String Theory

Marcus Paul Cootsona

Tennis, to quote Napoleon Dynamite, is a sport of "skills." Stroke Skills — Forehand. Backhand. Volley. Overhead. Serve. Return. Match Skills — The break-point shoe-tie. The bad call stinkeye. The let-cord hand-hike. And, of course, Movement Skills — First Step. Pursuit. Set Up. But the skill of skills is knowing when to move to the ball and when to move away from the ball. To score this one, there's String Theory for Tennis (patent pending.)

Don't worry, String Theory for Tennis sounds like complicated and obscure quantum mechanics, but it's actually straightforward and clear movement and positioning mechanics. String Theory in physics is one single theory to explain everything. String Theory for Tennis is one single theory to explain where to be when on the playing surface, and how to know when to be there: easier than abstract physics to get your head around, but harder to get your feet around.

Leveling Up

As you build your complete match game, you may be asking yourself:; How do I know when to move in to cover a short shot?; How do I know when to retreat on a deep shot, approach for a winner or just stay put and trade groundies?; How many points should I tank if I just get too far ahead? Who is that girl watching my match?; Face an array of opponents, their weird games and strokes, and over time your unconscious can direct how you move and when you move.; But the unconscious moves at its own pace.; Collecting this valuable match data can take years.; Who has the time?; Let's unlock a “cheat” right now and move up a level, shall we?

Framing the Work

A golf pro friend once said, “There are only two types of golfers — those who play for money and those who don't.”; In tennis, there's one other difference between the pros and the schmoes — Shot selection.; Sure, the pros get to blast screaming topspin missiles.; That's their job.; But the rest of us get to use more of the court and a bigger variety of shots.; Meaning what, exactly?; Meaning, for instance, in singles, the pros rarely volley or come to the net.; But we can.; And we should.

Watch the Pro Game on the TV and you may notice that there is precious little approaching the net going on. An early example of this was Steffi Graf.; Great strokes, world-class speed, but she rarely came forward.; She wasn't the first, but many have followed her.; Now, this is the dominant style.; And sure, there are moments when the net game wants to make a comeback, but like the Greek bailout, reports vary.; Basically, no pro player comes to the net unless there's just no baseline option.

In the Pro Game, there are sound reasons for this. 1) Fear Of Being Passed (or Hit) — Opponents have so much power off the ground, that it is challenging to hit an approach shot that will really put that opponent in trouble, and not allow them to hit the ball by you (or at you). 2) Backcourt Offense — The pros can hit winners from the baseline, so they don't see the need to come to the net to win points. And, 3) The Tides of Fashion — In other words, no one else is coming to the net, so why should I stand out? But that's the Pro Game.

In Recreational Tennis, the fear of being passed and the availability of offensive groundstrokes are basically non-factors. It's far more likely that an opponent will simply be personally offensive than offensive from the backcourt. This knocks out #'s 1 and 2 above. But, #3, The Tides of Fashion? — still an issue.

Recreational players want to emulate the pros. Instructors reinforce the idea, and so many players pin themselves and their prospects to the backcourt. But what about coming forward? Hmm? In the recreational game, coming to the net to close points at the right time is a powerful tactic that can produce a lot of easy scores. The offensive angles are steeper and winners more bountiful. And often just the sight of a player moving forward to the net can create errors from the other side. Sounds good, yes? So when is the right time?;

A Little Knowledge

Instructors, tennis writers, and even knowledgeable tennis minds advise that when you see the opponent's feet moving backward from the baseline or off the court on either side, then it's time to approach the net or put away the ball. Others say that hitting certain types of shots — approach shots, first volleys, half-volleys, deep angled groundstrokes, drop shots and lobs — actually force you to the net. I agree. But how do you know when it's the right time to make these shots? What's the rule? String Theory For Tennis is for those times when a move forward to approach or volley isn't obvious, and for those other times when you should just hit a defensive shot, recover, and hug backline — in other words, for those times when it's hard to tell.

