The hard-hitting, unpredictable, net-rushing tennis-player is a creature of impulse. There is no real strategy to his/her attack, no comprehension of your game. He will make brilliant coups at the drop of a hat, mostly by instinct; but there is no, mental power of consistent thinking. It is an interesting sort of character.
The most dangerous player is the one who mixes his/her style from back to fore court at the direction 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 problem you present him in your game. He is the most subtle antagonist 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 fighting to the end, with never a thought of changing.
He is the player whose psychology is fairly 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 tenacity of purpose of Johnston.
Choose your type 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 advantage of a break in the game, and turning it to your own advantage. We hear a great deal 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. Let me explain. 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 surprised and shaken, 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 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 even more 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 worries your opponent, as he thinks that he has thrown away a big chance.
The psychology of a tennis match is very interesting, but easily 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 weaker. The sole aim of the first player is to hold his/her lead, thus holding his/her confidence.
If the second player pulls even or pulls ahead, the inevitable reaction 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 boosted by the great stimulus of having turned a seemingly inevitable defeat into a probable 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 will be the result.
The most dangerous player is the one who mixes his/her style from back to fore court at the direction 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 problem you present him in your game. He is the most subtle antagonist 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 fighting to the end, with never a thought of changing.
He is the player whose psychology is fairly 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 tenacity of purpose of Johnston.
Choose your type 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 advantage of a break in the game, and turning it to your own advantage. We hear a great deal 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. Let me explain. 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 surprised and shaken, 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 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 even more 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 worries your opponent, as he thinks that he has thrown away a big chance.
The psychology of a tennis match is very interesting, but easily 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 weaker. The sole aim of the first player is to hold his/her lead, thus holding his/her confidence.
If the second player pulls even or pulls ahead, the inevitable reaction 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 boosted by the great stimulus of having turned a seemingly inevitable defeat into a probable 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 will be the result.
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