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The Art of Consistency -Part 2

Posted on July 4, 2022 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from the Second Edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible
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Common Inconsistency Situations

Below are six “oh-yeah” stumbling blocks that require your athlete’s attention. Remember, they can’t fix a problem if they’re not even aware it exists. Please ask your athlete’s coach to discuss the below “everyday blunders.”

Common Match Play Stumbling Blocks

1) After hitting a great winner, players commonly give the next point away by committing an unfocused-unforced error.

2) After missing a sitter, players don’t re-group and commit another unforced error.

3) Players commonly lose their own serve right after breaking the opponent’s serve.

4) Players often double fault after hitting an ace.

5) After winning a tight first set, players commonly play loose and find themselves down at the start of the second set.

6) In tournament play, players scoring an upset victory over a higher ranked player often lose to a lesser player the very next round.

 

“If you are persistent, you’ve got a great shot at being consistent.”

The Art of Consistency -Part 1

Posted on July 1, 2022 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from the Second Edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible
Available through most online retailers!

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THE ART OF CONSISTENCY

 

The battle cry heard daily on every teaching court around the world is, “You need to be more consistent!” Makes sense right? It sounds simple, but how? If your child has an issue with consistency the information applied below will surely push them into a higher level. These mental training tips should be revisited often by your entourage of intelligent coaches.

 

Being consistent holds different meanings for different levels of players and is dependent on their individual growth development schedule.  To some readers, playing at ones peak performance level for three shots in a row is successful consistency. For others it may require playing solid for three points in a row, or three games in a row. Followed by performing at a high level for three sets in a row, or even three matches in a row…dare I say, consistently playing well for three tournaments in a row?

 

Incorporate the following solutions into your athlete’s developmental plan to help your athletes become more consistent.

Expose Strengths

Practice in the manner in which you’re expecting to perform. Design patterns and positions to expose your strengths and hide your weaknesses. Winning two tough matches a day for 5 days straight is the criteria for winning a national title. Winners expose their efficiencies and hide their deficiencies on a daily basis.

Rehearse Shot Selection

The most common type of error in the higher levels of junior tennis stems from low percentage shot selection. Abiding by the laws of offence, neutral and defensive is a factor.  Consistently focus on choosing to hit the appropriate shot the moment demands.

Focus on Depth

On-court depth is a goal while seeking consistency. Lack of depth opens up the opponent’s on-court angles which translates to your athlete playing defense. The “window” their ball travels above the net is crucial in the development of depth. This is called “air zones.” Consistent height and depth is a key to consistent wins.

Simply Match the Speed of the Incoming Ball

Champions are comfortable matching the ball speed.  Fighting the compulsion to always increase the ball speed is a sure fire way to be more consistent. When you don’t have the feel in a match, shift to this plan. This is also a super warm up routine. It shows the opponent you are stable versus crazy.

Hit the Appropriate Side of the Ball

Beginner and intermediate players are happy simply hitting any part of the ball. If they’re getting a tan, they’re happy! Top players understand that to hit secondary shots such as short angles, topspin lobs and slice shots, it requires more skill. The part of the ball your athlete strikes dictates its outgoing spins and angles.

Spacing

Proper movement and positioning around the strike zone is called spacing. Using adjustment steps to align each stroke is an underlying factor in the ability to actually use good form. A common cause of errors is spacing.

Proper Form

Form includes grips, backswings, strike zones and follow-throughs. Core strength and balance is required to keep the head still throughout the strike zone phase of the stroke. Cleaning up flawed strokes often involves “trimming the fat” versus adding more to the player’s stroke.

Master Spin

In high level tennis, spin is simply used as a consistency tool. The key ingredient in hitting the ball hard and in is… spin. Also, as the ball speed increases in a rally, a player then must slow down the ball with spin (usually under spin) to re-gain a positioning advantage. Controlling the point consistently is done with spin.