The Theory

Here we go. Stay with me, 'cause it's about to get all theoretical. Imagine that you and your opponent are connected by a very long string. (So far, every bit as wacky as "real" String Theory.) This imaginary string not only connects you, it also helps to keep Player Personal Distance (PPD) on the court — that's the appropriate amount of distance between you and your opponent. To stay connected and maintain the proper PPD, the imaginary string should always be taut. Of course, if it's too taut, it will break. And if it's too loose, it won't keep you connected and it will stop working. This imaginary string will stay taut as long as you keep the same distance from the player on the other side of the net. That's the theory.

How Does the Theory Actually Work?

Simple. Let's say you and your opponent are trading bombs from the baseline. Let's also say you launch a line-to-line rocket that pushes him back two feet behind the baseline to respond. You don't want the string to break, so move into the court two feet. Now you not only keep the right string tension and have a better chance to reach his shorter response shot, you also get a head start on an approach shot and an at-the-net winner.

Or, let's say a shallow mishit lets your opponent move into the court by three feet. What do you do? Let the theory be with you. Move back three feet and respond to his shot. (And don't approach.) This is the guts of String Theory for Tennis. Stay aware of your opponent's position on the court and move in response to your opponent's movement.

The theory holds even when your foe shifts a small distance forward or back; maybe for balance or footwork reasons they don't even understand.; But why they moved doesn't really matter.; What matters is that you are staying awake and alert and ready, continually adjusting your position because of theirs. And that you are moving your feet between shots and working to set up early for each shot.; As they say, “foe-warned is foe-armed.”

What's the Theory Behind the Theory?

It's no secret (or is it?) that our eyes work better tracking an object like a tennis ball across our visual field (that is, from right to left, or left to right), than tracking an object coming at us. Everyday, players of all levels misjudge how shallow some shots will land on their side. Without a lot of data from matches, speed and depth movements and responses are often guesses. Players start late to get to a short ball, end up off balance and rush or flub their response shot.

With experience, mental telepathy or a high-end com link to your swing coach, you can tell from your opponents' body language, racquet position, contact, and swing speed where a ball will land: and whether it will be deep or short. But by using String Theory for Tennis, you have a simple rule to judge where the ball will hit on your side of the court; even if you can't visually tell its depth from how it's been struck.;

Calibrating the Individual

To make String Theory For Tennis work in match play, you need to decide for each opponent that you play on the optimal PPD for groundstroke rallies, volley to groundstroke exchanges and after-match socializing. Calculate your opponent's stroke depth for the first few games, observe how they move and how cordial they are, measure the PPD and then decide how much space you ideally want to have between you and your opponent. Once you figure this out, String Theory for Tennis can help you maintain that PPD on every shot of every point.

Since outside air temperature affects how high and how far a tennis ball bounces, this can alter your calculations also.; Some students say this sounds like an excuse.; Now there are excuses and there are explanations; the defining difference besides spelling being the amount of whining involved.; But physics is physics, as the philosophers say, and temperature has a big effect on ball bounce.; If the air temperature is between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit, the ball will bounce just as its maker intended.; At lower temperatures the ball flies shorter and deflects lower off the court surface.; So on cold or cold/damp days, your PPD will be shorter.; At higher temperatures, the ball travels farther and bounces higher off the court surface and the PPD will be greater. Even knowing this, start the match from your typical distance, observe how the temperature is affecting the ball flight that day and adjust the string.; If that doesn't work, try to finish the match in different hemisphere.

Measure Twice, Bounce Once

What about serves and returns? String Theory for Tennis plays here too. Computing the distance for serve return is different from groundstrokes and volleys, however. Here the speed of the opponents' serve will suggest your PPD from them. This will obviously take a few serve rotations to figure out. Sample the opponent's serve speed on first and second serves for a few games and then find the distance. After that, proceed thoughtfully. Many players can be very good at this skill on hard first serves, but get brain locked by a slow second serve. Just imagine that a slower second serve shortens the string and move farther into the court to return it.

