Business or Play?
Which of the two approaches to tennis match play do you take?

What are they? One is a businesslike approach and the other is a play-like approach.

Here is a story to illustrate the difference:

A player I teach hit a shot that drew his opponent out of the court. He approached the net, and his opponent barely got the ball back. To win the point, my player had only to hit an easy shot into the open court.

But he opted for a cute, angled drop shot, which he missed.

I asked him: "Would you play a shot like that on a match point?"

Player: "No, not on match point but maybe on some other point."

Me: "So that means that some points are important and some aren’t?"

Player: Thinking, but not sure about the answer to this question….

Me: "I know that every point I lose makes it harder for me to win the match. So why would I take unnecessary risk on any point?"

The reason is simple: they are playing. Not “playing” in the sense of “playing a match,” but “playing” in the sense a child “plays.” In this kind of play, you are just having fun, experimenting, testing your limits. You may even be trying to make your opponent look bad by having fun with him or her.

But playing and having fun is not the »percentage tennis« you must play to be your best. To be your best, you must take a businesslike approach. You have invested your time, money, energy and life into tennis. (I'm talking about competitive players.)

So, don’t play around.

For play, go to the movies with your friends. Play darts and video games. You can even play tennis on Sunday afternoons with your girlfriend. That's playing.

But competing in tennis isn’t playing — it's business. Therefore, do what’s necessary to maximize your chances of playing your best tennis (and consequently winning the match — but that is out of your control).

Let's go back to my player's situation.

Me: "If you treat tennis as business, you don't have to practice these cute angles. You will not use them. They are too risky. You will choose the most effective option and maybe have a Plan B (or even a Plan C)."

That's how you need to practice in training if that's how you want to play in a match. Otherwise, you may get some good short term results and lucky shots, but in the long run you are playing too risky, and the statistics will catch up with you.

Player: Thinks about it, nods his head, and then plays this situation a few more times, each time playing a "boring" shot to the open court and winning the point.

Now that he is aware of what is going on and the thought process is not subconscious any more, I leave the choice to him. If he wants to play instead of approach tennis like business, that’s OK with me.

Who am I to know what is the best for my player in his life? Perhaps he wants to compete in tennis for few years but his real passion is chemistry.

It’s his choice, because he is the one affected by it. So I have no right to make it for him. If I try to convince him that a businesslike approach is best, I may kill all the joy and excitement in him about tennis. Maybe it's better for him to lose some matches and enjoy the excitement of playing and trying new things.

Everyone is free to make their own choice.

My responsibility is to make players aware of their subconscious beliefs and ideas, leave their choices to them.

What do you think? Should we coach our players the way we think is the best for them, or we leave that choice to them?

Just fill in the form with your opinion, thanks…

Back from Business or play to Tennis Psychology

Back from Business or play to TennisMindGame.com