The hard-hitting, erratic, net-rushing tennis-player is a creature of impulse. There is no real system to his/her game, no understanding of your game-plan. He will make brilliant coups at the drop of a hat, mostly by instinct; but there is no, no consistent thinking. It is an fascinating sort of character.
The really unnerving player is the one who mixes his/her style from back to fore court under the command of an ever-active mind. This/her is the player to study and learn from. He is a player with a definite intention. A player who has an answer to every problem you present him in your game. He is the most subtle opponent in the world of tennis. He is of the school of Brookes. Second only to him is the player of slavish determination that sets his/her mind on one strategy and adheres to it, bitterly, fiercely battling to the end, with no thought of changing.
He is the player whose psychology is rather easy to work out, but whose mental viewpoint is hard to upset, for he never allows himself to think about anything except the business at hand. This/her player is your Johnston or your Wilding. I respect the mental capacity of Brookes more, but I admire the tenacity of purpose of Johnston.
Choose your type from your own mental pattern, and then work out your game along the lines most suited to you. When two men are on the same level concerning stroke, strength and equipment, the determining factor in any match is the mental standpoint. Luck, so-called, is usually just seizing the psychological value of a change of flow in the game, and turning it to your own advantage. We hear a great deal about the "shots he has made." Few understand the importance of the "shots he has missed."
The psychology of missing shots is just as important as that of making them, and at times a miss by an inch is of more value than a return that is killed by your opponent. Allow me to explain. A player forces you far out of court with an angle-shot. You run hard to it, and having reached it, you smash it hard and fast down the side-line, missing it by an inch. Your opponent is shocked and put off his stride, realizing that your shot might just as well have gone in as out. He will expect you to attempt it again and he will not take the risk next time. He will try to play the ball, and may make an error. You have thus stolen some of your opponent's confidence, and increased his/her chance of error, all because of a miss.
If you had just tapped back that ball, and it had been killed, your opponent would have felt increasingly confident of your inability to get the ball out of his/her reach, while you would merely have been winded for no reason.
Let's just say that you had made that shot down the sideline. It was a seemingly impossible achievement. First it amounts to TWO points, in that it stole one away from your opponent that should have been his/her and gave you one that you should never have had. Second it also worries your opponent, as he feels that he has thrown away a big opportunity.
The psychology of a tennis match is fascinating, but readily understood. Both men begin with equal chances. Once one player establishes a real lead, his/her confidence goes up, while his/her opponent worries, and his/her mental viewpoint becomes poor. The sole objective of the first player is to hold his/her lead, thus maintaining his/her confidence.
If the second player draws even or pulls ahead, the inevitable result is an even more drastic contrast in psychology of the players. First, there is the natural confidence of the leader of the game, but it is coupled with the great stimulus of having turned a seemingly sure-fire defeat into a likely victory. The situation of the other player is the reverse. He is likely to lose confidence and play worse. The breakdown of his game plan soon follows.
The really unnerving player is the one who mixes his/her style from back to fore court under the command of an ever-active mind. This/her is the player to study and learn from. He is a player with a definite intention. A player who has an answer to every problem you present him in your game. He is the most subtle opponent in the world of tennis. He is of the school of Brookes. Second only to him is the player of slavish determination that sets his/her mind on one strategy and adheres to it, bitterly, fiercely battling to the end, with no thought of changing.
He is the player whose psychology is rather easy to work out, but whose mental viewpoint is hard to upset, for he never allows himself to think about anything except the business at hand. This/her player is your Johnston or your Wilding. I respect the mental capacity of Brookes more, but I admire the tenacity of purpose of Johnston.
Choose your type from your own mental pattern, and then work out your game along the lines most suited to you. When two men are on the same level concerning stroke, strength and equipment, the determining factor in any match is the mental standpoint. Luck, so-called, is usually just seizing the psychological value of a change of flow in the game, and turning it to your own advantage. We hear a great deal about the "shots he has made." Few understand the importance of the "shots he has missed."
The psychology of missing shots is just as important as that of making them, and at times a miss by an inch is of more value than a return that is killed by your opponent. Allow me to explain. A player forces you far out of court with an angle-shot. You run hard to it, and having reached it, you smash it hard and fast down the side-line, missing it by an inch. Your opponent is shocked and put off his stride, realizing that your shot might just as well have gone in as out. He will expect you to attempt it again and he will not take the risk next time. He will try to play the ball, and may make an error. You have thus stolen some of your opponent's confidence, and increased his/her chance of error, all because of a miss.
If you had just tapped back that ball, and it had been killed, your opponent would have felt increasingly confident of your inability to get the ball out of his/her reach, while you would merely have been winded for no reason.
Let's just say that you had made that shot down the sideline. It was a seemingly impossible achievement. First it amounts to TWO points, in that it stole one away from your opponent that should have been his/her and gave you one that you should never have had. Second it also worries your opponent, as he feels that he has thrown away a big opportunity.
The psychology of a tennis match is fascinating, but readily understood. Both men begin with equal chances. Once one player establishes a real lead, his/her confidence goes up, while his/her opponent worries, and his/her mental viewpoint becomes poor. The sole objective of the first player is to hold his/her lead, thus maintaining his/her confidence.
If the second player draws even or pulls ahead, the inevitable result is an even more drastic contrast in psychology of the players. First, there is the natural confidence of the leader of the game, but it is coupled with the great stimulus of having turned a seemingly sure-fire defeat into a likely victory. The situation of the other player is the reverse. He is likely to lose confidence and play worse. The breakdown of his game plan soon follows.
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