made to mean "take your time and focus on a good serve percentage" (this is especially useful when the player fails to realize that she's getting chopped up due to a drop in first serves). Again, you are not telling the player HOW to hit the serve or WHERE to do it.

2. "Push Yourself": again, another innocent expression that can be made to mean "move your feet" (this is particularly important where the player starts to rely on his arm as opposed to his legs to hit the ball). 

3. "Keep Hunting": some players become fixated on implementing a limited strategy (e.g., hitting to opponent's backhand) and fail to see that there are other ways to win points. Keep hunting can remind them to keep looking for other opportunities. Again, you are not telling the player WHERE or HOW to hit the ball but this innocent expression reminds him to keep exploring and that you are OK with his experimenting. 

4. Etc. 

Before you criticize us for advocating for the breaking (or bending?) of any rules, please consider, for a moment, the fact that the rule itself is vaguely worded. As stated above, any verbal (e.g., "that's the way to play") or non-verbal gesture (e.g., clapping) can be infused with a subtle secret code (Morse Code clapping) between player and parent/coach. Thus, the key is to not stand out as much as the person next to you (sort of like filing tax returns). 

Drafting Isn't Just For Cyclists

Have you ever found yourself in a match situation where you are up a set and a break and, right before closing out the match, you managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?! All players are familiar with this scenario. Maybe the opponent played better... maybe your shots stopped clicking... maybe the wind picked up... the balls got fuzzy... Numerous excuses can exist for what is nothing more than a rookie mistake. What is going on?! Why do so many good players allow their opponents to come from behind and beat them? One explanation could be that most players who are ahead have an imaginary time clock in their heads... they exert just enough energy to allow their opponents to "beat themselves". Although this works at some levels, at the more advanced stages it is more appropriate to replace the fictitious time clock with an image of the Tour de France. 

You see, when it comes to road cycling, one strategy that is often used is the concept of "drafting". This is where a racer sits on the wheel of the front byciclist and allows such person to block the wind for him. Then, when the racers get close to the finish line, the trailing racer springs ahead - since he is more "fresh" - for victory. A similar thing happens in tennis; here, the player trailing on the scoreboard is constantly pressing his opponent to "beat him" by playing high intensity points and making few errors. Another factor that comes into play is that the trailing player has nothing left to lose so he's playing the points very loose. By not being pressured, he is free to hold serve with ease and figure out ways to chip at your service games. If the leading player's concentration slips, the trailing player may find himself in the lead just as things get interesting in the match. Therefore, when you find yourself ahead on the scoreboard, rather than waiting for the time to run out on your opponent, seek to expand the lead. Get one bike length in front, then two then three. In tennis, don't be satisfied with remaining up a break. Get up another break; and then another; then another. Be so far in front that the opponent has to work very hard just to pull even with you. Break the opponent at 30 or at 15... then see if you can break him at love. Don't be satisfied with "good enough". Stay hungry and stay interested. Sure, this is not the time for heroics, but do try to push the envelope a bit further. Chase balls that are clearly out. Challenge yourself to make good, hard first serves; get every return in play and show your opponent that you're "in it to win it". 

Mental Fortitude is a Limited Resource, Don't Squander It

Your game tends to follow your emotions.  When you feel great about your tennis, you tend to play better.  If you feel unconfident about the way you are striking the ball, you tend to play worse. One fact that seems to confuse even good players is having positive emotions should guarantee great tennis, maybe even guarantee winning.  It doesn't work that way.  Positive emotions only increase your odds of winning, that's all you can hope for at the end of the day.  This is why when Mr. Meathead makes a concerted effort to be positive amidst the stress of a tennis match and things start to go south, they start to believe having emotional control has absolutely no value. They revert back to their barbaric ways, slamming balls into the fence, semi-tanking by going for the outright winner, berating themselves after each point, and just having a "Why me?" attitude.  When has Mr. Meathead ever had a brilliant idea.  

Instead, a much sounder approach is to have no feelings one way or another after each point.  This might sound kind of ridiculous, but it works.  On the pro tour, the 20 seconds between each point is used purposefully to rid themselves of poor thoughts and replace them with thoughts of optimism.  Now, I know what you are saying, "shouldn't I jump up and down after I hit a great shot?"  The normal person would do this, but again if you watch the best players in the world, they use momentum and opportune times to give the occasional fist pump...like at 4-4 after breaking serve.  

The whole idea behind not reacting to each point and having no emotion is to prevent an emotional rollercoaster. If there is a high, there will be a low.  An over-celebratory fist pump at 1-0 in the first is going to be followed by a racquet "ding" on the cement if things don't go your way.  Very common at the lower levels of the game.  The good to great players have seen this movie many times and don't want to sit through another episode of Debbie Downer.  

Think about it, in a close match you will lose every other point.  Reacting after each point will force you to go up and down emotionally, very exhausting after a closely contested 2-3 hour match.  The truth of the matter is no matter how many hours you dedicate to your tennis, you are a human, and you will make errors you have no intention of making.  Accidents happen, just move on.  Reacting after each point temporarily throws you off balance emotionally and that time could have been better used thinking about way to be more productive against your opponent.  Mental fortitude is a limited resource, don't squander it.  Lastly, you don't want to overemphasize particular points, try to treat them all equal.  

Now this is why when your coach starts to talk about your footwork, follow through, fitness, etc- all great things worth exploring.  At the heart of the matter is how did you compete?  It's frustrating to see coaches/players (I'm certainly guilty of it, but trying to be aware) focus on the wrong during competition. American players don't lack the talent, they lack the mental maturity.