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TennisOne Lessons 
How to Prevent Failure after Success David W. Smith, Senior Editor TennisOne We see it all the time, and most of us have experienced it. Yet all we can do is shake our heads: You know what I mean — you hit an ace and immediately follow it up with a double fault. Or you crack the perfect return of serve only to badly miss the next three. So why do we execute a great shot one moment only to fail on the very next attempt? How do we go from near perfect execution to cosmic failure seemingly in the blink of an eye? Psychological Effect
Whenever we execute a great shot, our ego says, “Hey, I can do that again!” Our confidence might also suggest to us that we are obviously capable of executing great shots simply by the representation of the great shot we just hit. Let me first say that for most people, great shots are more the exception than the rule in tennis. Just compare the number of winners to unforced errors among any club, recreational, or high school tennis match! Even at the pro level, the number of unforced errors can be greater than the number of winners. And this may be true even for the winner of a match. So, unless your name is Djokovic or Federer, it should be obvious that you can not go for winners on every ball. Those who do are in for a world of hurt…and a quick exit. Not only are you going to miss a great number of these potential winners simply by rules of statistics, many defensive players are going to block, run down, and manage to get a number of these shots back, forcing you to attempt several winners in a row. It would probably be accurate to say that winners struck by most 3.0 or 3.5 level players can often be labeled “lucky” far more than skilled. However, these players, upon hitting such a ‘lucky’ shot, want to prove to themselves and the world it wasn’t lucky and they end up trying the same shot again. … and again. Serve The serve seems to be the most prone to this sequence, that is the ace/double fault syndrome. Often a player hits an ace and is given a shot of confidence, subjective though it may be. They move over to the other side to serve again and with this boost of self-confidence, blast that first serve once more…only this time they miss by a mile.
Now the player immediately feels pressure: If they double fault, they know they have compounded the problem of missing the first serve badly. And giving a free point away following the free point they just won with the previous ace negates any value the ace may have provided. A lot of pressure here even if it is self inflicted. This added pressure makes the server abbreviate the serve to try and avoid a double fault. I think we all know what this usually makes us do: Double Fault! Present Focus Any time we focus our mind on trying to replicate a great shot or an ace, we move from what I call present focus to future focus. We are looking to repeat what we just did instead of focusing on where we want the ball to go, what spin we are trying to achieve, and the overall direction we want the ball to take. Future Focus also explains many times why we warm up so well only to play some of our worst tennis when the match actually begins. Warming up, we are loose, we see the ball clearly, we are not consumed in the least about the score, because there is no score in warm-ups. As soon as a match starts, we want to win. (Future Focus) We don’t want to lose. We are focused on the outcome — the accumulation of points instead of the point we are playing. Ever notice a match completely turn around? Ever see a team or a player down love four or even love five and suddenly the match momentum swings 180 degrees? A player winning can suddenly become future focused, looking to close out a match they are up four-love in, or looking towards their next match perhaps. A couple points lost and suddenly they are thinking, “I can’t blow this huge lead!” And, yet, that is exactly what they do. They become consumed with the future potential of blowing a big lead! And this happens more frequently than you might think — even at the pro level. This future focus is why it is sometimes so difficult to serve out a match. Past Focus It is not uncommon to see players take themselves completely out of a match after missing just one or two shots. They focus on the past — on shots missed, or winners stuck by an opponent. They are often still thinking and even still talking about a missed shot or opportunity many points or even games later! Mentally, we become judges of our past shots. Even after hitting great shots we judge ourselves (in this case, usually far better than our skills warrant). However, more often, we judge ourselves negatively since we tend to hit more errant shots than good ones and, the nature of the beast being what it is, for most of us, somehow it's easier to be self-deprecating than it is to give praise to our opponent.
Either way, when we focus on anything we have done in the past and let it move our mind away from present, we tend to risk making more mistakes in the process. Watch Roger Federer. Can you tell if he is winning or losing in any given match? Typically, Roger seldom is moved in either direction: neither negative nor overly positive. It is almost like he plays as if he knows what the outcome will be. Even when behind, he seldom unravels, almost as if he knows he is going to come back and win. Bjorn Borg was the same way, rarely changing expression or showing emotion during a match. Compare Federer and Borg to most of the other pros, those who make a huge deal about winning a specific point with an explosive “Come on!” or a wild fist pump or other expression of excitement. To me, those actions are open invitations for failure. The higher a player gets emotionally, the faster such emotions can swing the other way. This is because emotions tend to be based on past events. No one has been able to pinpoint any one solution or magic bullet to tap into playing our best tennis or how to overcome momentum shifts completely. However, there are ways to keep from falling into traps or sabotaging your chances to play your best. Recognition First of all, you must recognize your true level of playing abilities. Making a couple great shots does not make one a great player, consistently making great shots does. The important thing here is to “Play within yourself.” I have always told my students to never try to ace an opponent two times in a row. Just the opposite, follow an ace or a big service winner with a three quarter speed first serve. Don’t risk missing the first serve after an ace and have all that added pressure put right back on yourself. Work to play percentages and make your opponent have to do something with the ball after a great shot. In other words, make it about them. Hit and Hold, is a favorite phrase of mine for many reasons. It helps players hit with a more repeatable, reliable swing path, it helps them to maintain balance during the stroke, and it keeps them from overhitting. When a player knows they have to hold their finish for a brief moment, they can’t swing beyond their means. It is like a “governor” on a vehicle, keeping it from going too fast and preventing the driver from losing control. Hit and Hold also makes the player focus on the stroke more than the outcome. This helps players play more in the present focus state than if they swing and have no defined finish point of their stroke. Watch the Spin A friend and former nationally ranked junior, David Ranney has written a new book called, “Play ZEN-sational Tennis.” David was trained in part by the author of Inner Tennis, Timothy Gellway. One of the big things that David talks about is looking for the spin of the ball after the ball bounces on your side of the net. This allows the player to naturally focus on the ball rather than the outcome of the shot. Scott Ford, another great teaching pro also has what is called, Parallel Mode Processing, an important sounding name for a very basic and very important process of bringing your eyes’ focus on the ball. I’ve seen both Scott’s and David’s methods work wonders in players as well as in my own game. Conclusion The point is this: you need to make sure you create the opportunity to focus on the point you are in. You are not going to win all the points. However, how you react to a previous point or how you begin to look forward to future results, will greatly determine how well you will respond in the very next point you play and subsequently, in the match. Your comments are welcome. Let us know what you think about Dave Smith's article by emailing us here at TennisOne .
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