Reaching New Plateaus—The 1 Percent Solution

David W. Smith, Senior Editor TennisOne

If this were a year-end review for tennis, the headline would have to include some reference to the meteoric, yet unanticipated, rise of Novak Djokovic to the world’s top-ranked player. I say unanticipated because Novak had not really proven himself in the past to have the stamina—both physically as well as mentally—to sustain a competitive edge over his three fiercest competitors (Fed, Rafa, Murray) for any sustained period of time.

Let’s face it, three Grand Slam wins, seven additional ATP wins, two losses in the semis and one loss in a final, (retired), out of 13 events — I’d say that was a spectacular display of consistent dominance that we have not seen in a very long time, even by Federer, arguably the greatest player of our generation.

While admiration for a professional having a stellar year is great to talk about, mere mortal players can learn a great deal from the way Novak prepared for this opportunity and then succeeded within it.

As we look at this past year, Novak not only has been dominant in winning matches, he has been in the fire twice, facing two match points against Federer in two different tournaments, and in both cases, with his back against the wall, came up with two of the most impressive shots, given the circumstances, of his career.

Where does a player suddenly—or in a couple cases, “magically”—come up with shots that turn a match around? Is it luck? Is it magic? Is it fate? Or is it something that can be defined, practiced, and dare I say…expected?

One Percent

Kim Shanley, TennisOne founder and publisher, describes the concept of the “One Percent” solution (an old Aussie term) where a player identifies specific clues as to how to improve specific aspects of his or her game and achieve higher levels of skilled play by implementing a pattern of practice we call "Deliberate Practice."

As a teaching professional for nearly 35 years, and having been a successful high school coach for 28 seasons, I’ve seen how this concept of Deliberate Practice feeding the “One Percent Solution” has helped my athletes (adults and juniors) achieve individual greatness and helped establish my tennis teams as some of the most successful teams in the U.S.

I’ll talk a little more about the One Percent Solution in a moment. However, players who combine this work ethic of Deliberate Practice with what I call an Advanced Foundation, experience not only a steady rise in relative improvement, but are also more able to break through short “plateaus” as they reach new peaks of skilled play. In addition, I’ve seen where these practices or philosophies contribute not just high levels of play, but also to increased self-confidence that allows a great number of players, like Djokovic, to exhibit an uncanny ability to overcome adversity—sometimes at the most pressure-packed moments.

My late father, nationally recognized coach Bruce Smith, had a couple favorite sayings by the legend, John Wooden he liked to quote: “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail”; and, “I will get ready, and then, perhaps, my chance will come,” and, “If you do not have the time to do it right, when will you have the time to do it over?”

In the case of Novak Djokovic, he persisted, even in the face of criticism, to achieve greatness.

Now, obviously, we can’t all play like Novak Djokovic. We don’t have the time it takes, the physical attributes, or quite frankly, that kind of burning desire. But we can all improve by following Djokovic’s one percent solution. Those that choose to do so are the ones that separate themselves from the pack. And really, isn’t that why we play the game?

Deliberate Practice and the One Percent Solution

So how does this Deliberate Practice, Advanced Foundation, and One Percent Solution apply to the recreational or club player?

Improvement is not an unrelenting and steady path upward. All players, at various points in their development, reach personal “Plateaus” in their game—a place where they stagnate for a period of time. Obviously, some players break through these plateaus and continue to improve and reach higher levels of play (higher ‘plateaus, so to speak). So then what is it that prevents other players from moving up as well?

The problem for most players is a flawed foundation. Players who employ a flawed foundation will find they can climb only as high as those flawed stroke patterns will permit. This is why so many players fail to progress past rudimentary levels of play.

Relative improvement in a player’s ability to hit a tennis ball more “successfully” is usually seen early on when a player first begins playing the game. And, almost any technique will allow a player to eventually learn to time the swing, adjust the aim, and hit the ball so that it goes over the net and towards a desired area of the court. It’s been said before; there are many ways to hit a tennis ball. So even with the worst form possible, a player will experience some level of success within a fairly short period of time. However, this early success is only relative to the player’s initial inability to get the ball over the net and into the when he first started to learn the game.

It is at this point where so many find frustration. If the initial learning pattern is based on a faulty foundation, it becomes extremely difficult to progress much passed rudimentary levels of play. And once ingrained, making significant changes in stroke patterns later can be incredibly frustrating especially after players have begun to compete using those flawed or inadequate patterns. So clearly, learning tennis initially, based on an “Advanced Foundation” (by that I mean, the same stroke patterns all skilled players use) may be more difficult at first but offers an easier, more direct path toward higher levels of play.

Deliberate Practice is the idea of working very specifically on developing each specific part of a stroke, and working those parts in specific sequence. Deliberate Practice includes diligent focus on learning the grips, stroke patterns, and footwork patterns in addition to developing the timing and rhythm of each stroke.

So, when a player starts to understand this idea of both an Advanced Foundation and Deliberate Practice, they can start to see this concept of the One Percent Solution in action. Instead of looking for a fast fix or some sort of instant gratification as it might apply to tennis, those working within these two patterns of an Advanced Foundation and Deliberate Practice see a more steady rise in achievement.

