Conditions!
The environment has it way with the performance of the top tennis players. Sun, wind, temperature, and humidity all affect the play of tennis matches.
The experience in coping with these conditions is valuable to the top competitors. They see the condition and use the condition to take advantage of the opponent’s weakness. Tennis is a game of errors with 85% of points in tennis lost as a result of error. The 15% left over is the winning shots earned through execution. The challenge in performing well in match play is to not let the conditions become another opponent.
The mental edge is through experience and understanding how to adjust to the situation. The best example would be the wind is difficult for most players. The shots that work best in this condition are lobs and drop shots. The wind stops the ball on the drop and pushes the ball down with very little forward movement. The lob becomes impossible to strike in the air due to the inconsistent movement while in flight. The sun makes it impossible to see at certain times of day to perform the overhead smash. Players find that when lobbing with the sun in the opponent’s eyes presents you with great chances of winning the point. The loud noise of the planes flying over during points distracts the concentration. The reason for this explanation of conditions is to understand that courts are not all alike. The courts are generally all the same dimensions 60 by 120 with some of the courts with bigger backdrops.
The challenge is that about every 5 years if the court has been taken care of, it is resurfaced. The amount of grit or sand that is placed into the mix determines how slow or fast the court will play. This situation of court speed killed Greg during a recent match. The court was slow and I have been working with Greg on attacking the net. The challenge is to be able to realize the slow court and attack selectively. Greg keeps getting passed and could not understand that the court was slow allowing the opponent time to set-up and pass. Greg tactic was fine for a normal medium speed court or fast court; but for a slow court this was death to the net player.
This is why Sampras always loses at the French Open. The court Greg was playing on looked great because it had just been resurfaced. The club had the court make slow with lots of grit or sand for the members. The other courts that the tournament play was conducted on were fast. Greg just happens to get the new slow court. The normal thing for players is to practice on the court before the tournament. Greg had warmed up on the fast court thinking the condition was consistent throughout the club. This sort of confused the game plan of attacking the net to win with volleys.
The experienced player would have adjusted his game to fit the condition of the court. The young Greg was following the game plan we had put together for the up coming match. The best style of play for this condition is baseline to baseline with few trips to the net. The first set was 6-2 with the opponent in control of the match the whole time. The challenge was to have Greg realize that the plan was not the problem, but the style of play. The second set started out with Greg following the plan and he lost his serve quickly. The next few games Greg decided to change from attacker to retriever and see how the guy liked steady play. Greg’s patience started to win points and seemed fine until 3 all. Then Greg being the good student went back into his game plan of attacking the net.
This game will win a lot in the later stages of his career and when he matures physically. This is the reason coaches teach the game when there 12-14years old. The key is lobs and high shots get over a 13 year olds head without too much trouble. The change in style ended the match with a 6-3 win for the opponent. This was not a bad loss for Greg in that the score was 6-2, 6-3 it was that his abilities were as good if not better that the opponent.
The condition was right for the opponent and the game plan for Greg and that is what cost him this battle. The process of education and experience continue to be are greatest teachers. The next time he will be ready