Winning Matches - Steve Landon
A few weeks ago myself and Fionn gave a talk about winning matches. This is a summary of what we discussed.
A match mindset is different from a practice mindset.
In a match you must work out what wins points and not get distracted by what feels good or looks good.
Pre match
A standard match 5 minute warm up isn’t designed to prepare you to play a match. It’s purpose is for the following things:
Get used to the speed of new balls
Have a look at opponents strengths and weaknesses
Loosen up
Prepare the mind for the contest (getting your game face on)
What you do need to do before a match
It takes 15-20 minutes to warm up the body correctly for tennis because the movements are multi dimensional. Arrive early and try to warm up before your official 5 minute warm up. You should run, jump, twist, sprint, break etc. make sure you do a moderate intensity level of each movement for a couple of minutes.
The mind needs to know its surroundings in order to be able to concentrate on the game and not be distracted by unfamiliar sights and noise outside the court. Arrive early at away matches in order to familiarize yourself with as many things about where you are playing. This is one of the basic ideas of the “home advantage” concept.
Try to fix all the little things that you can control. Have a drink ready, eat properly, make sure racquet grips and strings are as you like them etc.
Have a simple “plan A’ that you are comfortable with.
How to WIN points
The first thing to do is to lose your ego. “My forehand is better than this” is an example of good practice thinking but poor match thinking. In practice you can believe that and keep working to improve it, but in a match the truth is at that moment your forehand is losing you points.
Fix the actual problem
There are only 4 main ways to lose a point (unless you slap the umpire or swear really loud):
Opponent hits winner
You miss-hit the ball (this leads to 3 and 4 but its an important thing to identify)
You hit the ball in the net
You miss the court with a shot
The key to simple problem solving is to solve these issues in the correct order:
Move better
Watch the ball
Aim higher over the net
Use spin or aim for a bigger area within the court
If you watch league matches you will often see a player telling themselves off for not using spin or “bad placement” when they’ve miss-hit the previous shot. You can only move on to tactical and technical problem solving if you are moving well and hitting the middle of the strings.
HOW TO PLAY
You have a plan, you are prepared and you’re hitting the middle of the strings and ……. your losing. What’s can you do?
CHANGING THE PLAN
Things to consider before going to plan B
Is the score close?
Is it the start or the end of a set?
Do I have the skills to do what I want to do?
Can I play a style of game I don’t enjoy to win more points?
The score matters! If you are getting beaten easily its a no brainer, change what you are doing sooner rather than later. It’s worth considering that people often play tighter (more tentatively) at the end of sets. Big serves at 1-0 often become nervy at 5-4 so maybe its a case of playing the end of the set better yourself rather than risking a tactical change at that moment.
Sometimes you need to play a game-style you don’t enjoy in order to expose a weakness in an opponent. This is often the case in league doubles where a player decides to lob in order to upset an opponent.
The start of a new set is a natural time to change tactics. One last word of warning though, if you haven’t practiced the skills you plan to use it probably isn’t a good idea to go for it during a match situation. Instead, make a note of what would be useful then go take a lesson or practice that skill for the next time.
So be prepared, enjoy your tennis and remember Blackrock are always looking for league players if you lose too many matches. 😉🎾
Play well, Steve