PLAYING TO WIN

'PLAYING TO WIN OR PLAYING TO NOT LOSE?'

The heading isn't meant to be confusing , it's a fact in many matches that there are many mindsets and they stem from the scoreline on most occasions . So if a player is up a service break that was achieved by going for his shots and hitting winners , does he now play conservatively to maintain the lead? On the other hand does a player who is down a service break start going for his shots on the hope that this kind of play may just be brave enough to get that service break back? The question is a tough one because all players are different in the way they approach a certain situation on court so there are many answers but it comes down to what you find most comfortable. Do you get uptight ? If so then why not look at some serve and volley play ? This will finish the points quicker , one way or the other rather than put yourself through the mental anguish of a 30 shot rally that can send your thought process into overdrive.
I remember a US Open match in 2007 between Hewitt and Calleri where the Argentinian hit 57 winners in a match where if you watch the highlights on you tube you will notice that this guy is in the 'zone'. To hit that many clean winners against a player such as Hewitt who runs down most shots is quite remarkable , but did Lleyton have a plan B ? If someone is hitting the ball that cleanly he is obviously getting it in his hitting zone so why didn't his opponent try to mix it up with some sliced backhands or throw in some higher balls to take Calleri beyond the baseline to make his comfort zone not so comfortable? Did Lleyton in the end simply play to not lose as Calleri was doing all the dictating and by hitting 57 winners the Argentinian was obviously playing to win . 
This match was just one example of two mindsets in the game of Tennis that is not unlike a game of chess where you are trying to out think the opponent. Whether you play to win or play to not lose is a personal choice but think the next time you go out and play a Tournament.
Do you want to wake up the next morning and wonder 'what if'? And do you want to hang up your racket one day for the final time and ask yourself if you really let it all go when you played ? Don't die wondering...........

RIDING THE PERFECT WAVE ( THE MIND )

'RIDING THE PERFECT WAVE'

I could never surf , tried , nearly drowned , gave up , wore surf clothes to look the part instead , but I wish i could have mastered the art of wave riding , i hear that there is a feeling of pure freedom when you ride that wave to perfection. I believe Roger Federer could lay claim to riding that perfect wave on many occasions as he effortlessly hit his way through matches that he could look back on and say to himself 'perfection'. Would that be the driving force behind tennis players as they go in search of a feeling that brings euphoria and a sense of self satisfaction that perhaps could be likened to surfing a barrel ? Absolutely , tennis is a game that can bring a feeling of greatness  then a low point of disgust in one's own ability in the blink of an eye , in a time frame of perhaps two matches . Why is this ? 
There are many reasons why we can play a perfect game of tennis , conditions , mind set , health , and perhaps the biggest factor of all , how well our opponents allow us to play . The perfect game of tennis can be played if all of the above factors fall into place on the one given day that gives us a true sense of worth as a tennis player that invariably gets us back on court wanting more the next time. When things go wrong we tend to despise the game and go through the thought process of hating ourselves for the lack of commitment , concentration or desire to push the physical barriers that are required in a one on one sport.
In reference to the great Roger Federer  once again , as brilliant as he is there are better stroke makers in the game but not too many as smart , in his prime the great man rode the barrel and received the perfect score more often than not . His mind set was so good that every day to him was a day where the sun shined and the birds sung his favorite tune , the 40 km winds were a gentle sea breeze and his opponents, despite their high rankings were putting each ball exactly where he wanted it. 
Quite often you will see a low ranked player beat a top 20 opponent then lose the next day to a player who is ranked 50 places lower than themselves , why is this ? The mind works in mysterious ways . It's not the shot making , it's the thought process that doesn't allow for greatness in certain players that it does for others on a regular basis . Not many players can stay switched on for long enough periods of time that will bring them victories day after day and it's what can bring players to their knees in frustration and anguish as to what is in fact taking place. 'Who am i today ?? This is not who beat the number 3 seed yesterday!!'
Does a surfer ride the perfect wave each time he goes into the water ? Does a golfer hit the fairway on each drive? The body is willing on most occasions, teaching the mind to be just as committed is not only Sport's biggest challenge but perhaps life's as well........

