Getting Back In Control Of A Tennis Match

Have you ever played a tennis match where you felt totally out of control?

You were trying to stick to your game plan, but no matter how hard you tried, you couldn't get back in control.

This feeling of not being in control typically manifests in anxiety, which further complicates the problem. Anxiety prevents clear, logical thinking needed for problem solving.

I recommend you read this excellent article on the need for control (opens in a new window). It will help you understand why we have this need and how the loss of control affects us.

Is there a way out of this? Can you get back in control?

Yes! By becoming aware of what's going on and employing smart play, you can get back in control of the match.

Note that the "sense of control" is not the same as having total control. You do not have total control of even one shot (you cannot ensure the ball will land exactly where you aim), let alone of the game, set or match.

In reality, you have total control ONLY of your chosen tactic (you decide whether you want to play to the backhand, but you cannot control whether the ball will actually go there) and your effort.

At every point during the match you can choose whether you give 100% effort or not.

Do not confuse giving 100% effort with being tired and not being able to perform at your best. You can still give 100% effort when you're tired, it's just that the outcome - the performance - will be lower than if you give 100% effort when you're not tired.

Getting Back in the Driving Seat

So, how do we get back that sense of control?

The first thing is, of course, being aware that you do not have much control in the match. That doesn't necessarily mean you are not winning points. Your opponent can move you around and create good opportunity to finish the volley at the net, but you manage to squeeze in a risky passing shot and you win the point.

You were not in control of that rally and in the long term, you'll be losing more than winning. So, while you may be winning some points, you may not be in control (sense of control!) of the happenings on court.

The key to getting back in control is breaking your opponent's rhythm and typical patterns of play.

If your opponent continually makes you run from corner to corner, for example, you can:

play a high moon ball
play a drop shot
approach the net
counter-attack, etc.

While it's nice if you also win the point doing that, your main objective is to CHANGE something. Force your opponent to adapt and get that sense of control back.

For example, when you play a drop shot, your opponent will have to run to that short ball; thus, YOU control how your opponent plays.

If you approach the net, YOU force your opponent to play the passing shot.

I hope you see what I mean: you are the one creating the plays. Again, these tactics may be risky and you may not win that many points. But remember, your first concern is to GET BACK your sense of control!

Without a sense of control, you feel lost and have no chance of winning in the long term unless your opponent self-destructs.

By taking control of points and forcing certain plays, you'll control what your opponent has to do. Serve and volley and chip and charge tactics are also great plays to use when you want to get back in control.

They force the opponent to come up with something extra that they didn't have to do when they were making you run from corner to corner.

How Pros Control the Game

It's interesting to note that not all pros try to control the game in the same way.

Aggressive players like Federer or Davydenko always look for openings. Counter-punchers like Murray, Simon and Nadal look more to build the points slower and are great defensive players.

In fact, I believe Nadal used to play much more passive tennis a few years ago and allowed his opponents to take control of the rallies, yet he was so good under pressure that he still won most matches.

See how Agassi controls this point. Agassi was in control of most of the points in the match, yet he still lost!

However, Nadal still lost all the big matches on fast courts against Federer, for example. Once Nadal became more aggressive and better controlled the rallies, he was able to beat Federer even on the fast grass of Wimbledon.

Andy Murray has also become more aggressive in the last two years and is looking to control the plays (by playing more aggressively) much more than he used to. This enabled him to reach his current #2 position (September 2009) in the ATP rankings.

But Murray, Nadal and Simon, for example, still don't control the match as much as Federer does (or Sampras and Agassi did) and yet they are still in the top 10 in the world.

In fact, they are able to control one important aspect of the game of tennis: they are able to neutralize their opponent by playing very deep and thus preventing their opponent from attacking.

While Federer controls the game by forcing someone into a defensive position (and gets a sense of control), Simon controls the game by keeping the ball and preventing his opponent from attacking (and thus gets a sense of control over the match).

Gilles Simon plays a different type of tennis compared to an aggressive baseline. He controls the game in a different way...

Again, we're not talking about total control because it's impossible to control the outcome of a rally. This is about seeming control of points and a player's sense of control.

Once you realize that each player wants to get that sense of control in the match, it's much more interesting to observe how players battle and use different tactics to get in control and prevent their opponent from doing the same.

Federer-Nadal match-ups are always interesting because Federer is looking more to attack and Nadal is looking more to neutralize.

In my opinion, the best matches happen when both players look to control the point with aggressive play. The Federer-Agassi US OPEN 2005 final was one of those matches where both players knew they had to get in control of the rally otherwise they'd have no chance.

One of the most aggressive tennis matches I've ever seen. Both Federer and Agassi look to attack as soon as possible in order to gain control of the rally and to prevent the opponent from getting in control.

In summary, having that sense of control is crucial for a player's self-confidence. The sense of control is a deeply rooted feeling of safety and security that we need at all times in our lives if we want to feel calm and focused.

While the outcome of the match is not under our total control, we can still have a sense of control.

If our opponent manages to play the game in such a way that we lose that sense of control, there are ways of getting it back.

The key is to play something new, change tactics and force opponents to come up with new answers. While you may not always win points doing that, you will force your opponent to play something new and thus you control what he plays.

That way, you can get back your sense of control, feel more calm and confident and eventually adjust again to your typical patterns of play, which in the long term will enable you to win the match.

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