Waking Up From Your Worst Nightmare

Greg Moran

As the summer winds down, USTA teams across the country are competing in their year-end championships. Recently, one of our 4.0 teams returned from their sectional tournament, dejected after a losing weekend. When I spoke to the team members about the matches, they all said the same thing, "The other teams were very solid and we made way too many unforced errors. We beat ourselves!"

Assuming sound technique, unforced errors come from either a mental lapse or an attack of the “too much disease.” We try for “too much” of an angle or “too much” accuracy by aiming for the lines. In today’s world of power tennis, a vast majority of unforced errors come from trying to hit the ball with “too much” power.

In the eyes of many, big shots and “winners” are what make the champions great. We’re inundated with statistics that tell us how many winners Serena hit in her latest victory or what speed Andy Roddick’s 25 aces averaged. The subliminal message here is that to be a better player you need to hit more powerful winners. As a result, there are thousands (millions?) of players believing they’ll move up the level ladder only when they’re hitting harder and ripping winners past their opponents.

Though power and winning shots are certainly an aspect of tennis, the fact is, unless your name’s Rafa, Roger, or Serena, the vast majority of your matches will be determined by which player (or team) commits the fewest errors.

Pros understand the importance of quieting the mind, between change-overs, Vera Zvonareva, sits with a towel over her head to filter out distractions.

With that in mind this, and my next, article are going to focus on the “error” aspect of tennis. First I’m going to show you how to minimize your own errors, then I’ll give you some secret shots to use in your next match that will help you lure your opponents into beating themselves.

Before we get started, you must understand that, though big shots and winners are certainly sexy, over and above everything else, tennis is a game of errors. I’ve written many times that studies show that over 80% of all points played end with someone committing an error.

So, your first step is to make a paradigm shift: think of your tennis not in terms of “how soon can I go for a winner” but rather “How can I reduce my errors?” Here are six proven strategies to get you started.

Get Your Head Together

For many players, their toughest opponent resides not on the other side of the net but in the three inches between their ears. I call this opponent the "Tennis Devil" and his mission is to mess with your mind. When the Tennis Devil rears his ugly head, here are a few of the things that can happen:

• You get distracted
• You change your mind as are about to swing the racquet
• You become afraid: of the opponent, of losing the match, of looking bad, etc.
• You become emotional

All can cause you to lose your focus on the ball and lead to unforced errors.

You can keep your Tennis Devil in check by making a commitment to improve your focus and managing your emotions. This is done by taking control of your thoughts and inner voice. For some tips, see my previous TennisOne article titled “Conquering Our Inner Devil.”

I’ve found meditation to be a tremendous help in calming my mind both on and off the court. No, I don’t sit in some contorted position, burning incense and chanting a mantra. I set aside time each day, when I know I won’t be disturbed and, through a variety of techniques, quiet my mind.

One of the primary goals of meditation is to still the mind and bring it into the “now.” For the tennis player, the “now” means focusing on each individual shot and point as they come up. Not dwelling on the last point or worrying about winning or losing.

Another term for the “now” would be the “zone.” We’ve all had those moments where we’ve entered the “zone.” We’re relaxed, the tennis ball seems the size of a basketball and we play our best, relatively error free tennis.

Meditation has calmed my mind tremendously as it has for professional athletes including Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and, believe it or not, John McEnroe. It will help you as well. Amazon and the Internet are great sources of information to help you get started. I personally like Jon Kabat-Zinn. He’s written several fabulous books including “Wherever You Go, There You Are” and “Full Catastrophe Living.” Both offer great tips on beginning meditation.

Slow Down

Bigger, faster, harder and, of course, more racquet head speed. These are the buzz words in today’s game. Armed with high tech racquets and power strings, millions of players take to the court locked, loaded, and ready to fire away. As ball after ball flies off their frame and lands everywhere but in the court, they repeat the mantra that’s been pounded into them: “more racquet head speed.” God, do I hate that term!

I find that, when players are told to generate more “racquet head speed” to achieve greater power, they automatically swing their arms harder. Sure, the racquet head moves faster but, because they’re swinging so hard, the muscles in their hands, arms and shoulders tense and their strokes go off their smooth path.

Plus, these players are often trying to incorporate the latest “modern” technique (i.e. the buggy-whip or the windshield wiper forehand) to add even more pace or spin. The combination of more “racquet head speed,” and “modern” technique, frequently results in the player’s racquet face moving all over the place. For the player to make solid contact with the ball under these circumstances is a real challenge and the unforced errors mount at an alarming rate.

Your initial goal with every swing of the racquet is to achieve solid contact with the ball. Consistency, control, and yes, even power begin with solid contact. This comes from good timing and a controlled racquet face. Solid contact is seldom achieved by a fast, whip-like swing.

If you’re one of those big swingers who mis-hit every third groundstroke, slow down! I tell my players to prepare their racquets as quickly as possible so that they’re waiting for the ball to arrive. Nothing innovate there, however, as they swing, I tell them to actually move the racquet a bit slower through their strike zone. Not slow, but slower than they have been.

Not being a big fan of the windshield wiper and buggy-whip forehands, I also suggest they swing longer through the strike zone, keeping the strings facing towards the target. I find that both of these tips dramatically cut down on mis-hit and over-hitting errors.

