Don't overthink comebacks!

Don't overthink comebacks!

by Kevin
(Jensen Beach, FL)

So I was practicing with a friend of mine the other day and we decided to play a nice competitive set. Well about thirty minutes into the set I found my forehand flying, my serve faulting, and my backhand meeting the net.

Don't even talk to me about my volleys. Anyway, I fell into a love-5 hole and not feeling to good about the general situation.

On the changeover I pretty much conceded the set in my mind but I didn't want to go out with a humiliating bagel. So I started focusing more on tracking the ball and reliable placement and trying to slow down my stroke just a tad and what do you know after a few deuces, I broke his serve.

My next service game I won surprisingly easily compared to how hard I was working in previous games.

Pretty soon I could see the confidence in my friend start to drain. He started making more errors and double faults while I was playing pretty consistently.

After a while of this, I found my self ahead 6-5. And then I did the dumbest thing possible, I thought. I just let my guard down a little and he took the next game a love. Into the tiebreak, I started tightening up and found myself at 6-2.

I started relaxing a little more and focusing and rallied off five points in a row, the last being a scorching ace on the short sideline. After facing and saving about seven or eight match points I finally had one of my own.

It was on his serve and he hits a pretty simple moderate pace, middle of the box serve and I whale on it and of course it sails into the fence, not even close. I make an error on the next point trying to bring back the match opportunity and on the next point my friend hits a line to secure the match.

Well, what I took away from the match is to try not to think about who is ahead or behind but to look to the next point. I think that's one thing about tennis that makes it different from any other sport, unlimited comeback chances.

You can't lose until your opponent wins that match point It can be 6-0 5-0 40-Love and you still have a shot.

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Don't overthink comebacks!

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Mar 06, 2008
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The uncertainty of tennis
by: Tomaz

Excellent story, Kevin!

And of course the exactly right thing you learned. It's not over till it's over.

Just next point...

Just next point...

...

Mar 09, 2008
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The eyes and 8-9 or 10
by: Ken DeHart

Imagine you have an hour glass in front of you. The top of the hour glass is the person who is winning and only one or two grains of sand get through the middle of the glass at a time.

On the bottom is all the sand that has fallen - can't hit, playing poorly, never lost to this person before, he is playing so lucky and etc. At some point you realize that time is about to run out. Now instead of all the disconnecting thoughts you decide upon a strategy - go to the net, lob every ball, hit every ball down the middle and etc.

The player on top will suddenly realize that time is about to expire and he is on top. He has never beaten you, he can't wait to tell his friends, he will now be in the next round of play and etc.

Suddenly the hour glass has been turned. The player on the bottom has forgotten all the disconnecting thoughts and now has only one thought. The player who was on top now has all the disconnecting thoughts.

This is how a match will normally flow. When I realize I am about out of time and ready to lose the match, my focus will change to one thought. Since I have now accepted that I could lose I begin to focus on one thing only and the one who is ahead will have many thoughts knowing they could win.

As you mentioned, the eyes are the key. If you can see the ball rotating as it comes to you, your mind will become quiet and things will slow down in your mind. A good game to play with yourself at this point is "yes" or "no". After you have contacted the ball, say "yes" if you were able to pick up the rotation of the ball before contact and you had previously selected a target for you shot before the ball bounced on your side of the court.

We call this, "paying attention to attention". If you could evaluate your attention level after a shot and it was at 8-9 or 10 on a scale of 10 you would have excellent "attention" and a relaxed focus of mind.

You can also focus on "paying attention to tension" or how tight you are gripping your racquet and the tension level of your body. This should be about level 2 or 3 on a scale of 5.

Some of the uniques aspects of tennis is that there is no time limit, it is one of the only sports where the opponent calls the lines, and one of the few sports that makes you start at 0 or even at half time. All the success you had in the first set goes back to zero for the secon

This is one of the many "treasures" you will learn and re-learn as you learn to love the game.

Ken DeHart
PTR and USPTA Master Professional
USA High Performance Coach and Student Love of the Game

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Mar 09, 2008
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Submitted by: Ken DeHart

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Imagine you have an hour glass in front of you. The top of the hour glass is the person who is winning and only one or two grains of sand get through the middle of the glass at a time. On the bottom is all the sand that has fallen - can't hit, playing poorly, never lost to this person before, he is playing so lucky and etc. At some point you realize that time is about to run out. Now instead of all the disconnecting thoughts you decide upon a strategy - go to the net, lob every ball, hit every ball down the middle and etc. The player on top will suddenly realize that time is about to expire and he is on top. He has never beaten you, he can't wait to tell his friends, he will now be in the next round of play and etc. Suddenly the hour glass has been turned. The player on the bottom has forgotten all the disconnecting thoughts and now has only one thought. The player who was on top now has all the disconnecting thoughts. This is how a match will normally flow. When I realize I am about out of time and ready to lose the match, my focus will change to one thought. Since I have now accepted that I could lose I begin to focus on one thing only and the one who is ahead will have many thoughts knowing they could win. As you mentioned, the eyes are the key. If you can see the ball rotating as it comes to you, your mind will become quiet and things will slow down in your mind. A good game to play with yourself at this point is "yes" or "no". After you have contacted the ball, say "yes" if you were able to pick up the rotation of the ball before contact and you had previously selected a target for you shot before the ball bounced on your side of the court. We call this, "paying attention to attention". If you could evaluate your attention level after a shot and it was at 8-9 or 10 on a scale of 10 you would have excellent "attention" and a relaxed focus of mind. You can also focus on "paying attention to tension" or how tight you are gripping your racquet and the tension level of your body. This should be about level 2 or 3 on a scale of 5. Some of the uniques aspects of tennis is that there is no time limit, it is one of the only sports where the opponent calls the lines, and one of the few sports that makes you start at 0 or even at half time. All the success you had in the first set goes back to zero for the secon This is one of the many "treasures" you will learn and re-learn as you learn to love the game. Ken DeHart PTR and USPTA Master Professional USA High Performance Coach and Student Love of the Game

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Mar 21, 2008
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Unlimited comeback chances
by: Walter

Great story!
I use in my teaching the same filosophy.

"Every shot is a new chance to do it right this time"

Mar 23, 2008
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We can't save time in a bottle.
by: Anonymous

I liked Ken's phrase: Pay attention to attention.

My "thought of the day" for today is related to moving on from one moment to the next.

Good moments and bad are things that contain what we think of as good and "not so good."
We cannot put the goods ones in a scrapbook or a bank. - Each one is gone and all we can do is have a "funeral" for each one - where we look for the good and seek to find acceptance and perhaps value in what we may not like so much.
"Good times, or bad, their the only times we have, so we may as well enjoy them as much as we can."

Completing this note and sending it will be about the 57th funeral I've celebrated in the last 90 minutes. :-)

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Don't overthink comebacks!

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