Avoid Repainting the Line

It is not the player’s job to paint the lines. Risky competitors who gun for the lines typically become early spectators. Hitting the lines also allows a cheater easy access to hook. Gunning for the lines increase frustration and complicate even the easiest of matches.

Increase Your Fitness

Being fit has wonderful benefits. It increases your overall confidence, allows you to stay in points longer, think clearer, problem solving better, accelerate and decelerate quicker, use cleaner strokes, calm the breathing and heart rate, recover faster after long points, recover after long matches and prevent injuries.

Increase Your Focus Ability

A common issue with inconsistency is playing solid, winning tennis three games in a row; then getting bored or unfocused and giving three games right back. Staying in the moment and focusing on your next point’s performance goals is “key.” This is done by mastering an inner game. Focus on simply winning three points in a row when you are bored or feel you are losing focus.

 

“Being great once and awhile means your good… not great.”

 

Coaches and players should make time in their developmental plans to visit the above solutions proven to help the art of consistency.

 

 

Developing Your Athlete’s Top 7 Patterns

Posted on June 25, 2022 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from the Second Edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible
Available through most online retailers!

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DEVELOPING YOUR ATHLETE’S TOP 7 PATTERNS

 

Over a decade ago I conducted an on-court developmental case study with a group of similar age and ability level, top ranked Southern California players. For eight weeks, I trained a group of six athletes with the familiar old school, common academy methods. You’ve seen it a million times. It’s basically playing catch, back and forth, grooving to each other all day. I called them the Red Group.

The other group, called the Blue Group was trained very different. We customized each athlete’s Top 7 Patterns of play and religiously ran those patterns every single training session. These players focused on offense, neutral and defensive situational protocols and were not allowed to rally back and forth to the opponent. They played keep away for two months…never catch.

 

“Winning matches is a game of keep away… not a game of catch.”

 

After the two month period, the Blue Group beat the Red Group handily for five consecutive team matches. I then decided to permanently switch my training philosophy.  My students started racking up national title after national title.

It’s time to work with your athlete’s coach in designing your child’s very own Top 7 Patterns. Reactive tennis is played at the intermediate levels of the game.  It is simply reacting to the moment without any real plan. Proactive tennis is having a pre-set plan for every point.  Proactive tennis forces the opponent to react to your strengths. These strengths come in the form of strokes and patterns. Most points in junior tennis are almost over when the server walks up to the line to serve, meaning …points are typically short. That’s why this section focuses on starting each point with a specific plan.

“It is estimated that the average point played on the WTA/ATP professional tour is under 4 hits.   This is why starting points with a plan is essential.”

Remember, spectacular performances are preceded by spectacular preparation. It’s time for your athlete to begin to prepare spectacularly.  Proactive competitors control the tight matches because they control the big points by routinely running their Top 7 Patterns. This means that on game points, mentally tough players run their very best patterns. This awareness, tips the odds in their favor.  I urge players to design and rehearse their Top 7 Patterns and begin to run these patterns religiously with their coaches through pattern repetitions. They then apply their Top 7 Patterns in practice matches and of course in real tournament competition.

 

The “Top 7” Pattern Categories:

1) Top Serving Pattern to the Deuce Side (2 Ball Sequence.)

2) Top Serving Pattern on the Ad Side (2 Ball Sequence.)

3) Favorite Return Pattern/Position versus a Big First Serve.

4) Favorite Pattern/Position versus a Weaker Second Serve.

5) Favorite Rally Pattern.

6) Favorite Short Ball Option.

7) Favorite Approach Shot Pattern.

 

Lesson Learned: I brought some junior athletes to the Indian Wells Tennis Garden BNP Paribas Open with the purpose of dissecting the patterns used by the professional. Their mission was to chart the professional’s Top7 Patterns.  During that chilly night in the California desert, Rafael Nadal ran his same old, boring winning service pattern on the ad side 82% of the time versus Ryan Harrison. Rafa hit a mid-tempo slice serve out wide to Ryan’s backhand…ran around the return and “Ahh-Hay” Rafa yells as he hit his inside out forehand into the opposing corner.  Result: Rafa won routinely while conserving energy for future rounds.

