The hard-hitting, erratic, net-rushing tennis-player is a creature of impulse. There is no real strategy to his/her game, no comprehension of your game. He will make brilliant coups on the spur of the moment, largely by instinct; but there is no, mental power of consistent thinking. It is an interesting type of character.
The most dangerous player is the one who mixes his/her strategy from back to fore court at the command of an ever-alert mind. This/her is the player to study and learn from. He is a player with a definite purpose. A player who has an answer to every query you present him in your game. He is the most subtle opponent in the world of tennis. He is from the school of Brookes. Second only to him is the player of slavish determination that fixes his/her mind on one plan and adheres to it, bitterly, fiercely battling to the end, with no thought of changing.
This is the player whose psychology is fairly simple to understand, but whose mental viewpoint is hard to upset, because he never permits himself to think about anything but his game. 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 plan your game along the lines most suited to you. When two men are in the same class concerning stroke, strength and equipment, the determining factor in any game is the mental viewpoint. Luck, so-called, is usually just grasping the psychological value of a break in the game, and turning it to your own account. We hear a great deal about the "shots he has made." Few realize 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 for it, and having reached it, you drive it hard and fast down the side-line, missing it by an inch. Your opponent is surprised and shaken, knowing that your shot might just as well have gone in as out. He will expect you to try it again and he will not risk it next time. He will attempt 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 popped back that ball, and it had been killed, your opponent would have felt increasingly confident of your inability to put the ball out of his/her reach, while you would merely have been winded without result.
Let's suppose that you had made that shot down the sideline. It was a seemingly impossible achievement. First it amounts to TWO points, in that it took one away from your opponent that should have been his/her and gave you one that you ought never to have had. Second it also worries your opponent, as he thinks that he has thrown away a big chance.
The psychology involved in a game of tennis is fascinating, but easily understood. Both player start with equal chances. However, once one player has gained a real lead, his/her confidence rises, while his/her opponent worries, and his/her mental standpoint becomes poor. The only objective of the first player is to hold his/her lead, thereby holding his/her confidence.
If the second player draws even or draws ahead, the inevitable result is an even greater 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 probable 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 will be the result.
The most dangerous player is the one who mixes his/her strategy from back to fore court at the command of an ever-alert mind. This/her is the player to study and learn from. He is a player with a definite purpose. A player who has an answer to every query you present him in your game. He is the most subtle opponent in the world of tennis. He is from the school of Brookes. Second only to him is the player of slavish determination that fixes his/her mind on one plan and adheres to it, bitterly, fiercely battling to the end, with no thought of changing.
This is the player whose psychology is fairly simple to understand, but whose mental viewpoint is hard to upset, because he never permits himself to think about anything but his game. 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 plan your game along the lines most suited to you. When two men are in the same class concerning stroke, strength and equipment, the determining factor in any game is the mental viewpoint. Luck, so-called, is usually just grasping the psychological value of a break in the game, and turning it to your own account. We hear a great deal about the "shots he has made." Few realize 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 for it, and having reached it, you drive it hard and fast down the side-line, missing it by an inch. Your opponent is surprised and shaken, knowing that your shot might just as well have gone in as out. He will expect you to try it again and he will not risk it next time. He will attempt 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 popped back that ball, and it had been killed, your opponent would have felt increasingly confident of your inability to put the ball out of his/her reach, while you would merely have been winded without result.
Let's suppose that you had made that shot down the sideline. It was a seemingly impossible achievement. First it amounts to TWO points, in that it took one away from your opponent that should have been his/her and gave you one that you ought never to have had. Second it also worries your opponent, as he thinks that he has thrown away a big chance.
The psychology involved in a game of tennis is fascinating, but easily understood. Both player start with equal chances. However, once one player has gained a real lead, his/her confidence rises, while his/her opponent worries, and his/her mental standpoint becomes poor. The only objective of the first player is to hold his/her lead, thereby holding his/her confidence.
If the second player draws even or draws ahead, the inevitable result is an even greater 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 probable 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 will be the result.
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