MAKE IT YOUR BEST (THE MIND )

'MAKE IT YOUR BEST'

Only a tennis player's head prevents them from making their worst shot their best , given of course that they are physically capable. How many tennis players actually cringe when a ball goes to their non preferred side which invariably makes them put back into play a shot that lacks substance ? I can lay claim to this 'phobia'.
I am unsure when things started to go wrong on my backhand side however i found that when i was doing a lot of coaching it was easier to simply slice or push the ball back to my students , as opposed to hitting through with the double hander. I also admired the way my hero Mats Wilander from Sweden nullified the heavy topspin hitting from Ivan Lendl in the 1988 US Open final by simply slicing his own backhand , keeping it low out of Lendl's hitting zone. The tactic worked however it took Mats nearly 5 hours to do it , he rarely hit his two hander which in it's day was one of the best backhands i have ever seen.
When i was a kid my two handed backhand was my best shot , i preferred it to my forehand so taking the mind back to where i used to hit it so well took me back down memory lane, an educational process.I have been tired of opponents picking on my backhand over the past few years so i decided to do what every keen tennis player does to refine a shot , wheel out the ball machine.....
I spent hours on this device just recently to see where i could make some changes , i also set up a video on a tripod and analysed it in detail , i threw my racket on a few occasions also ,( i don't think anyone was watching) , i was determined to get it right .I went to a little tournament just recently and tried a few things , my backhand on this particular day was remarkably better than my strength , the forehand , the mindset was different , i welcomed each shot to my backhand instead of cringing, all in the mind i told myself. Leading up to this tournament i played club tennis and played each set on the backhand side , sometimes even starting with a backhand grip , just hoping that it would come to that side , i was reprogramming myself to accept , not reject.
We can all fix our weaknesses , only the head will prevent us from doing it , we are usually physically capable of change , unfortunately too many times we talk ourselves out of positive play and revert to a negative mindset . At 45 i believe i am heading to a point with my game that i should have reached  many years ago but my mind was not in the right place , keeping fit is the key, a challenge when you are into your 40's but a rewarding one . The backhand is on the way up , now for the serve.......

MIND GAME

Monday, 10 March 2014

'A MIND GAME'

Seeded number 28 at a tournament players consider to be the '5th Grand Slam' Alexandr Dolgopolov from the Ukraine knocked out World number 1 Rafael Nadal in the 3rd round of the Indian Wells tournament . Just one week earlier Dolgopolov pushed Rafa all the way in the final of a clay court tournament in Rio but hard court tennis tends to even out the field with no real advantage to any particular style of game. Most times a player from outside the top 20 plays a top ten player the matches are tight but most results sway towards the higher ranked player, naturally , it's why they have success on a regular basis. If you look at the way a top tenner hits against a lower ranked player especially in a practice session the stroke for stroke ability is very similar but it's the mind that separates them in a match, so why is this ? Self belief in a sport such as tennis or golf is what sets champion players apart from the rest who make a good living but don't go deep into the final days of a competition . Take Australia's Marinko Matosevic for example; On the ATP Circuit he has played 107 matches with a 44 Win / 63 Loss record and has never won a match in a Grand Slam . Marinko is a very good tennis player yet his mind isn't quite where it needs to be , take the recently played Australian Open for example. He lost first round to Nishikori who was seeded 16 in 5 sets then blamed his coach Mark Woodforde for not cheering loud enough for him from the stands! Interesting statement from the World number 69 who has won over 1.3 Million dollars in his career and just under 100 Grand this year , not bad for a bloke who has failed to win a tournament. 
Marinko is just an example of a tennis professional who makes a very handsome living from the game yet doesn't win regularly enough to be a household name . Would it be that his mind is not doing him any favors when it comes to the big matches against the top players ? Against Nishikori in Australia he pushed him all the way yet a close final set loss with just one break of serve was enough for his much higher ranked opponent to sneak away with a win . At the same above mentioned tournament at Indian Wells he pushed the current World number 16 Tommy Robredo to 3 sets , again falling to a single service break loss in the final set. Perhaps his mind is fearful when it gets to the closing stages of a match, the fear of failure, every tennis player's worst nightmare.
The game of tennis is played more between the ears than stroke for stroke , as the great Jimmy Connors once came up with a famous statement supporting this fact. With 107 Pro Tournament victories , the all time record for Men's Professional Tennis , 'Jimbo' once said 'the game of tennis is 90 percent mental , 10 percent physical ' . With that many tournament victories there has to be some truth in his statement that only the smartest tennis players are regularly successful. Keep thinking, after all it is just what the heading suggests, a mind game........