In String Theory for Tennis, we strive for perfect tautness. This suggests that some positions can be too loose and some too taut. Too loose happens when you opponent moves back six inches and you approach by eight feet. Since you've relaxed the string and pushed yourself back to a defensive position, your opponent can now hit a shot behind you. Too taut is when the opponent moves forward two feet and you retreat by ten. And then, snap. By breaking the string connection, you have disturbed the balance you wanted to maintain and left yourself open to an easy drop shot. That's never fun. So fear the string.

For Every Action

But, wait. There's more. Here's a way to use String Theory as an offensive weapon. Vary your depth in the court on purpose and use String Theory for Tennis to confound your opponent and influence his shot. Roger Federer has developed his own, expert version of court positioning as a tactical weapon. Federer varies his baseline position in most rallies on almost every shot and puts the imaginary string in constant flux. He forces his opponents to continually adjust their own positions and expectations based on where he moves, or, if they don't, to be caught out of position. Praised repeatedly by commentators for his skill in turning defense to offense in the area of shot making, I think his elaborate, calculated baseline re-positioning is another, more subtle means to the same goal. So now, you can not only buy his racquet, shoes, and clothes, you can do this too.

What happens when an opponent charges forward, but chunks a too-short approach shot that forces you to approach, compressing or tangling the imaginary string? Fear not, there are exceptions to every theory, no matter how elegant, comprehensive or conclusive. (And this one, too.) This certainly is the case in a sport with as many physics principles in play on each point as the game of tennis. Advice in this case? Ditch the metaphor and get to the net immediately. After all, String Theory is just a theory. And the string is just make-believe. String theory is there to control your PPD to your opponent when you are both near the baseline. As soon as one player takes the net, cover the angles, look for the opponent's tells and play on! The string got you this far, now tie up your opponent with it.

A Little Practice Never Hurts

A professor of mine used to say, "All the theory in the world won't lift up one cup of coffee." And he's right, we tried it in class one day. To put this theory into practice, you'll need to practice it. Besides the stroke skills mentioned earlier, a court, a lot of new balls (always advisable; unless you play matches with old, skinned, disreputable ones), you'll want a willing partner and a little dramatic imagination. And here's what you do:

• With a racquet and no ball, you and a practice partner move as if there were a string connecting you. (In fact, use an actual string if you like. That'll get the other courts talking.) Notice where you end up on the court as you make various moves. Note what shots you need to add to your game to hit from the various forward and deep positions you find yourself in.

Then:

• Spend some practice time working specifically on these out-of-baseline shots – high, loopy recovery shots from a deep position, 3/4 court and 1/2 court approach shots, closing shots and mid-court volleys.;

• More generally, work on volleys and mid-court set up volleys, making sure to split step or stutter step as your opponent is about to make contact with the ball.; As one of my students says about coming to the net, “Balance over real estate.”

• Play a non-serve game like “21” and move in response to your opponent's forward and back adjustments.

Impartial Observer

Doing the thing is helpful and feels good and is the reason you're a player and not a coach, but it isn't everything.; Thinking about the thing may not be as good as doing it, but it also helps.; These are a few ways to use your tennis brain to help your tennis body.

• Live or on TV or on their Dubai practice court, watch the pros and their court position during baseline points.; Notice when they move in response to their opponent's movement and when they don't.; See what results.

• Hang out at the club or at the local courts and watch some recreational players and their court position during baseline points.; Notice when they move in response to their opponent's movement, when they just move without a good reason, or when they don't move at all.; Decide which works best and consider using it in your game.

• Have a friend video one of your matches and then watch your own footwork for the same things.; Check your set up, posture, hair and clothes as you review the tape.

Nothing Succeeds Like Good Press;

The net-net?; The Theory has succeeded in practice if you come forward to the net just a few more times during each match, or even if you're simply aware that you need to.; (Recognition is the first step, after all.);

Parting thoughts?; Play some matches with String Theory in your mental game and let me know at how it works for you.; In the meantime – Practice often.; Play well.; Have fun.

Your comments are welcome. Let us know what you think about Marcus Paul Cootsona's article by emailing us here at TennisOne .

Marcus Paul Cootsona

Marcus Paul Cootsona is a teaching professional and author of Occam's Racquet – 12 Simple Steps To Smarter Tennis. Contact him at: marcuscootsona.com.