Tennis players like to think that they will walk out on the court and play the best they can possibly play in their upcoming match. The truth is, that rarely happens. Even the best players in the world have many matches where they underperform. However, the better the player is, the better they are at coming up with things that will still give them a great chance of winning the match.
Always go back to the most simple ideas when you are struggling. The number one thought should be to do a better job watching the ball. Watch it come off your opponent’s strings, all the way through your racquet making contact with the ball. Keep repeating this idea and see if you can do it three, four, or five times in a row. Play the ball, not your opponent.
Next, hit your shots to the big areas on the court. Stay away from the sidelines and don’t be afraid to hit the ball deep and down the middle. You will make more shots and also take away the angles from your opponent. Hitting the ball to the opening and to the middle of that half of the court, will help get the opponent moving and reduce your errors.
Keep expecting the ball to come back. Move towards the open side of the court right after you hit your shot and continue to recover each time after your racquet makes contact with the ball. If you get your opponent in trouble, take a step in and look for the ball to come back up in front of you. Always cover the opening until your opponent shows you they are capable of doing something else.
Finally, focus on the beginning of the point. Get your first serve in play. Get the return of serve in play. Hit a couple of crosscourt groundstrokes before trying to win the point. Hitting three or four balls in a row on more points than your opponent will give you a great chance to turn the match around. Everything starts with a serve or a return so don’t think past those shots until you are successfully getting deeper into the point.
Don’t ever give up in a match regardless of how far behind you are. Tennis scoring allows the person who is behind to come back much more often than you would think. You can actually lose more points than your opponent and still win the match. Try the best you can on every point and get back on track in the match.
Steve Annacone, USPTA Elite Pro, is the Director of Annacone Tennis, www.annaconetennis.com and MyHamptonsPro, www.myhamptonspro.com throughout the Hamptons, NY. Steve, Jeevaj Bondalapoati, and Gill Gross run the TOP (Tennis Optimization Players-Top Team) program at the Tucson Jewish Community Center (Tucson, AZ) for high level players ages 8-18. Please contact Steve at sannacone@tucsonjcc.org or 865-300-7323