Last December, I wrote a series of posts highlighting the “12 Habits of Highly Successful Tennis Players.” Throughout 2023, the first weekend of every month features an in-depth look at one of those habits. The deep dive topic for September is “Looking Beyond the Net.” The best players in Adult Senior tennis pay attention to their opponents and use that information to inform their match play.
One of my pet peeves in televised professional tennis is the players who can’t come up with anything more insightful to say about their strategy for an upcoming match than “I’m just going to play my game.” A player with one unalterable mode of play will lose almost every time they come up against anyone who plays the same way but a little bit better.
The best players in Senior Adult tennis don’t just see their opponents; they also study them. They enumerate every strength and weakness of the person on the other side of the net. Tendencies are analyzed in excruciating detail. Injuries or a lack of fitness will not escape scrutiny.
That insight is used to create a game plan and tailor tactics to create their most favorable matchup. Any hole or weakness in their opponent’s game will be exploited. Similarly, if the person on the other side of the net has a particular strength, the best players will do everything they can to prevent them from hitting that shot to the greatest extent possible.
That is not to say that the best players in Senior Adult tennis don’t play to their own strengths. However, that is always done within the context of what is happening on the other side of the net. In the absence of any advance information, “Plan A” might consist of the player’s best mode of play. However, they will quickly pull the trigger on plans B, C, and D if their initial approach isn’t working.
The best players in Adult Senior tennis pay attention to the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents. They adjust their strategy and tactics to give themselves the best chance to win the match. They play their game… but the name of their game is “smart tennis.” They look beyond the net.
Throughout 2023, I am exploring the 12 Habits of Highly Successful Tennis Players. A complete summary of all posts on that topic and what is coming up for the remainder of this year can be found on the 12 Habits of Highly Successful Tennis Players homepage.
Teresa wrote: One of my pet peeves in televised professional tennis is the players who can’t come up with anything more insightful to say about their strategy for an upcoming match than “I’m just going to play my game.”
In many cases, pro players rightly believe it would be counter-productive to reveal their strategy before an upcoming match. One can even make a strong case that players should “never” discuss their strategy with anyone except for their “team.”
A player’s overall strategy and specific tactics to implement it often determine whether they win or lose close matches. With unprecedented depth on the WTA and ATP tours, close matches abound more than ever.
Rest assured, the overwhelming majority of pro players have a strategy and tactics for every match. Sometimes their strategy is flawed. Sometimes their strategy is sound, but for one reason or another, they fail to execute it well.
But it makes no sense to reveal your strategy before your match at any level of competition.
As for televised matches, some viewers think these interviews are time-wasting and uninteresting and should be discontinued. Some viewers think interviewers should skip questions about strategy. Generally, thoughtful, reasonable questions elicit interesting, informative answers.