In between lessons at my club I will often walk around the outside courts and observe matches between club level players and high performance junior level players. While all players seem to hit the ball well for their respective levels, the one thing that stands out is the lack of smart tennis that is being played. Players and coaches can dwell on the latest technical happenings in the sport, but at the end of the day one of the most important aspects for all of you players out there at all levels is playing the style of tennis that gives you the best chance to win. The game plan must be all about what you do best versus what your opponent does least best. I cannot tell you how many times I see smaller sized players trying to blow opponents away when they should be working the points more, or a taller player standing a long way back behind the baseline and playing a passive brand of tennis even after they hit a relatively big first serve. I almost always see players training and working hard by running a lot side to side hitting a lot of balls, but are they working on things that should help them better their style of play? I bet half of them wouldn’t even know how they should be playing. It is important that club level players know how they should be playing and have their own identity as a player. Once you have determined this, then it is a matter of playing smart control, hurt and finish tactics.
Get you identity right
I remember once coaching a Russian on the WTA tour named Vera Dushevina. Vera was a former world number one junior and top 50 WTA pro. During our first session several years ago, I asked Vera how she thought she needed to play in general. She told me her forehand needed to improve and that was all she was working on. I said ok but how are you going to win more matches next year? she just said if her forehand gets better she would win more. Not a completely wrong answer, just not one that was along the lines of what I had in mind. Her forehand had a full western grip, so we changed that slightly over the off season. She also thought she needed to hit crosscourt forehands all day long. I disagreed with this as she is an aggressive baseliner with a dominant backhand and a good serve. I believed we needed to use the forehand to set up the stronger backhand side, which means the down the line forehand is very important as the highest percentage play for the opponent is then to hit the backhand or lefty forehand crosscourt to Vera’s stronger backhand side. So our basic guideline pattern once the point started was to hit maybe 1 or 2 crosscourt forehands and then play a high heavy forehand drive down the line hoping to get the opponent into a backhand to backhand. Once the backhand to backhand started, she could go down the line when she was on top of or inside the baseline, or if the opponent played a ball which was considered more of an inside ball (a ball that doesn’t travel across a players body). For short balls in the middle of the court, she would hit a backhand. Well it blew my mind how effective this pattern became. While we continued to work on the forehand and other parts of her game, this pattern helped Vera rise more than 30 spots in the rankings over a short period of time. She won more matches in our first 5 matches together than she did the entire past 18 months. It amazed me even more that none of the opposing players and their coaches seemed to figure it out let alone counter it.
So to all of you club level players and juniors out there, do not feel bad if a coach asks you what type of player are you? And if you’re unsure you fit the boat of most tennis players, a lot of which are either professional or are very good juniors who work very hard. Just make the effort to find out. It is important to be clear about how you should play. Those that do not, often think too much on court and often get confused because they lack clarity.
I used to watch Martina Hingis practice a lot. Martina hit every shot with a purpose and knew how to play all court tennis almost to perfection. She never tried overpowering anyone, because she knew she couldn’t but she used the whole court very well. I once asked her coach and mother what made her so smart and she gave me a simple answer. She said Tom just teach the girls one or two simple patterns once you have told them how they need to play. Martina knows to change direction on the forehand by playing a loop shot down the line. She only has one option here. This loop forehand will more times than not have the opponent play to Martina’s stronger backhand side. It is all about keeping things simple. Well, that answer has always stuck with me. And to this day, regardless of all the technical and technological advances to our great sport, this aspect of the game hasn’t changed. The key to getting your players to play smart tennis is giving them game plans and making how they need to play very clear and concise.
A great idea for club players and really anyone just starting off with a new coach is to first ask your new coach how you need to play, meaning what type of player are you. Then, simulate point situations in practice based on your strengths. For example, if you have a big serve and a big forehand, do a lot of serve and first ball forehand point situations. A common one here would be: serve wide to the first court, have your sparring partner return through the middle or crosscourt (most likely places a returner will return this serve to in a match) and then hit your forehand deep to the opposite corner. Practice these patterns over and over again.
What does the word pattern really mean?
