The General Psychology Of Tennis (Part 2)
The fast, unpredictable, net-rushing tennis-player is a person of impulse. There is no real system to his/her game, no understanding of your game-plan. He will make brilliant coups on the spur of the moment, largely by instinct; but there is no, no consistent thinking. It is an interesting type of character.
The really dangerous player is the one who mixes his/her strategy from back to fore court under the direction of an ever-active 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 of the school of Brookes. Second only to him is the player of slavish determination that sets his/her mind on one plan and sticks to it, bitterly, fiercely battling to the end, with never a thought of changing.
He is the player whose psychology is fairly easy to work out, but whose mental viewpoint is hard to upset, for he never permits himself to think about anything except the business at hand. 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 kind from your own mental processes, and then work out your game along the lines best suited to you. When two men are on the same level as regards stroke, strength and equipment, the deciding factor in any game is the mental standpoint. Luck, as it is called, is usually no more than grasping the psychological value of a break in the game, and turning it to your own account. People talk a lot about the “shots we have made.” But few people understand the importance of the “shots we have missed.”
The science 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 tell you why. A player forces 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, understanding that your shot might 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 make an error. You have thus taken some of your opponent’s confidence, and increased his/her chance of error: all this by a miss.
However, if you had just popped back that ball, and it had been killed, your opponent would have felt even more confident of your inability to put the ball out of his/her reach, while you would only have been winded to no avail.
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 involved in a tennis match is fascinating, but easily understood. Both men begin with equal chances. Once one player establishes a real lead, his/her confidence rises, while his/her opponent worries, and his/her mental viewpoint becomes weaker. The sole objective of the first player is to hold his/her lead, thereby maintaining his/her confidence.
If the second player pulls 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 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 apt to lose confidence and play worse. The collapse of his game plan soon follows.
If you are into the psychology of tennis, you should go to our website entitled Tennis Tips for Beginners You are welcome to reprint this article – but get your own unique content version here.
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