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