Train Your Opponent

As covered in a number of our tips/articles, tennis is a lot about patterns and proper execution thereof. It is important to recall that humans are made to recognize patterns as doing so keeps things simple. If we know a pattern - be it walking in the dark to the bathroom without stubbing your toe on a piece of furniture or hitting and recovering on the tennis court - it will, usually, make our life a lot easier since we can focus our mental energy on something more important or interesting. 

To explain what "train your opponent" means, let me start with a story that my dad told me when I was starting to play tennis. He told me that playing tennis is a lot like a mongoose hunting a cobra. The mongoose positions itself in front of the snake and tries to attack it by biting its neck. First, the mongoose, moves to the right. The snake sees this and moves to its left. Then, the mongoose moves to the left. In response, the cobra moves to its right. And on and on it goes until the mongoose establishes a pattern of moving side-to-side. The snake, being small brained, simply reacts my moving in accordance to the movements of the mongoose. But then, the mongoose FAKES a movement and goes back the same way twice. The cobra falls for the feint, moves in the opposite direction in order to defend itself and, as a result exposes its neck. The mongoose pounces on this opportunity and rips the cobra's neck to shreds.

In terms of tennis, training your opponent is similar to the example above. Move your opponent side-to-side until you establish a pattern AND THEN go for the "wrong-footing" strategy. This can work very well with a serve-follow-up combo where you swing your opponent out-wide and then go for the open court. Train your opponent to run a couple of times to chase the open court before you go back behind him. This concept works just as well with long points as well as with short points. The key is to lull the opponent into NOT THINKING at all...into assuming that he knows what you have up your sleeve. In many ways, it's just another way to keep your tactics fluid while allowing the opponent to fall into predictable patterns. So next time, do the RIKI TIKI TAVI and go for the jugular at the right moment.

Concentrate Your Weapons on Your Opponent's Weakness

Sometimes, when you perceive a chink in your opponent's armor, it is important to focus your weapons on hammering away at that weakness. Both Carl von Clausewitz (Prussian military theorist) and Sun Tzu would agree that a maximum concentration of forces is sometimes the key to winning battles. However, Sun Tzu's advice was slightly different in that he didn't simply believe in overwhelming the opponent by amassing the greatest number of troops. You have to find a way to pound at your opponent's weakness with your strength AND do so at the right time. Otherwise, he is going to find a way to get around the tank artillery no matter how much you shell him. 

In terms of tennis, it's not enough to simply lob or rally back a ton of shots to the opponent's backhand (assuming that that's her weakness). Most half-way decent players will actually become better the longer the point goes on assuming that the ball keeps coming the same way in the same spot. The first couple of balls will, of course, give her some difficulty but then the eyes, feet, hands, balance, hips and shoulders will become accustomed to the pace and the same exact shot will not give her problem.

Therefore, it is important - when spotting a weakness in the opponent's game - to pound it into submission but pull away when you feel that your shots are starting to lose effect (i.e., when the opponent gets comfortable with your pace, spin, trajectory and ball positioning). So, for example, let's assume that you're in the middle of an important point with an opponent who has a shaky backhand. You've tried hitting 100 shots toward that backhand and you've won some points and you've lost some points. It's possible that the opponent has managed to plant herself in that corner and starts to hit inside-out forehands. Being 50-50 (i.e. working hard and winning half the points) is simply not good enough. Your energy level will go down and you risk that the opponent may get lucky and/or hit some decent shots and squeeze by you. Therefore, assuming that you have spotted the weakness, find a way to hammer it 2-3 (maybe 4) times in a row; if you don't get the response you want right away (i.e. error or weak response), (a) change direction - get the opponent out of that corner - and (b) then hammer it again (BAM-BAM-BAM!) 2-3 more times. Throw in a couple of slices or some high lobs as well. Don't let the opponent get comfortable with the back against the wall; don't let him dig in and regroup; keep forcing him to make adjustments.

In terms of practice, focus your practice on quick-succession patterns, where you're hitting 5-6 shots with high energy and intensity at 2 targets. Your foot-speed, power, intensity, depth, spin, placement and timing should intensify from shot to shot to the point where your last shot is the best that you can possibly hit. For example, go for the cross-court forehand, then punish a cross-court backhand, followed up by 3-4 quick-succession inside-outs artillery strikes into the opponent's backhand corner. Also, practice soft/medium/hard sequences when hitting cross-courts (i.e., coach hits a consistent pace and player alternates between (i) a high, heavy topspin, (ii) a medium rally pace, and (iii) a blast).

In a match, you will remember to go for the jugular when your first strike draws blood. 

Mix Things Up in Practice in Order to Better Understand Basic Concepts

Sometimes it's frustrating to go through the same drills and concepts over and over again and not make any progress. It's not always the player's fault and it doesn't have to be the coach's fault either. The communication process takes place through various "filters" in that what the coach thinks is not always what he says, what he says is not always what the player hears, and what the player fears is not always what the player understands. So even with a two-person team, it's lot like playing telephone. Often times, coaches are advised to tell the players the same things but in different ways since not everybody associates a sequence comprised of the same terms in exactly the same way.