 

Assist your child’s coaches by encouraging them to take your athlete’s practice sessions up a few levels and replace simply grooving back and forth with grooving your athlete’s customized Top 7 Patterns.  Later in this mental section we will look into the flip side of developing your athlete’s Top 7 Patterns. In the opponent profiling section, we will uncover how and why it is also critical to develop the skills required to spot and defuse the opponent’s Top 7 Patterns of play. This is an analytical function.  Controlling the critical tipping points begins with anticipation.

How to Build Mental Toughness

Posted on June 20, 2022 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from the Second Edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible
Available through most online retailers!

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HOW TO BUILD MENTAL TOUGHNESS

Players who are confident have a mentally tough aura about them. They are extremely intimidating because their confidence is obvious to all. It’s evident in their body language and facial expressions.  So, how can your athlete develop radiant confidence?

First of all, your athlete starts by reading about it. Then they earn it on the practice court. Mentally tough competitors earn this impenetrable wall of confidence by preparing properly. Mentally tough players are actually much more than just mentally tough. They are mechanically sound, emotionally unflappable and physically fit enough to thrive in third set warfare. Yes, they’re actually mechanically tough, emotionally tough and physically tough.

Below is a checklist of components that need to be developed by your child’s coaches.  Remember, it is your job as the CEO to assist the coaches in raising athletic royalty.

 

Developing Mental Toughness Checklist:

Stroke Mechanics:

  • Develop reliable fundamental (primary) strokes.
  • Develop a tool belt of secondary strokes.

Mental:

  • Organize & rehearse your child’s top 7 patterns of play. (Generic Strategies)
  • Rehearse patterns of play used to pull different styles of opponents out of their game.(Stylistic Strategies)

Emotional:

  • Organize their between point rituals & changeover rituals (both internal & external.)
  • Pre-set protocols to handle performance anxieties.

Athleticism:

  • Build the speed, agility and cardiovascular requirements needed to endure two separate three set matches a day.
  • Build the strength and stamina required to close out 6 matches in a 3-5 day (64 player draw) event.

 

My students have won close to 100 National titles to date. Each one had a parent and an entourage of great coaches who were very involved organizing and implementing their developmental plan. Most often, these champs worked their deliberate, customized organizational plan for 2-3 months before becoming National Champions.

 

Special Note to Parents: A partially committed parent is simply a hobbyist. That’s fine – tennis is an incredible hobby that teaches many life lessons. However, a hobbyist parent should be satisfied with raising a hobbyist tennis player and not expect champion results. In today’s game, it’s unfair to expect your child to become a champion without parental commitment.

TEN ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS OF THE MENTALLY TOUGH COMPETITOR- PART 2

Posted on June 14, 2022 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

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TEN ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS OF THE MENTALLY TOUGH COMPETITOR (6 – 10)

 

6) Accept that becoming mentally tough requires sacrifice.  You must choose to be a normal “kid” or a champion. You have to pick one…because you can’t be both.

Mental toughness requires you prioritize your time- putting everyday normal “kid stuff” aside, most of the time, as you become athletic royalty.

 

7) Develop the ability to employ the art of intimidation and to raise the adrenaline level at crunch time.

Raising positive energy at crunch time inflates the athlete’s performance, while systematically deflates the opponent’s performance. Intimidation begins pre-game as the athlete morphs into a “warrior.” Staying in that ‘warrior’ mind-set or on-script throughout the competition is essential.

8) Choose to be a courageous competitor – playing to win versus playing not to lose.

Applying the strategically correct system the moment demands under pressure, without fear or hesitation, no matter the situation is essential.

9) Master the ability to handle adversity – such as poor start times, adverse elements, occasional sickness, minor injuries, and/or gamesmanship.

