April 8, 2008 
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Singles Strategy - Reconsider the Paradigm Jim McLennan I have had the opportunity to work with both competitive and recreational players of every age and stripe - adults, juniors, novices, and nationally ranked players. In drills, practice sessions, league and tournament play, my observations generally concern the relationship between their practice habits and actual competitive play. Unfortunately, I believe there occurs an unfortunate disconnect between the two. That is, many players practice far better than they play and many players actually practice a form of tennis that is entirely different than what occurs in actual match play.
The professional game influences all of us, with its power topspins, big forehands from the backhand corner, and an emphasis on hitting the ball more than understanding the court. But more than that, the practices at nearly any level revolves most around hitting, that is, rallying back and forth from the backcourt. And certainly, with our highest level junior players, this hitting is generally ferocious. In nearly every instance, when asked about the best part of their games, these juniors unanimously answer, “My forehand.” But to my mind, the answer really is, “If I get my serve (or return) in play and can move comfortably to the center of the baseline, then my forehand is my best shot.” Unfortunately, that assumption overlooks the two most critical shots in the game of tennis – the serve and the return. So, the tactics and strategy of this model implies a winning strategy based on offensive forehand play from the backcourt. But what if the serve misfires? What if the opponent consistently serves to the weaker backhand side? What if the return of serve is so inconsistent that the opportunities to attack from the backcourt are few and far between? How can the big forehand overcome these concerns? Answer: The big forehand will not solve this problem. Improve the Serve and Return Want to win more matches? Improve the consistency and reliability of your serve and your return. Get to the point that the two best areas of your game are the serve and the return. Consistently putting the ball in play, as server or receiver, places enormous pressure on the opponent. Not from aces and return winners, but rather from the hard to measure but steadily accumulating aspect of no free points given, no double faults, and no return of serve errors. Interestingly, at the conclusion of any of our tournament matches, players routinely recall their incredible winners or unfortunate errors on the so called “big points,” but rarely do they ever consider (if even recall) the ebb and flow of momentum that swings due to poor service games or poor return games. So the simple concept of successfully converting the first swing in any point (serve or return) gets undue short shrift. So much so that if you have read this far you may think to yourself, is this all there is to this? Reader, yes this is all there is, but read on, if just for a little more. Consider the phrase, sometimes heard around the courts, and more often after a particularly disappointing match, “I have never played worse!” If a good server plays a poor returner, if a net rusher plays someone with poor defensive skills, if a player with a good backhand crosscourt plays an opponent with an inferior backhand, these and many more situations would lead to the “never played worse” comment. But, if a deadly consistent server/returner plays someone who relies on a steady stream of free points, unforced errors, and erratic play, then the absence of those free points (though this player may have never really conceptualized his own reliance on these freebies) will actually lead to the same phrase, “I have never played worse.”
Just that a few days ago at our club one of our players significantly improved her percentage of first serves and returns, against an opponent of similar skill but with less appreciation of this strategic paradigm. As the match wore on, the more consistent player got into each point without the undue stress reliance on pressure filled second serves. Consequently, the other became forced to play nearly every point on maximum offense. She had to win points because so few were being given away on the other side of the net. The current “factory” tennis model places between four to eight (if not ten) players on a court drilling groundstrokes from a pro who feeds them balls corner to corner. The juniors (or adults) wait in line to bang the ball then diligently move and hit. Sometimes, with four to a court, they endlessly hammer groundies from the back court. Perhaps this is a good way to get a lot of players practicing together, sometimes known as a competitive cluster. But in the final analysis, because of this training paradigm, there is no way to really focus on the nuts and bolts of the game – the serve and return. Consider Bill Tilden, world champion in the 1920’s, who advised simply playing five sets a day to practice for an upcoming event. In the five sets a day model, one would certainly come to understand the importance of a reliable serve and return. Simple Drills
The following are simple drills that may “hammer” home the simplicity of this concept. When practicing the serve, remember that all serves are hit with spin, that one is only as good as one’s second serve, and that first and second serves should be more similar in pace and spin than dissimilar. Set aside ten balls and count how many go into the court. Repeat this process again and again. Once your percentages improve, mark off the corners of the service box – out wide and up the middle in the deuce, and up the middle and out wide in the ad court – and once again count your percentages in every ten serve sequences. Second, find a practice partner who will serve to you, and repeat this process counting your percentage of returns in every ten shot sequence. Third, keep a 3 x 5 card in your tennis bag, and on changeovers note how many times you went in your pocket on the service game, meaning you had to reach for the ball in your pocket on the second serve, and equally note on that card whether holding or dropping serve. Interestingly you will find far more drops of serve when too many second serves had been hit, and more often than not, more holds of serves when few if any seconds or doubles were hit. Finally, use the same card to track your percentage of returns in any game. It is not surprising that your breaks of the opponent's serve generally occur when your returns were error free. Certainly, at the professional level all the men and women have reliable serves and returns, so this concept, though still applicable, becomes a little harder to measure. But watch closely as any set tightens to 5-4 or 6-5 and more often than not the break occurs from poor serving, and the hold occurs from poor returning. Simple as that.
Note – Davydenko has lost eleven times to Federer, and twice to Nadal, but this consistent top five player rarely if ever loses to players outside of the top ten. His consistency on first serve, 71% places him tied in fifth place overall in the Ricoh ATP match facts (the leaders serve at 73%) and his winning percentage on return of first serve of 36% (second place) and winning percentage on return of second serve of 56% (fourth place) clearly indicate to me that Nikolay values the importance of the first swing – he gets the serve and he gets the return in play. Might not be enough to beat Fed or Rafa regularly, but works pretty darn well for all the rest. (I should mention that Davydenko did make a breakthrough last week, beating Rafa Nadal for the Sony Ericsson Open title in Miami.) As always, we would love to hear from you! Questions, comments, personal experiences all create helpful dialogue for everyone! Please click here to send us your email.
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