I was watching a tennis match the other day and it suddenly occurred to me that it’s not just about hitting the ball well, or even shot selection, or tactics (push them to the back and then play a drop shot, run them from side to side and then suddenly hit the ball to the same side twice in a row, etc) – but it’s also about all kinds of mini-games, sub-games that are going on as well.
For example, even if you miss most of your drop shots, the fact that you MIGHT play one means that the other person can’t stay right back.
Or the fact that on your second serve you might go for a really fast one, and the fact that you DO occasionally, even if it means more double faults (and this is why even pro players DO sometimes play a double fault) it means that youir opponent can’t safely come in closer to receive your second serve and pulverise it.
So here are the sub games that I’ve identified, so far.
(Let me know if I missed some, I’m sure I have….)
Say you are at the net and they have hit the ball quite high, towards you, and you are 90% or 80% certain that the ball is going out, should you hit it or leave it?
Is it worth chasing a lob when you are highly unlikely to get it back?
To what extent should you conserve your energy? Should you push really hard to finish the game in 2 (or 3) sets, or conserve your energy jsut in case it goes to 3 (or 5) sets in the end?
Is it worth ‘tanking‘ a set? when you’re 4-1 down is it better to take it easy for a few games and let them win it 6-1 rather than fighting to get it to 6-3, when you’ll lose the set anyway.
How often should you come in to the net? There is a risk of being passed, but it worries the opponent, so you should do it sometimes but not every time, even if your win percentage is lower when you come in.
As discussed, how hard should you hit your second serve?
Should you serve to their stronger side occasionally, so they have to stand in a position where they can cover serves to either side, and they have to take a fraction of a second to see which sid eyour’e serving, every time you serve? And what proportion of the time should you serve to their stronger side?
Should you aim for the corner, and get a winner but risk missing, or play safe and aim for a few feet inside the lines, making it easier for them? Should you take more risks when you’re winning, or when you’re losing??
More generally, should you persist if something isn’t working. Say your backhand down the line just isn’t going in, should you quit trying, to keep going in the hope that it WILL start working for you. If you don’t do it at all they’ll know they don’t have to cover that part of the court….
…
I think all sports have tradeoffs like this, for example in football whether to push up and risk a counter-break, but with tennis it’s one on one, and you can see these little trends evolving, and you can see how one person handles them better than the other, you can see one person getting the upper hand and then perhaps losing it again – it’s like a slow motion boxing match. That’s why it’s so fascinating to watch.