Choosing to see disadvantages as challenges versus obstacles too difficult to overcome is mental/emotional toughness.

10) Persevere and be willing and able to remain on course and stay on-script longer…

Most good athletes are able to perform like a ‘Pro’ occasionally. Greatness stems from an athlete’s ability to perform good after good. Consistently remaining in the peak performance state is essential in the higher echelons of sports.

 

 

TEN ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS OF THE MENTALLY TOUGH COMPETITOR- PART 1

Posted on June 11, 2022 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

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TEN ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS OF THE MENTALLY TOUGH COMPETITOR

 

Because the mental-emotional components are so often misdiagnosed, let’s begin by describing the difference between the mental and emotional components. Mental toughness is the knowledge of the analytical functions of competition- the X’s and O’s of strategy and tactics. Emotional toughness is the ability to control feelings and emotions during competition- courage through confrontation, focus for the duration, controlling nerves, fear and self-doubt, which are categorized as performance anxieties.  Keep in mind that the mental-emotional components are often intertwined. Ask your child’s coaches to meet regarding these important elements.  My bet is that they’ll have terrific insight to assist your athlete in their quest for mental toughness.

 

Ten Essential Components of the Mental/Emotional Tough Competitor:

1) Dedicate physically, mentally and emotionally to the process of becoming mentally tough.

Without full commitment, it is unlikely mental toughness will be achieved.  Mental/emotional toughness can only be mastered by someone who is ready to dig deeper into the strategic, stubborn protocols of winning and the psychology of defeating their own demons. (Known as performance anxieties.)

2) Acknowledge that being mentally/emotionally tough isn’t reserved for the gifted few.

Mental/emotional toughness as well as mental/emotional weakness is a learned-earned behavior.

People around the world from the passive Buddhist monks to the aggressive Navy Seals spend each day developing their mental/emotional toughness skills.  Some juniors have unknowingly invented their own negative mental/emotional weakness protocols because they are not versed in the process of pre-set protocols. So they return to their negative behaviors under stress. Such as racquet cracking, language outburst, etc.

3) Decide to stay the course and confront hardship instead of bailing out at the first sign of confrontation.

Psychologists call it the fight or flight syndrome. Choosing to persevere through difficult circumstances leads to improved confidence. Getting in superb physical shape is a great place to start. Begin the journey by fighting through exhaustion, pain and discomfort.

4) On a daily basis, multi-task and build the mental/emotional muscles along with stroke production.

Closing out every single drill develops mental/emotional toughness. Apply negative scoring during each physical drill on court to rehearse overcoming hardships. (Drill to 10 – subtracting 1 for each error.)

5) Commit to a deliberate customized training regimen. Confidence, belief and self-trust are learned and earned.

Choosing to do what the moment demands within a millisecond requires preset protocol training. This is deliberate, customized repetition that incorporates how, when and why pre-set solutions are applied.

Tennis Strategy Made Easy

Posted on June 7, 2022 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from the Second Edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible
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STRATEGY MADE EASY

 

Strategy can be so easy yet so complicated. Strategy is changing, adapting and yet ritualistic.  It is science and art. It is psychological yet physiological. It can be beautiful and oh so ugly. Strategy applied correctly allows your child to meet the opponent under advantageous conditions. Applying strategy keeps your child focused and in the correct optimal performance state of mind.

Let’s look at strategy in a simple but effective format. Below are three categories of on-court strategy that elite players must understand and master: generic, stylistic and customized.

Generic Strategy

Generic strategy is simply applying the player’s core strengths with pre-planned patterns and strategies. The goal is to expose a player’s natural strengths and force their opponent to respond to those strengths. Generic strategy consist of your child’s optimal serving patterns, return patterns, rally patterns, short  ball options and net rushing patterns. These tactics are identified and practiced prior to match play and will be used January through December, from the first round through the finals, in Miami or Moscow, on clay or on hard courts. The Generic strategy is your child’s everyday “nuts and bolts” game plan. Learning to apply one’s genetic tactical assault, will lead to your athlete hitting the same old “boring” winners match after match.

