Scoring with tactics: why it really helps to think ahead in tennis
Do you often lose matches - and don't know why? This is where the new tennis book With Tactics can help you: The Art of Thinking About Tennis . We will present you a few excerpts in the coming days.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Sep 19, 2022, 09:55 am
I am a peaceful person. But there's one phrase in my life that gets me to 180. I hear it all the time when I ask my tennis students that one crucial question, the most important question in tennis. The one about the meaning of their last blow, what they actually thought about it. The sentence that is then answered and which makes me livid every time is: "Never mind, I just passed the ball over."
Do you also often play the ball “just hold it over”? Possibly even with the right technique, which you have acquired in costly training sessions? Then it's your own fault that your match record looks sober. The good news: you still have room for improvement! Because I assure you: You could have won the majority of your lost matches if you hadn't just played the ball over. But with a plan.
Everyone has weaknesses - and anyone who claims they don't have any is lying. The number of weaknesses that tennis players have is large. Who plays perfectly? Roger Federer maybe, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic. And Iga Swiatek. And even with those windy experts still uncover weak points. Both on the technical side and in the tactical area. We don't want to compete with Federer or Nadal in this book. Our problem is the person on the other side of the square. Our goal is to win against him. And this is exactly where this book aims to help.
C. plays with the wrong hand - and wins too!
When my buddy C. had a hitting arm injury one summer, he started playing with the wrong hand. Because he loves tennis and couldn't stand the idea of being out of action for an entire summer and doomed only to watch. C. first trained a little in the T-field, later loosely and easily from the baseline.
A few weeks later he set out to fight a few matches against players from our men's and women's teams. To our great surprise, this was not a hopeless undertaking. Although he lacked the natural momentum, he still won most games, and not too close. Simply because he had an eye for the situation through years of playing tennis. For recognizing at the right moment in which direction the opponent would play, whether a short or long ball was to be expected and from which position he could accept it. He had mentally completed his next move before his opponent realized where his own ball was going to go. (Of course, »just played it across« was also used here.)
Thinking along on the tennis court is often half the battle, in most cases even more than that. The additional costs are often included. That's why it drives me crazy, what rookie mistakes are made in the club player area. I don't mean the errors in the actual sense, nor the technical errors - those are another matter. No: Points lost due to mental inertia. Mistakes that would never happen with common sense and a little overview. tactical mistakes. As if sporting and intellectual activity were mutually exclusive.
The good old high ball on the backhand
Do you hate it when your opponent constantly annoys you with high balls? This might still play on your weak backhand? And do you feel lost when you have to go online - because you know from experience that you will soon be over-praised? Excellent: Your opponent feels the same way in most cases. So all you have to do is forestall him. That's exactly what this book is about. You will not find any technical tips in it - here I like to refer to existing works or a good coach.
This book is about sharpening your senses and using some logical thinking and understanding to always be one step ahead of your opponent. Believe me, it's not even that difficult. And at some point it will get stuck in your head that you don't have to think so much anymore, but automatically do a lot right. With the following tips, I want to try to reduce the typical weak points that rob you of your possible victories – and to uncover and mercilessly exploit those of your opponent. Of course, it doesn't hurt to practice individual ideas in training beforehand.
The main purpose of this book is to get you thinking. Just reading it is like "just passing the ball". And that's exactly what we want to avoid in the future.
#IMG2#
Scoring with tactics: The art of thinking about tennis was recently published. You can order it from Amazon , Thalia , Hugendubel or Copress-Verlag , among others. And of course at your trusted bookstore!
Here you can browse something.