Don’t misunderstand me: I don’t want you to go to the other extreme and just poke or push the ball over the net. Use your normal stroke but forget about racquet head speed and move your arm a bit slower. As your timing improves, and solid contact becomes more frequent, I think you’ll find that both your levels of consistency and yes, power will increase.

Stay Away From the Lines

Forget about emulating the pin-point accuracy of the stars of the pro tour. They’ve had years of practice and hit millions of balls (not to mention world class athleticism) to be successful with that style of play.

As I wrote in a previous article “Great Shot, Don’t Do It Again,” when we hit a ball that kisses the line, it’s not a “great” shot, it’s a “lucky” shot. Sorry, if I’m bursting any bubbles out there but my goal is to help you play better tennis and shooting for the lines will bring you far more pain than pleasure over the course of a long match.

Aim your shots 3-4 feet inside the baseline and sidelines and you’ll reduce your errors dramatically. Pick targets around the court (well inside the lines), hit for them and you’ll be amazed at how often your opponents will self-destruct. Let your opponents go for the high risk shots and have their moments of brilliance. You play solid, percentage tennis and win the match.

I can't stress this enough, unless your playing in a televised match, on a stadium court, where the winner gets a ton of money, stay away from the lines.

Use More Spin

Spin enhances control so adding topspin to your groundstrokes will let you take a longer swing, aim higher over the net (at the club level, most errors are made by hitting into the net), and still keep the ball in the court. When faced with those awkward low, short, or wide balls, adding slice to your shot will allow you to lift the ball over the net

Spin is also great when serving. The world is full of players with, the “boom and plop” serving strategy. You know the type: they toss the ball in the air, swing as hard as they can, hoping to get an easy point with their “huge” serve. The problem is that their “huge” serve seldom goes in the court. They’re then faced with an underdeveloped “plop” second serve which an experienced opponent will eat for lunch.

Instead of going for serving glory, put your “huge” serve in moth balls and use more spin, particularly topspin, on both your first and second serves. This will enable you to safely clear the net and get the point started. Plus, if you’re a serve and volley player, a spin serve travels slower through the air than a flat ball which means you have more time to move towards the net.

Remember, your goal when serving is not to blow the opponent off the court. It’s to put 70% of your first serves in play, move the ball around and keep the receiver off-balance. This is much more effective than the occasional world class ace and easily accomplished through the use of spin.

Your opponent missed his first serve and your eyes widen. His second serve is a cream puff and you’re going to make him pay. You move a few steps to the side, telling him he has to serve to your forehand. He tosses the ball and you’re ready to pounce. You grip your racquet a little tighter and, with your non-racquet hand, quickly wipe the foam away from your mouth. As the serve slowly floats over the net, you charge forward take a huge swing and …hand him the point with a supersonic, impressive sounding, unforced error that caroms off the back fence.

A weak second serve is one of the most tempting shots in the game. It’s soft, it’s slow, and players figure they should be able to end the point with one big swing. It’s also one of the shots that bring the most unforced errors. Believe it or not, I’ve actually had players that have a balloon ball second serve, refuse to develop a stronger serve because they win so many free points with it.

Former Davis Cup captain Tom Gullikson says that the most important thing to remember when returning serve is not to “give your opponent’s any roses.” Roses being:

Gully’s right! Whether you’re receiving serve in a 3.0 league, center court at Wimbledon, or somewhere in between, your first goal is to get the ball back in play and make your opponent hit the next shot. Now, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take advantage of your opponent’s weakness. A weak serve is definitely an opportunity to attack, however, “attack” doesn’t mean tee it up.

The next time you’re handed the gift of a second serve, shift your brain into offensive mode but focus more on consistency and placement than power. First and foremost, get the ball in play. After that, focus on these tactical options.

1. Return the serve cross-court and deep and begin to dictate play.

2. Use your return of serve as an approach shot: return down the line (cross-court if playing doubles) and follow it to the net.

3. If you’re playing doubles and the server follows his serve to the net, aim down at his feet. Force him to volley “up” at which point you, or your partner, can move in to aggressively volley the high return.

You’ll notice that nowhere was the word “power” mentioned. You don’t need it to be aggressive. View your opponent’s second serve not as a time to win the point outright but rather an opportunity to take control of the point.

When in Trouble, Swing Up

I’ve saved this, my most important, error-reducing, tip for last. Every day, I watch players, caught off-balance, with the ball on top of them, try to rip a winner. It’s a panic move and more often than not, they drive the ball into the bottom of the net, handing the opponent the point.

High level players immediately recognize when they’re out of position (either relative to the ball or the court) and understand that trying to be aggressive in that situation is a recipe for disaster. They simply “swing up,” hit a nice high deep lob and try to restart the point.

The next time you feel off balance or are struggling to return an opponent’s shot, resist the urge to blast your way out of trouble. It won’t work! Instead, say to yourself “swing up.” If you can ingrain this concept into your tennis mind, I predict you’ll immediately cut your unforced errors in half!

Don’t be fooled by the hype: taking your game to the next level does not mean hitting bigger shots and blowing your opponent off the court. Winning strategy #1, at every level of the game, is “don’t beat yourself.” Unfortunately, this is what frequently happens as many matches deteriorate into a race to see who can make enough errors to lose first. That’s one race you don’t want to win.

Cut down on the number of your errors and then you can begin to devise strategies to lure your opponents into point ending mistakes. We’ll dig into that in my next article.

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

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