If your athlete’s generic (day-in-day-out) strategy is working, there is no need for change. In fact, juniors who change a winning strategy usually suffer the consequences. If it is not working, then it’s simply time to shift into the second phase of strategy called stylistic strategy.

 

Stylistic Strategy

Stylistic strategy is your child’s ability to adapt tactics depending on the current style of the opponent. Remind your child not to change their winning tactical system just because the opponent changes game styles. A change is only made if the opponent starts to win and the momentum switches to the opponent’s favor. Styles include retriever, hard hitting baseliner and all court players. It is imperative that high performance tennis players develop and rehearse patterns used to beat each style of opponent.

If your athlete has spotted the opponent’s style of play and is still struggling, I recommend shifting focus to the third tier called custom strategy.

A smart competitor will change a losing style of play (shift to plan B). Has your child developed rock solid B and C game plans? The players who are winning national titles also have solid B and C game plans. Please remind your athletes to rehearse all three styles of play.

Encourage your child to play lesser players in practice sets. This will allow them to rehearse their B and C game plans- often your child’s A plan (hard hitting baseliners-style) is exactly what the opponent enjoys and playing that system is a losing proposition. Shifting to plan B (steady retriever- style) may be ugly but is the exact system the opponent hates playing against and an extremely difficult match becomes another routine win.

 

Custom Strategy

Custom strategy is your child’s ability to adapt to the day. Your child has to customize to different environmental elements (wind, heat, and shadows), court speeds, brand of ball, elevation as well as the particular strengths and weaknesses of the current opponent (See Opponent Profiling later in this section.)

A common word in the custom strategy phase is tendencies.

To borrow from the boxing world, your child needs to spot what is causing the opponent to “bleed” and then do it more. It is just as important for your child to spot what is causing their own “bleeding” and systematically stop the bleeding.

 

When to Modify versus Change:

If your child is competing well in every game and often has the winning shot on his/her racquet, it is in their best interest to modify their tactics slightly while keeping the current strategic style of play. If they are losing and are not even in the points or games, a much larger shift of complete game styles may be in order. (For example: Take a bathroom break then change from a hard hitting baseliner to a steady retriever style of play.)

 

Strategy Basics:

1) Get 66% of your first serves in and preferably into the opponent’s weaker side.
2) Simply return deep balls high, heavy and deep.
3) Attack any ball landing inside your short ball range.
4) Apply the laws of offense, neutral and defensive shot selection.

Tennis Strategy

Posted on June 3, 2022 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

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A NEW WAY TO LOOK AT STRATEGY

 

To understand on-court control dramas, take a minute and think of a tennis match as a control contest. Each player is attempting to pull their opponent into their style of play to gain command of the match.

Three Control Dramas Seen in High Level Tennis:

  • The Power Contest
  • The Speed Contest
  • The Patience Contest

To simplify the process, the goal of competition is to choose the contest your athlete performs best. Then formulate a plan to PULL their opponent out of their own world and into your athlete’s world. Let’s look a little deeper, yet keep it simple:

I have a top 300 WTA player training with me.  We have customized her game plan to hide her weaknesses and expose her strengths. Her body type and brain type play a major role in customizing her success.

Weaknesses

Ann is light in stature. Her opponents are generally much bigger and stronger. We checked off and excluded the “Power Contest” from her A game plan. This is not to say that she might use power as a B or C game plan. Ann also has focus issues. We checked off the “Patience Contest” and excluded it as her A game plan.

Strengths

Ann possesses great speed and anticipatory skills. We chose the “Speed Contest” as her A game plan. Ann is extremely intuitive. She can sense when the opponent is vulnerable and knows “How” and “When” to move in and take away the opponents recovery and decision making time.

