The hard-hitting, unpredictable, 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 fascinating type of character.
The most dangerous player is the one who mixes his/her strategy from back to fore court at the direction of an ever-alert mind. This/her is the player to learn from. He is a player with a definite intention. 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 dogged determination that sets his/her mind on one strategy and adheres to it, bitterly, fiercely battling to the bitter end, with never a thought of changing his gameplan.
This is the player whose psychology is fairly easy to understand, but whose mental viewpoint is difficult to upset, for he never permits himself to think about anything except his game. This/her player is your Johnston or your Wilding. I respect the intelligence of Brookes more, but I admire the tenacity of purpose of Johnston.
Choose your kind from your own mental processes, and then plan your game along the lines best suited to you. When two men are in the same class as regards stroke and equipment, the determining factor in any given match is the mental standpoint. Luck, so-called, is often seizing the psychological value of a break in the game, and turning it to your own account. We hear a lot about the "shots players have made." Few realize the importance of the "shots players have missed."
The psychology of missing shots is just as vital 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 tell you why. A player drives 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 shocked and put off his stride, realizing that your shot could just as well have gone in as out. He will expect you to try it again and he will not take the risk next time. He will try to play the ball, and may fall into error. You have thus taken 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 get the ball out of his/her reach, while you would merely have been winded for no reason.
Let's suppose that you had made that shot down the sideline. It was a seemingly impossible get. First it amounts to TWO points, because 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 upsets your opponent, because he thinks that he has lost a big chance.
The psychology involved in a tennis match is fascinating, but readily understandable. Both men start with equal chances. Once one player establishes a real lead, his/her confidence rises, while his/her opponent worries, and his/her mental standpoint becomes weaker. 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 likely victory. The case 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 most dangerous player is the one who mixes his/her strategy from back to fore court at the direction of an ever-alert mind. This/her is the player to learn from. He is a player with a definite intention. 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 dogged determination that sets his/her mind on one strategy and adheres to it, bitterly, fiercely battling to the bitter end, with never a thought of changing his gameplan.
This is the player whose psychology is fairly easy to understand, but whose mental viewpoint is difficult to upset, for he never permits himself to think about anything except his game. This/her player is your Johnston or your Wilding. I respect the intelligence of Brookes more, but I admire the tenacity of purpose of Johnston.
Choose your kind from your own mental processes, and then plan your game along the lines best suited to you. When two men are in the same class as regards stroke and equipment, the determining factor in any given match is the mental standpoint. Luck, so-called, is often seizing the psychological value of a break in the game, and turning it to your own account. We hear a lot about the "shots players have made." Few realize the importance of the "shots players have missed."
The psychology of missing shots is just as vital 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 tell you why. A player drives 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 shocked and put off his stride, realizing that your shot could just as well have gone in as out. He will expect you to try it again and he will not take the risk next time. He will try to play the ball, and may fall into error. You have thus taken 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 get the ball out of his/her reach, while you would merely have been winded for no reason.
Let's suppose that you had made that shot down the sideline. It was a seemingly impossible get. First it amounts to TWO points, because 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 upsets your opponent, because he thinks that he has lost a big chance.
The psychology involved in a tennis match is fascinating, but readily understandable. Both men start with equal chances. Once one player establishes a real lead, his/her confidence rises, while his/her opponent worries, and his/her mental standpoint becomes weaker. 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 likely victory. The case 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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