Ticket Punchers

Marcus Paul Cootsona

Games, sets and matches all have crucial points.  Every point you make on the court counts of course, but the points in a match that close a game or save a game influence Mr. Score more than the others. 

For instance, if you’re serving to win a game or bring it back to deuce, or if you’re receiving with a chance to break, these are all critical moments in a match.  You need strokes and combinations of strokes that you can count on to settle the score in your favor.

We’ve all had the experience of leading a game 40–Love and then losing it.  Or leading a set 4–2 and then losing it.  And we’ve all had the experience of just losing it.  When this occurs, it’s tempting to say, “I don’t know what happened”, or “I choked”, or “The other person just started playing better.”  One or all of these may be true, but not one of them tells you how to play better the next time and win.  So how exactly do you win important points when you need to?  Because sometimes you really need to.

Plan to Win

It’s not uncommon for players up through the 4.5-level to lead a game on serve and end up losing it.  This is not only undesirable and positions you behind tennis’ hold-serve-and-break-a-couple-times power curve, but it is something that ideally should only happen to your opponent.  To consistently win matches at any level, you need to win the games you should win and probably a few of the others too.  Losing from a lead on serve is a sure way to make it a difficult day on the court.  But why does this happen?

There are a many reasons.  Sometimes your foe has a career outing.  He or she hits a bushel of majestic, singeing winners and comes from behind to break serve at inconvenient times.  Sometimes it may be simple nervousness.  Yours.  You tighten up and mishit.  But rarely is it strokes.  Most players have all the strokes they need to beat the opponent, they just don’t know how to order their strokes in a match for maximum success.  As John Cleese once said about good writing, “It’s not so much a question of the words, it’s more the order.” 

But often it’s a lack of a plan that turns the anticipated W into an unwelcome L.  If you don’t have a thought-out strategy for winning, it may happen or it might not, but you’re not completely in control.  Not just any old shot at any old time will do it.  You need to know how to set up shots you can make to win important points.

Not only does this strategy give you a simple plan to execute when you’re in the lead, it also relaxes you by giving your match mind something to focus on instead of the score or your queasy stomach or the elbow-immobilizing nearness of victory.  And there’s a bonus.  By executing a plan and seeing it succeed, you reinforce its effectiveness and build your confidence and drive down your nervousness.

So what exactly should you do?

Punch Your Ticket

Every player has shots they like to hit.  Hard, crosscourt forehands.  Slice backhand approaches.  Kick serves.  Drop volleys.  And shots they don’t like to hit.  If any opponent’s best strategy consists of finding what you don’t like to do and making you do it repeatedly, then your best strategy is to find what you do like to do and to keep doing it repeatedly.  So what you need to do is find what you like to do that works.  It may not be what you think.

Next time you’re out on the practice court, observe your game as a coach would and see what shots you like to hit.  Then chart the percentages of those shots and determine which of them also make points.  Some shots do both.  I call these ticket punchers. 

Maybe you clock high backhands up the line for astounding, routine winners.  Or close floaters at mid-court with opponent distressing regularity.  Or put up just-out-of-reach lobs.  You should use these shots whenever you can.  Some of your other shots may feel satisfying and look tour-worthy, but lack the consistency to be go-to point-enders. 

You may like your crosscourt forehand, for instance.  It may feel great when you connect.  But despite your warm feelings for it, it may not close out points.  On the other hand, you may like your inside-out forehand less well, but notice when you really analyze your game, it is a frequent point winner.  In this particular case, you have two options.  Either work on your crosscourt forehand until it is a devastating weapon, or instead, spend time finding ways to get in position to use your inside-outer.  And learn to like it better.

This is the essence of ticket-punching.  Find opportunities to hit your favorite, point-making shots, and don’t try to force winners out of the other ones.  And, yes, of course this is obvious.  It’s just that most players don’t set out to do it.  And they definitely don’t do it enough on crucial points.  It mostly just happens.  It’s great when it does.  But happy accidents don’t add up to a strategy.  The essence of winning with your ticket-puncher shots is to plan to use them.  And to plan on how you can get to use them.  This can be as simple as waiting until the chance to hit the shot presents itself.  Or, it can mean moving and adjusting your court position to create the shot you want.  Or, it may mean working the ball until your opponent gives you the shot.  All three methods work just fine.  It all depends on how active and aggressive you aim to be.

However, not all shots and not all openings are created equal.  To play winning tennis and move on through the draw or the league or the Calcutta, you need to pick your moments intelligently and know that not every moment is a put-the-ball-away moment.  But also that some moments beg for a putaway.  Winning tennis demands patience, planning and discretion.  And, often, matching outfits. 

While it’s true that if you’re up 40–Love or 40–15, you do have a point to give, and that this is a ripe time for trying something outrageous, it is also true that if you’re down 30–40, you don’t want to attempt an ace or a first shot winner, but instead spin a first serve in and wait for a good opening to hit a winning shot.  In other words, at match defining moments, work your way tactically into points and don’t attempt early-rally heroics.  When you need a point to finish things or claw your way back, no matter how enticing the opportunity is, don’t pull the trigger unless you can use one of your arsenal of ticket punchers.  Remember, there is pressure on the other player playing from a lead.  Let them feel it.  Make them hit a lot of shots, make them act impetuously.  Don’t do it for them.

Combo Plate

So not only do you need to know what shots work for you, then catalog them and use them to make points, you also need to develop combinations of shots that put those deal closers in play for the points that really matter.  And just as importantly, you need to know what combinations don’t put these shots into play. 

If you need to set up your inside-out forehand to win a crucial point, don’t serve in the ad court to a right-hander’s forehand.  It will most likely come back wide crosscourt to your backhand.  The inside-out forehand requires too much movement in this situation to be effective, or even possible.  Instead, hit the serve to their body and force a weak return to mid-court and hit your high-percentage winner to their backhand.  And, remember, the winner you’re hitting now is made possible by the set-up shots you just hit.  To consistently get the shot you want, you have to set it up.

Punch Your Ticket 

How does it all add up?

Keep physical and mental control of your game when you’re winning and especially when you’re losing.  Resist the temptation to try to hit hard and hit your way out of trouble.  These shots often bring on even bigger trouble.  Chasing a deep ball at full speed into the corner and rocketing a missile into six inches of open court felt great the one time it worked, but the truth is, it rarely works.  Except on SportsCenter.

Don’t be a hero.  Be a winner.  Manage the point and wait for the openings.  Keep the pressure on your opponent.  Know the score, but don’t focus on the score.  Focus on getting yourself into the right situation to make points with shots you can control.  Don’t try glory shots in tough spots.  Play to the plan.  Win with the plan.  Punch your ticket to the next round with the plan.

And as always —

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.