When Ann chooses to play her “Speed Contest”, she most often is able to move the bigger girls enough to force errors. She can also pull the retrievers off the court to open up winning angles. When Ann chooses to get into a “boomball-power” contest with bigger, stronger girls, she loses. When she chooses to out moonball a “World Class” moonballer she loses!

 

As I mentioned earlier, this section should be a conversation opener with your athlete and their entourage.  Knowing who you are is an important step in formulating your most successful game plans.

THE “PROS AND CONS” OF TENNIS ACADEMIES

Posted on May 30, 2022 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from the Second Edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible
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THE “PROS AND CONS” OF TENNIS ACADEMIES

 

This is a touchy subject. Some of my best friends and lifelong business partners run successful academies. I am often presented business plans to open a full time academy, but I am convinced that a new blueprint is needed to ensure that each student is receiving the customized attention he/she deserves. My opinion regarding academies is a result of my years of professional experience- from my successful Mental/Emotional Tennis Workshops to opening and directing clubs and academies since the mid 1980’s in the toughest USTA section- Southern California. These include Vic Braden Tennis Colleges, the Rancho San Clemente Tennis Club and the Sherwood Country Club- some of Southern California’s most prestigious clubs. Academies are a very familiar territory.

 

“Just as tennis players can be placed into a beginner, intermediate and advanced categories, so can instructors and academies.”

 

The below pros and cons are examples of the typical “intermediate” academy found around the world.

 

Attending an Academy Pros:

  • Academies provide a terrific social environment for the young athletes. The players can hang out with their peers of both genders.
  • Players can experience the bonding of a team versus the individualism the sport requires.
  • Lucky players receive free t-shirts with the academies logo.
  • Players get to travel in the Academy van to and from events.
  • Academies provide a convenient one-stop shop for parents. In essence, the parents can rely on others to organize and develop their child’s career.
  • Most academies provide plenty of free hitting, off- court training options and match play for the “motivated” individuals.
  • Academies provide live ball repetition. Players grow from the daily battle.
  • Players experience many different coaches and coaching styles.

 

Attending an Academy Cons:

  • Intermediate academies often recruit their top players AFTER a quality teacher has developed the student’s skills.
  • The paying customer should receive instruction equal to that given to the elite superstars, whom often attend for FREE. Unfortunately, in some cases, their best coaches are busy working privately with the non-paying super stars and NOT with your child.
  • In order to maximize potential at the quickest rate, detailed customization of the lesson plans are required. For example, if a player has holes in their transition game, sending them down to court #6 to get in line with the rest of the group and hit forehands and backhands may not be in the student’s best interest.
  • Paying customers do not progress at the quickest rate.
  • Often they have to win to move up into the “higher” level courts. This forces the junior to choose outcome goals over performance goals. This means they avoid building their new weapons as they choose to use their old comfortable “flawed strokes” to try to win. This behavior stalls the exact progression you seek.
  • A great young talent positioned in an unsupervised setting will often learn how to goof off, throw their racquet, waist time, go for low percentage shots, over hit, and give half effort.
  • Often inexperienced, overworked introductory coaches are employed to oversee the paying customers.

 

The truth is that most juniors are not truly interested in putting the hard work required to be a National Champion.  They are hobbyist. In that situation, intermediate academies could be the right choice. Remember, tennis is a terrific hobby for most players. If your athlete is serious and holds a higher ranking than most players in the academy, you may be able to negotiate attending for FREE in exchange for attracting lower ranked, paying customers to the program. Also, it’s important to note that some academies give every attendee a price break thus giving everyone a partial scholarship. That is, if you pay up front! Folks, that’s marketing 101.

It is not uncommon for a young, promising athlete to be approached numerous times per tournament by different academy recruiters.  Please don’t confuse a smooth “tournament” academy recruiter with a skilled tennis teacher.

Once again, I highly recommend secretly observing all future teams, coaches and academies before taking part in the action. Find out the day and times of their operation and quietly watch without them knowing you are there. This takes away the “dog & pony” show as you get a realistic perspective of their capabilities.