NO EXPECTATION NO FEAR

Thursday, 22 May 2014

'NO EXPECTATION, NO FEAR'

Remember that game of golf you played when you shot one of the best rounds of your life ? Was it after a break of a few weeks, even months ? Why did you play so well? No expectation , no fear. Make sense?
My dad was the best golfer in town for years, he won the local championship when i was 9, he regularly could go round in par , even under, he once hit 32 on the back 9 at Albany, possibly still a record. We played  in Perth at the Wembley Golf Club one year, 9 holes , I simply was happy to get within 9 shots, I was going to call it a 'moral victory' if i did. The par was 35, a shorter 9 holes , the greatest round of golf I have ever played . Usually i would shoot a bogey a hole or perhaps 5 over was my best, but this particular day something happened with my golf that i have never revisited.
We both shot 35, I expected that from Dad because he was a brilliant golfer, but me , well I can't explain it. I am not sure whether it was no fear and no expectation or simply that I was after some respect. So what's the point? 
If you play a game of tennis with no expectations then what have you got to lose? It's amazing how many players go to water when they look at the draw and see a number that is next to their name that is a number that apparently gives them a chance to win the tournament. If a player is seeded, there is expectation , not just from the player , but from friends, family, players and the tournament committee , there is pressure.
What happens though in a round robin event where seeds are not as intimidating as if you draw one in a knockout comp and a player adopts a mind set of 'no expectation, no fear'? 
Well that's easy to answer, that's when a player will play his best , they will play with flair and perhaps even reckless abandon  because that's how they can actually play when they practice. I have not only played my best golf when i wasn't placing any expectations on myself but I have played my best tennis after a long lay off .  
So what is it with tennis, golf and a body and mind that is as loose as a bloke that has been to a pub and has had 4 pints of the finest ale? 
Whether you have either not played for a while or are playing the number one seed in the first round , ask yourself "where is the pressure"? If you don't place any on yourself then surely you can swing as free as that bloke who just drank 4 pints. In fact , have you ever played tennis after a few ales? No fear whatsoever......
At 2 sets to love and 4 all 40 love on his own serve in the 2004 French Open final Guillermo Coria had already written his speech in his head, the rest is history. His opponent Gaston Gaudio had about as much to lose as a broke gambler at a casino, why not roll the dice?
The best golf game you will ever play is the one where you just go for broke and hit it like you simply don't care what your score is going to be. The guy trying to protect his handicap is the guy you will beat easily.
The best game of tennis you have played or perhaps will play in the future is the one where you will just turn up , keep swinging and most importantly not be thinking about the winner's speech at the end. This game isn't that hard really, our minds are the problem , not our shots.......

ANALYSE IT

Wednesday, 25 June 2014

'ANALYSE IT'

