Last December, I wrote a series of posts that identified the “12 Habits of Highly Successful Tennis Players.” Throughout 2023, I am taking a more in-depth look at one of those habits over the first weekend of each month. The deep dive theme for June is “Self-Awareness.” A common characteristic shared by the very best players in Adult Senior tennis is that they have a deep understanding of their own game.
That isn’t the case with every tennis player. I used to do a drop-in drill frequented by a guy who quite simply could not hit an approach shot. His obligatory apologies to his playing partners were filled with surprise at missing that shot “today.” I always wanted to ask him why he believed he had that shot at all. Throughout the years of drilling with him, I didn’t see him ever put even half of those balls in play. That is an example of a profound lack of self-awareness.
The top players in Senior tennis understand their own skills and performance level. They also know what the other players share in their scouting reports about them. In fact, they use that insight to drive both training objectives as well as their own tactical play. That knowledge allows them to play to their strengths and avoid their own weaknesses during match play.
Self-awareness in tennis is essential for performance evaluation which is the lifeblood of improvement. While that attribute can, and should, be supplemented with coaching and other external perspectives, there is simply no substitute for the ability to work things out for themselves. Coaches don’t watch every match and sometimes technique can break down during match play in a way that is hard to replicate during practice.
Good strategic adjustments during matches are hard to make without a refined sense of self-awareness. Experienced tennis players will typically have an initial game plan for each match based on the things they do well. However, the player on the other side of the net has a strong influence on the success or failure of the intended tactics. Self-aware players have better recognition of what is happening. That is critical knowledge for making good adjustments.
The very best players in tennis have a highly developed sense of self-awareness. They employ tactics and patterns of point play that accentuate the areas where they have an advantage. More importantly, they do not attempt shots and point compositions that are beyond their current mastery.
The guy at the drill who couldn’t hit an approach shot was never going to improve in that area. It wasn’t due to his lack of skill but rather an absence of self-awareness. He completely failed to internalize that he did not have a mechanical grasp of how to hit the shot. Consequently, he never took the steps necessary to repair this glaring hole in his game.
The very best players in tennis typically do not have these blind-spots. They are highly self-aware.
Throughout 2023 I am exploring the 12 Habits of Highly Successful Tennis Players. A complete summary of all posts to date on that topic as well as what is coming up for the remainder of this year, can be found on the 12 Habits of Highly Successful Tennis Players homepage.
