The General Psychology Of Tennis (Part 2)

By Gail Jones.

The hard-hitting, erratic, net-rushing tennis-player is a creature of impulse. There is no real system to his/her game, no comprehension of your game. He will make brilliant coups on the spur of the moment, mostly by instinct; but there is no, mental power of consistent thinking. It is an interesting sort of character.

The most unnerving player is the one who mixes his/her style from back to fore court at the command of an ever-alert mind. This/her is the player to study and learn from. He is a player with a definite purpose. A player who has an answer to every problem you present him in your game. He is the most subtle antagonist in the world of tennis. He is from the school of Brookes. Second only to him is the player of slavish determination that fixes his/her mind on one plan and adheres to it, bitterly, fiercely fighting to the end, with no thought of changing.

He is the player whose psychology is fairly easy to understand, but whose mental viewpoint is hard to upset, for he never allows himself to think of anything except the business at hand. This/her player is your Johnston or your Wilding. I respect the intelligence of Brookes more, but I admire the determination of Johnston.

Pick out your type from your own mental processes, and then work out your game along the lines best suited to you. When two men are on the same level concerning stroke, strength and equipment, the determining factor in any match is the mental standpoint. Luck, as it is called, is usually no more than seizing the psychological advantage of a change of flow in the game, and turning it to your own account. People talk a great deal about the "shots we have made." But few people realize the importance of the "shots we have missed."

The psychology of missing shots is just as important as that of making them, and at times a miss by an inch is of more value than a return that is killed by your opponent. Allow me to tell you why. A player drives you far out of court with an angle-shot. You run hard to it, and having reached it, you drive it hard and fast down the side-line, missing it by an inch. Your opponent is shocked and shaken, realizing that your shot might just as well have gone in as out. He will expect you to attempt it again and he will not take the risk next time. He will strive to play the ball, and may make an error. You have thus stolen some of your opponent's confidence, and increased his/her chance of error, all because of a miss.

However, if you had merely tapped back that ball, and it had been killed, your opponent would have felt increasingly confident of your inability to put the ball out of his/her reach, while you would only have been winded for no reason.

Let's just say that you had succeeded with that shot down the sideline. It was a seemingly impossible achievement. First it amounts to TWO points, in that it took one away from your opponent that should have been his/her and gave you one that you should never have had. Second it also worries your opponent, as he thinks that he has thrown away a big chance.

The psychology involved in a tennis match is fascinating, but easily understood. Both men start with equal chances. Once one player establishes a real lead, his/her confidence goes up, while his/her opponent worries, and his/her mental standpoint becomes poor. The sole objective of the first player is to hold his/her lead, thereby holding his/her confidence.

If the second player draws even or pulls ahead, the inevitable reaction occurs with an even greater contrast in psychology. There is the natural confidence of the leader, but coupled with the great stimulus of having turned a seemingly inevitable defeat into a probable victory. The reverse is the case of the other player, who is apt to lose confidence and play worse. The collapse of his game plan soon follows.

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