Ever watched a game of tennis and thought to yourself "geez these guys are good" ? I have done since I was a kid but now days when I watch tennis I look at it a lot differently, quite simply I analyse it. I don't enjoy the game as much i used to because I find it very 'ho hum', it's all pretty much the same, but there are always some good matches in a Slam.
Grass court tennis is rather tactical as opposed to say the French Open which does of course require tactics but it needs a mind to stay out there for as long as the legs will hold up, a slower match. Grass court tennis is quick and the points are over a lot sooner, volleys don't have to be perfect as they do on clay or hard courts, short volleys are sometimes more effective. Trying to hit a winner off a dying short volley can be hard work.
Dustin Brown played this tactic to perfection against Lleyton Hewitt at last year's Wimbledon, the Australian couldn't find an answer to it.
Have you noticed how much a player will actually attack the strength of an opponent ? Watch two big forehands from two right handers and how often they in fact go back to each other rather than try to change the direction. Why is this ? It's not an ego thing. It's because they are playing safe tennis . Changing the direction on a ball is risky from the back of the court so cross court tennis is always the safest option. Tennis professionals will try to get a short reply from the forehand so as to attack the backhand side. How many times do you see a pro come to the net on an approach to their opponent's forehand side ? Not too many smart players would even consider it.
Some call it the 'one , two punch ' where you attack the strength with the equivalent of a boxer's jab then follow it up with a 'hay maker' into the backhand side. I don't believe the tactical side has ever been taught as much as the technical side, it's lacking in the game, it's lack of thought.
How often does a sliced backhand get returned with another slice ? Why is this ? Again it's the safest option as a low slice to the backhand is easier to slice back rather than trying to get down underneath it to hit a topspin shot. A sliced ball is also tough to change direction on so a backhand slice cross court will almost always be returned with another backhand slice, cross court. These guys play the percentages. So what happens when a right hander plays a lefty ? Look at Fed vs Rafa . Roger always struggles to deal with the high spin to his backhand from Nadal's forehand , it's where most points are won by the Spaniard. Rafa hits cross court almost all the time against Roger from his forehand and unless Roger is hitting his backhand at 100 per cent he will lose . 
Same theory, cross court tennis, it's playing the percentages, tennis down the line is risky as you have to change the dynamics of the ball from a cross court ball.  When you first learned to play the game what were you taught ? Hit it out in front, early, that's cross court tennis. Here's a fact you may not know.
From the corner of the baseline to the opposite corner down the line is 4 foot shorter than if you hit the ball to the opposite corner cross court, 4 foot is a lot in tennis.
There's a lot to the game of tennis,being a great ball striker is not enough, you need to know how to play , there's a difference, some realize this , some don't. That's why being a pro tennis player is almost like being an A Grade Student, you need to know your angles...... 

RALLY BALL

Monday, 29 September 2014

' THE RALLY BALL'

Not sure if I have already posted this one, the memory is getting worse as I head towards 50 but I do remember many days on court speaking to my students about the benefit of the 'rally ball'. I don't know if I was ahead of my time or behind as i have seen some rather funny ways of teaching over the past 31 years on court but one thing is for certain. If you can rally, you can win a game of tennis.
I received a comment on my site a while back from a gentleman who has sent me numerous 'ideas' on what he perceives as smart tennis, this one in particular stuck in my mind. "No point in tactics without weapons, gotta have weapons first and foremost ". 
This comment came from a chapter I wrote on tactics regarding the high bouncing ball , Rafa style, as I felt it was a smart way of playing. I believe that the high topspin ball off either side can win free points as it creates many short balls from the opponent unless it is returned precisely. 
I am all for 'weapons' however you have to start somewhere. How do you think Rafa's forehand became possibly the biggest shot in World Tennis ? Did it start from the first ball struck ? I doubt it. I would suspect that after many sessions as a 14 and 15 year old on the clay with mentor Carlos Moya that the 'rally ball' from Rafa was turned into a shot that dictated play. 
It gave me great heart that what I was teaching regarding the 'rally ball' was in fact technically correct after buying a copy of the Andre Agassi book that spoke of the benefits of simply keeping the ball in play. Page 189 of 'Open' is testimony to the fact . "What'd you do that for ? I know it's a killer shot , but every shot doesn't have to be killer. Sometimes the best shot is a holding shot, an OK shot, a shot that gives the other guy a chance to miss. Let the other guy play ".( Brad Gilbert )
Pretty simple stuff hey ? But it's not, the whole perception of teaching the game has changed, it's more about 'pulling the trigger' ala Roger Rasheed style . The guy is obsessed with it as you would have seen with his commentating at the Australian Open . You can't 'pull the trigger' on a ball unless you get it into your hitting zone and how do you get it into your hitting zone ? You set it up with smart play. Smart rallying will do this. 
I had a lesson with a kid last season who wanted to drive every ball within a foot of the height of the net so I asked the obvious question ."So how about your margin for error" ?
Told him that he would have to be technically gifted and as fit as hell to be able to sustain that sort of hitting throughout a match. Showed him the benefits of a slower ball with height to mix up play. On top of that I also pointed out that front foot tennis is not possible on every shot as some kids think. I told him to watch Rafa and Novak on wide balls to their backhand side , front foot tennis is not an option in these circumstances. 
As the great Mats Wilander states on many occasions "The open stance finds you ". Problem is simple, some players , especially kids are only taught front foot play, that's an issue, no player is quick enough to get every ball on the front foot.
Complex game tennis but one thing is for sure, the rally ball can win you a match without you even hitting a winner, just keep it in play, keep it simple........