Take, for example, a basic concept such as "stepping in". It's not unreasonable to think that players hear this on a day-in and day-out basis. For the most part, they understand what it means - use the forward momentum of the body to hit the ball. That is, don't wait for the ball to come to you; go to it. Simple enough. But is it, really?! A lot of players tend to "step in" but leave their bodies behind. It seems as if the legs are going forwards, but the body doesn't follow suit resulting in the upper body leaning backwards - thereby sending the ball flying. In these cases, I remind the players that "stepping in" is not good enough; they must also "lean in". So I have them grasp this concept by stepping in and then leaning against the fence (or wall). Similarly, I try to demonstrate that by stepping in and leaning back, you can be thrown off balance with the tip of a finger. In other words, these players come to understand that stepping in is not enough; they have to also manipulate their weight into the ball. 

Again, a lot of times coaches repeat the same things over and over again expecting the correct result with every player. Some people are more intuitive than others so they more readily understand the basic concepts. Other players, however, need to be coached in a different manner. On many occasions, I put players in a swimming pool (with a plastic bag over an old racket) in order for them to understand how the ball is supposed to "dip" below the level of the ball, and then "push through the water" towards the contact point. When dealing with players who lack acceleration, I sometimes have them alternate between pulling rubber bands (or surgical tubing) or throwing medicine balls and hitting groundstrokes. Or, to practice volleys, have the players alternate between using foam baseball bats and tennis racket (to correct over-swinging). 

This is really not that new of a concept. Many players have been taught to serve by throwing wooden rackets over the net (or on a grass field) before hitting serves. However, it seems that the artistry of figuring out different ways to "get to" the player has been lost or diluted over time. Ultimately, tennis is fun and learning it should not be a monotonous burden. Try mixing things up in order to develop a better understanding of the basic concepts. 

Surround Yourself with Positive Influences

"Our wretched species is so made that those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road" (Voltaire)

This quote about conformity says a lot about who we are as a species and it's a good one to remember when you're trying to develop yourself as a tennis player. In the teenage years, you will have to deal with a lot of pressures from your peers and it will be almost impossible to resist. You must, however, be different than your peers if you are to succeed at tennis. 

In many ways, tennis players are really very different from other athletes and, more importantly, non-athletes. Our sport requires both skill and athleticism. Furthermore, you are very isolated when you are on the court since it's usually just you and the opponent. I would say that tennis players and boxers have to deal with similar psychological obstacles except that in tennis there is no corner-person to guide you through the next round. Therefore, you need to learn to think for yourself and, in this regard, you need to become your own best friend. Unfortunately, a lot of tennis players become influenced by negative persons in their lives. People tend to be jealous of the amount of travel that you do, the coverage that you get in the local newspaper, the school announcements outlining your achievements as well as the attention that you get from the opposite sex. Many will try to drag you down in order to make themselves feel better about their own inadequacies. You will often hear how you're following a silly dream and how uncool you are for not "hanging out" or for foregoing the prom to play a tennis tournament. Resist these naysayers will all your energy!

If you care about tennis, I strongly recommend surrounding yourself with positive influences - be it athletes, artists or scholars. Positive attitudes (just like negative ones) feed off, and build upon, themselves. If people feel that they have something to lose, they will tend to make better decisions in the course of their lives. There is nothing more tragic than having someone dictate your dreams for you or, through their actions or attitudes, destroy your dreams. Figure out what you want to do with your life and focus your time and energy on making sure that "you're firing on all pistons" when it counts. 

Figure out your "Likes" and Work Your Way Backwards

This may be a somewhat more useful concept for an already solid player to grasp but it may be helpful for anybody transitioning from the learning stages into the development stages. In terms of figuring our your "likes" you, as a player, have to determine who you are as a player and what you like to accomplish on the court. You have to do some focused soul-searching to evaluate yourself and your game. Are you an aggressive baseliner? Pusher? Touch-player? Serve-and-volleyer? Etc. In addition, you have to determine HOW you like to win points and, if you had it your way, what play would you want to repeat over and over again with success. 

Take for example a player with a massive inside-out forehand. Let's assume that, whenever this player hits this shot, it's "lights-out"; that is, the ball NEVER comes back. One mistake that I see a lot of players making in practice is that (a) they practice this weapon; and (b) they practice the rest of the game. HOWEVER, they NEVER (or only seldom) tie the weapon TO the rest of the game. How do you transition from one part of the game (e.g., rallying) to "unleashing the hounds" with the inside-out forehand? You have to learn to tie the two together so that not only will you recognize the opportunity when it's presented to you but that you are also ACTIVELY WORKING to CREATE such opening. 

One useful method of practicing is by having the player work backwards from the weapon/finishing shot. Take, for example, the player with the great nside-out (and/or inside-in forehand). Practice by feeding the inside-out forehand and then moving in for the volley. This is so that the player understands the concept and purpose of the shot. Then, add (for example), a deep backhand before the inside-out. So, the drill is deep backhand, inside-out, short volley. Once the player masters this "pattern" add another shot. Maybe, this time, it's a hard-fed backhand down the middle. So it's (1) hard backhand; (2) deep backhand; (3) inside-out; and (4) volley. Again, after mastering this pattern, you can add a forehand from the deuce side (maybe the player can hit this short-angle cross-court). So the drill is (1) forehand (short angle, cross-court); (2) hard backhand from the middle; (3) deep backhand (from a couple feet behind the baseline); (4) inside-out; and (5) volley. 

The key is for the player to (A) start seeing the weapon in context and (B) actively look to create the opening for the weapon. So next time she gets the hard-backhand, deep-backhand combo from the opponent, she is already thinking how to strike the ball in order to set up the kill-shot.