Let’s face it, most skilled activities require learning difficult or unfamiliar patterns. From musical instruments to sports and other skilled activities, there are things that simply take time to master. Tennis is no different. It is a sport that includes a wide variety of skills.

Novak Djokovic first learned the game at a very young age. By the time he was in his teens, he had a world ranking that was somewhere in the mid 700’s. His coaches and parents all said he was “a natural” but that he worked very hard. Understand, as a coach for over 35 years, I’ve seen many “naturals,” however, not one of those “naturals” made it big in the game without working very hard within these concepts of Deliberate Practice and an Advanced Foundation. You don’t see Novak at fifteen using grips, strokes, or footwork patterns we commonly associate with 3.0 players. He was employing advanced grips, strokes, and footwork patterns from the age of six on…not because he was gifted, but because those patterns are what led to advanced play!

It isn’t rocket science here! If you play using strokes associated with 3.0 play, then most likely, you will play at the 3.0 level! Unless you change those strokes, you will most likely continue to play at the 3.0 level forever.

Establishing New Stroke Patterns

If you are a player who has languished at the 3.0 or 3.5 level for years, if not decades, and you want to explore higher levels of play, you must be willing to make changes to your game. And what better time is there to do this than now, at the beginning of a new year.

Much, like an alcoholic, the problem with change is that past ways always feels so “familiar, comfortable”…and like the alcoholic who has a drink after being sober for any period of time, those “familiar” feelings make it difficult to remain sober.

The tennis player is like that: if we learn inferior methods and then try to adopt new stroke foundations, the moment we get into a competitive situation, it often feels far more comfortable to revert to our old ways…even though we know they won’t ever permit us to move forward towards more advanced play.

This is where Deliberate Practice and even Deliberate “play” comes in. A player must learn to override any familiar patterns if they hope to master and own anything new.

A Zen Master once said, “You must first empty your cup before you can fill it with something new.”

Tennis players must commit to any new stroke fully and realize that, at least for a time, they will feel uncomfortable, and certainly, less confident with the new stroke elements.

One Percent Solution

It is human nature to seek out quick solutions in order to experience “success” as fast as possible. We suffer from the need for immediate gratification in our lives to the point that many people have lost the discipline to work hard for something.

Consider building a model airplane. Few kids today have the patience to build models, especially the balsa wood kind that takes time to cut out the pieces, sand, shape, and assemble, and then wait for glue to dry before trying to add to the structure.

Tennis players are now teased with just the opposite: “Learn tennis FAST” or “Quick Start” or “Learn tennis in twenty minutes.” Any of us who have achieved relatively high levels of skilled tennis know that these are fallacies. If we indeed wish to learn any skilled activity, we must go through processes of learning difficult movements related to that activity and putting in the hours of practice. 

Instead of looking at reaching skilled tennis as a goal that is easily attainable, students of the game need to look at the sport within this “One Percent Solution” instead.

Learn each aspect of the game and work to only gain one percent mastery each day or each practice. After one hundred days, chances are you will not only have mastered the aspects you are working on, but they will be ingrained so that they become “automatic.”

And that brings me back to Novak Djokovic and the one percent solution. Too often we look at plateaus as mountains to conquer – at the next level as a great barrier to overcome. However, that is not how Djokovic approached it. To get over on the top three players, he needed to improve by ten percent, but to Novak, this wasn’t as daunting as it seems. Instead, Djokovic made small improvements to each aspect of his game – one percent improvements, to his serve, groundstrokes, fitness, movement, etc. In essence, he made a one percent improvement to ten aspects of his game. Add them together and he had the ten percent he needed to reach the top. Based on an advanced foundation, when practice is deliberate, small improvements can lead to giant strides and increased confidence.

Djokovic no longer approached competitive matches with an “I hope I win” mentality. How many of you walk onto the court with apprehension or trepidation, a “fear” of losing, of performing poorly, or even a secret fear of winning? Yet, we often see players who are excited about playing, who look forward to the competitive opportunity, and who seem to shrug off losing a few points or missing a few shots as if they are meaningless?

In reality, those players who rarely get upset, or at least seem to not let mistakes get to them, are usually those who have worked within the One Percent Solution philosophy. To paraphrase the late, great John Wooden: those who work within this concept are indeed, “Ready,” “Prepared,” and “Have done it right,” to the point that when their opportunity comes, they succeed.

Conclusion

You can succeed too. There are no short cuts or quick fixes. Those are just marketing slogans. However, becoming a skilled player can appear, in the big picture, to be quickly accomplished for some. It is a little like the fable the Tortoise and the Hare…A player who learns within flawed patterns and tries to do it quickly will, in time, discover they have gone down the “wrong path” in their blind ambition to learn the game fast. They in turn will have to back way up and start again in some cases. And in so many cases, players who don’t follow the right path can become lost forever.

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Coaching Mastery

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Your comments are welcome. Let us know what you think about this article by emailing us here at TennisONE.

David W. Smith is the Director of Tennis for the St. George Tennis Academy in St. George Utah. He has been a featured writer in USPTA's magazine ADDvantage in addition to having over 50 published articles in various publications.

David has taught over 3000 players including many top national and world ranked players. He can be reached at acrpres1@email.msn.com.