The hard-hitting, erratic, net-rushing player is a person of impulse. There is no real system to his/her attack, no understanding 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 sort of character.
The really dangerous player is the one who mixes his/her style 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 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 plan and sticks to it, bitterly, fiercely fighting to the end, with never a thought of change.
This is the player whose psychology is rather easy to work out, but whose mental standpoint is hard to derail, because he never allows himself to think of 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 determination of Johnston.
Choose your kind from your own mental pattern, and then plan your game along the lines best suited to you. When two men are in the same class as regards stroke, strength and equipment, the deciding factor in any match is the mental standpoint. Luck, as it is called, is often no more than seizing the psychological value of a change of flow in the game, and turning it to your own account. People talk a great deal about the "shots we have made." But few people realize the importance of the "shots we have missed."
The science 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. Let me tell you why. A player drives you far out of court with an angle-shot. You run hard to it, and getting there, drive it hard and fast down the side-line, missing it by an inch. Your opponent is shocked and put off his stride, understanding that your shot could just as well have gone in as out. He will expect you to attempt it again and he will not risk it 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 this by 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 made the shot down the sideline. It was a seemingly impossible get. 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 you ought never to have had. Second it also upsets your opponent, as he thinks that he has thrown away 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 advantage, 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 maintaining his/her confidence.
If the second player draws even or draws 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 probable victory. The case of the other player is the reverse. He is apt to lose confidence and play worse. The breakdown of his game plan soon follows.
The really dangerous player is the one who mixes his/her style 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 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 plan and sticks to it, bitterly, fiercely fighting to the end, with never a thought of change.
This is the player whose psychology is rather easy to work out, but whose mental standpoint is hard to derail, because he never allows himself to think of 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 determination of Johnston.
Choose your kind from your own mental pattern, and then plan your game along the lines best suited to you. When two men are in the same class as regards stroke, strength and equipment, the deciding factor in any match is the mental standpoint. Luck, as it is called, is often no more than seizing the psychological value of a change of flow in the game, and turning it to your own account. People talk a great deal about the "shots we have made." But few people realize the importance of the "shots we have missed."
The science 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. Let me tell you why. A player drives you far out of court with an angle-shot. You run hard to it, and getting there, drive it hard and fast down the side-line, missing it by an inch. Your opponent is shocked and put off his stride, understanding that your shot could just as well have gone in as out. He will expect you to attempt it again and he will not risk it 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 this by 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 made the shot down the sideline. It was a seemingly impossible get. 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 you ought never to have had. Second it also upsets your opponent, as he thinks that he has thrown away 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 advantage, 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 maintaining his/her confidence.
If the second player draws even or draws 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 probable victory. The case of the other player is the reverse. He is apt to lose confidence and play worse. The breakdown of his game plan soon follows.
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