In the last few decades, most park & rec’s, high school courts, apartment complexes, college courts, country clubs and city facilities have changed the name of their after school junior tennis program to an academy. It sounds more official, doesn’t it?

DEVELOPING YOUR ATHLETE’S TOP 7 PATTERNS

Posted on May 23, 2022 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from the Second Edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible
Available through most online retailers!

 Click Here to Order

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DEVELOPING YOUR ATHLETE’S TOP 7 PATTERNS

 

Over a decade ago I conducted an on-court developmental case study with a group of similar age and ability level, top ranked Southern California players. For eight weeks, I trained a group of six athletes with the familiar old school, common academy methods. You’ve seen it a million times. It’s basically playing catch, back and forth, grooving to each other all day. I called them the Red Group.

The other group, called the Blue Group was trained very different. We customized each athlete’s Top 7 Patterns of play and religiously ran those patterns every single training session. These players focused on offense, neutral and defensive situational protocols and were not allowed to rally back and forth to the opponent. They played keep away for two months…never catch.

 

“Winning matches is a game of keep away… not a game of catch.”

 

After the two month period, the Blue Group beat the Red Group handily for five consecutive team matches. I then decided to permanently switch my training philosophy.  My students started racking up national title after national title.

 

It’s time to work with your athlete’s coach in designing your child’s very own Top 7 Patterns. Reactive tennis is played at the intermediate levels of the game.  It is simply reacting to the moment without any real plan. Proactive tennis is having a pre-set plan for every point.  Proactive tennis forces the opponent to react to your strengths. These strengths come in the form of strokes and patterns. Most points in junior tennis are almost over when the server walks up to the line to serve, meaning …points are typically short. That’s why this section focuses on starting each point with a specific plan.

“It is estimated that the average point played on the WTA/ATP professional tour is under 4 hits.   This is why starting points with a plan is essential.”

 

Remember, spectacular performances are preceded by spectacular preparation. It’s time for your athlete to begin to prepare spectacularly.

Proactive competitors control the tight matches because they control the big points by routinely running their Top 7 Patterns. This means that on game points, mentally tough players run their very best patterns. This awareness, tips the odds in their favor.

I urge players to design and rehearse their Top 7 Patterns and begin to run these patterns religiously with their coaches through pattern repetitions. They then apply their Top 7 Patterns in practice matches and of course in real tournament competition.

 

The “Top 7” Pattern Categories:

1) Top Serving Pattern to the Deuce Side (2 Ball Sequence.)

2) Top Serving Pattern on the Ad Side (2 Ball Sequence.)

3) Favorite Return Pattern/Position versus a Big First Serve.

4) Favorite Pattern/Position versus a Weaker Second Serve.

5) Favorite Rally Pattern.

6) Favorite Short Ball Option.

7) Favorite Approach Shot Pattern.

 

Lesson Learned: I brought some junior athletes to the Indian Wells Tennis Garden BNP Paribas Open with the purpose of dissecting the patterns used by the professional. Their mission was to chart the professional’s Top7 Patterns.

During that chilly night in the California desert, Rafael Nadal ran his same old, boring winning service pattern on the ad side 82% of the time versus Ryan Harrison. Rafa hit a mid-tempo slice serve out wide to Ryan’s backhand…ran around the return and “Ahh-Hay” Rafa yells as he hit his inside out forehand into the opposing corner.

Result: Rafa won routinely while conserving energy for future rounds.

 

Assist your child’s coaches by encouraging them to take your athlete’s practice sessions up a few levels and replace simply grooving back and forth with grooving your athlete’s customized Top 7 Patterns.

Later in this mental section we will look into the flip side of developing your athlete’s Top 7 Patterns. In the opponent profiling section, we will uncover how and why it is also critical to develop the skills required to spot and defuse the opponent’s Top 7 Patterns of play. This is an analytical function.  Controlling the critical tipping points begins with anticipation.