In our sport, we often hear the word pattern thrown around. Some are referring to tactics as in various patterns of play, others are talking about footwork patterns as in contact moves, and some may use patterns to refer to something a player does towards the end of the match, such as it seems a common pattern for this player to get nervous at 4 all in the final set. I am not one for teaching students to become robots, meaning that I tell them to hit, for example, two cross one line the whole match. I like them to be able to think for themselves and once they’ve got their player identity right, then I may give them playing guidelines or “patterns” that best fit their player identity, with the understanding that these patterns are strictly playing guidelines and can be slightly altered at any time in a match. After all, the patterns of play in a match are never exactly the same? And how can they be? Some patterns of play in matches may be very similar to those of other matches but never identical. I find that once I have given my players their playing guidelines or patterns, they tend to start making good decisions under pressure as they have more if an understanding as to what they need to do. About the only patterns of play that are always the same can be the serve and first shot patterns for each player. Federer, along with vast majority of forehand dominant players, when serving to the first court, will regularly use a serve wide and then a forehand down the line if the opponent returns cross. This is a pattern Federer has perfected and it works against everyone. I would encourage all club level players who are dominant forehand to rehearse this pattern. Practice it 30 times in a row.
Control, Hurt and Finish
I love the basic Bollettieri concept of control hurt and finish tactics. The control hurt and finish tactics are different for everyone but the basic idea of taking control of the point, then hurting the opponent when given the opportunity ball, or as Bollettieri would say “green light” ball and finishing by either forcing the opponent into an error, hitting a winner of some sort or ending at net in some fashion, are the same. Once you know how you need to play, you can then figure out how to take control of the points. If you have a big serve and big forehand and a suspect backhand, you want to use your serve and then look for a forehand as the first shot so you can take control immediately. You then want to look to keep using your forehand and look to come forward and end at the net. Against certain players, fast counter punchers come to mind, you may have to hit bigger forehands before earning the opportunity ball than you would if you played someone slower who hits big and who doesn’t play great defense.
The following is an example of a simple but very effective control, hurt and finish drill. If you play an aggressive baseline game and need to focus on working the points more, before getting the opportunity ball to finish, this will help you. Divide your side of the court into thirds perpendicular to the net. Start by hitting crosscourt forehands. The goal is to hit deep crosscourt to firstly take control of the exchange so that you earn a ball to go down the line on to hurt the opponent with. If your partner hits a ball on the outside third, play it back crosscourt. If your partner hits a ball that lands in the middle third, this is an opportunity ball to go down the line and hurt the opponent. If it is short, go for a winner but if its deep, hit a change of direction shot that still allows you to be in control and can possibly hurt the other player within the next shot or two. Do this to the backhand side also. This will teach you high percentage tennis and will make you work the points more before looking to finish.
Learn from the pros
One of my coaches made an interesting comment once. He said Tom I understand the good players hit the ball hard but the ones that win the most are the ones that play the smartest. This comment was around the time that Lleyton Hewitt was beating bigger and stronger hitters. This struck a chord with me and changed my way of thinking. Sure the players at the top of the men’s game all hit great and move great, but they play smarter than those ranked below them. Andy Murray has a terrific ability to play defense but yet still be in control of the points. He can turn defense into neutral or defense into offense, often whichever he feels is best according to the situation. He knows how he needs to play and also possesses an incredibly high tennis IQ. So often the best way to start playing smarter tennis is to listen to the commentators and also ask yourself questions while watching matches like how is Federer going to win today? Become a better student of the game and learn from the best.
I always see pros doing a variety of drills at big tournaments. Sure, they all do technical fine-tuning work but most of their drills consist point situations. They do not just practice shots for the sake of practicing shots. There is always a purpose to the practice and each shot has a purpose.
One of the best drills I ever saw is the “Swedish drill”. I once saw Swedish greats Mats Wilander and Joakim Nystrom do this drill for one hour without missing a ball (well at least it seemed to be that long). This is a perfect drill for counter punchers, players who lack consistency, and for big hitters who need to work the points more. There are a few versions of this drill but the basic one is this: it is a one on one drill. There is a player on each side of the court at the baseline. Neither player can hit a winner. The coach feeds the ball and the players have to move each other around the court. Each player must play every ball, regardless of where it lands (unless it goes in the net). This means if one player misses a shot long by 6 feet, the other player has to return the shot. Both players have to make a combined total of at least 8 shots and they must do this 5 times.
I also encourage players to sometimes have someone chart their match statistics. Obviously, not all stats are relevant for every type of player but choose the ones that are relevant to you. Do not get too engrossed in stats because they do not reveal what goes on inside a players mind. And they do not say, for example, why is this player’s first serve stats are relatively low? Is it because the player was trying to hit big first serves and going for aces? Or were there other reasons as to why it is low? However, having matches charted is important at times. Also, take a look at the stats of a pro player that may play like you. You may be surprised at the numbers you see.
Good luck in your quest to first understand how you need to play. And secondly, becoming the best at it that you possibly can.