Winning Ugly: Mental Warfare in Tennis--Lessons from a Master

by Brad Gilbert

You can improve your tennis game fastest and the most if you improve the way you think; if you work as hard on your mind as you do on your strokes.

In fact, here’s a little tip: If your opponent is consistently hitting winners with a big serve, the solution is simple: Just take one step back from where you had been standing to receive the serve. You’ll like the results.

The lesson? Work on holding your serve and to do that practice placement first and foremost; move your serve around a little bit. You don’t have to be Roger Federer to get some results by moving your serve around. Keep your opponent guessing. And remember, if you’re going to work on one thing, practice your serve! It may be the most important shot in this game.

And remember, if you’re going to work on one thing, practice your serve! It may be the most important shot in this game.

Be like Rafa—dissatisfied with your game! Become a good, hardworking tinkerer always looking to improve and you will become a better player who wins more often.

You are better than you think you are; you can play at a higher level than you think you can; and you have the potential to beat so-called better players. If you’re a competitor and not just playing for exercise (and “cardio” tennis is great), don’t accept where you are; don’t settle for less. Shake yourself up in whatever manner it takes and you’ll get results. Like Murray and the Djoker you can turn things around and beat players who are beating you.

Now, let me give you what is still my biggest complaint about club players and your game: Too often you have the risk vs. reward calculation backward. Namely, when you don’t have an advantage in the point—like when you’re forced over to the doubles alley in the backcourt—you try to rip the impossible one-in-twenty lucky shot like one you made a couple of years ago. Conversely, when you get a ball right smack in the middle of the court—just back of the service line—suddenly you think, “Ooooooh, I don’t wanna miss this easy one,” and play it safe, just push it over the net. I say: “Why? What are you thinking?” That’s the time to get more aggressive, take some risk, up the ante. The ball’s in your strike zone and you’ve got a much better chance to go for a productive forcing shot or winner. It’s an easier shot that offers an easier reward. Take it! The lesson? Don’t bunt when the ball’s teed up for a home run; don’t go for the home run when a single keeps the inning going. But club players often get cautious when they should get aggressive and aggressive when they should be cautious. (The same thing happens on higher bouncing balls: You stand there and let the ball play you and try make a great shot out of nothing. Don’t do that. Run back a few steps or more and return a neutral, higher bouncing ball to your opponent.)

Need to hit the right balls, don’t try to make a kill from receiving a bad shot or bad positioning.

Tim Gallwey’s book, The Inner Game of Tennis,

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First, I want to tell you one thing about your game. The way to make the biggest improvement in the shortest time is to better understand and use the opportunities for gaining an advantage that exist in every match you play. The big opportunities and the small opportunities. Especially the small opportunities, the ones players neglect because of ignorance or laziness.

Develop your powers of observation and analysis and then use the information, and your chances of winning will go up by 20 percent or more.

Smart Tennis Is a Three-Step Process 1. Recognize your opportunity. 2. Analyze your options. 3. Capitalize on the opportunity by using the best option.

Unlike jumping rope, a tennis match doesn’t begin when it starts and end when it stops. Tennis begins off the court, continues through your pre-match regimen and into the match, and goes on after you’ve won (or lost) the final point. Smart players know how to prepare correctly for a match and once the contest is under way how to control their emotions. They know how to think their way through a match, avoiding low percentage shots that carry unnecessary risk at inappropriate times. Smart players observe what’s going on in a match and analyze the information. They know how to capitalize on what they know.

A smart player starts to prepare for the match on the way to the match, or even before. The warm-up should continue on into the locker room and out onto the court. The warm-up begins with your brain.

It is also important to consider the “personality” of the game your opponent produces. What does he do to affect the atmosphere, mood, or tempo of the match? Is she very slow between points? Does he get emotional? Does she protest a lot of calls? Is he great when he gets a lead, but not so great when he’s losing? Do your opponents give you a lot of small talk on changeovers, taking your mind off the match like McEnroe tried to do to me? Do they always show up ten minutes late? Do they rush through the warm-up and want to start the match as soon as possible? Prepare yourself mentally for the “stuff” certain players bring with them into the match. I

The Game Plan This process of review will lead me right into the equally important process of planning my strategy: 1. What do I want to make happen? 2. What do I want to prevent from happening? By evaluating my opponent I start solidifying my own approach to the match. As I review their game style and strokes I’m preparing my basic game plan. If

In its most basic form your plan evolves as you answer these questions: 1. What is my opponent’s best weapon? 2. Where is my opponent weak? 3. What is my best shot and how can I direct it at my opponent’s weakness? 4. What can I do to keep my opponent away from my own weakness?

Olympic swimmer Nelson Diebold said right after he had won the gold medal in 1992, “Good mental preparation is as important as good physical preparation.” It’s true in all sports, especially tennis.

Depending on your level of play you may not meet one player a month who seriously considers your game and knows how to exploit it. Plus, their relatively modest level of tennis skill makes them vulnerable to a player who’s good at exploiting opportunities. Good early mental preparation is an opportunity waiting to be exploited by you.

For a big match (and he liked to bet $100 per set with certain players) this fellow (a bit of a hustler) would get to the court one hour early. He had already spent time looking over his notes (yes, he kept notes of past matches). He had given some attention to his game plan. Next would be the stretching exercises to get completely loosened up. Now would come the warm-up, before his opponent even arrived at the court. The “hustler” would hit with the club pro for thirty minutes, going through the strokes and touching up anything that was giving him trouble that day. Nothing intense. Just a real good warm-up. Then he would leave the court, go to the locker room, and change clothes. So, now that he’s reviewed his game plan, checked his notes, done his stretching exercises, had a great warm-up, and changed into dry clothes, would he head back out to the court? Of course not. It was time for the final stage of the hustle. He’d make sure he got there ten minutes late, apologize for the delay, and suggest that they cut the warm-up short. Obviously, his opponent would be a little upset by the late arrival and want to get started to save time. They’d move right into the match with only a “quickie” warm-up. The “pigeon” would be handing over the money in straight sets. He would have saved himself $200 if he’d anticipated the behavior and prepared properly himself. He got taken instead. He had no plan, no system, no nothing. He let the other player control events because he wasn’t p...

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Most recreational players really don’t care enough about winning to do much more than show up for the match and chase down some balls during it. Recreational players are usually long on running and short on thinking. That description probably fits many of the people you play. If it does, you’re lucky because you can take advantage of their mental laziness to win more often. But only if you care about winning and are willing to push yourself mentally to do it, only if you activate your brain from the “git go.” Do it and the early edge is yours, and with it often goes match point.

This is my advantage over better players.

My Tools of the Trade The Secret Energy Drink: Water

Tape/Band-Aids

Extra Shoes

Extra Socks

Flex-All 454

Ibuprofen

Electrolyte Pills

Grips

Shoe Laces

String a Lings These prolong the life of the racket strings a little. In case one starts to fray I’ll stick these on so I don’t have to switch rackets.

A Cap With a Visor

Towels

Ice Not real ice. I bring the artificial ice that comes in a bag you can carry with you all the time.

Sweatbands They’re really just mini-towels, but very important because you take them out on the court with you. You can use them right now.

Dry Shirts I keep extra shirts in my bag for a couple of reasons. Obviously, when one gets soaked I want to change. But also when things aren’t going right (or if I want to give myself a little boost) I’ll change shirts just to change things around a little bit. Putting on a fresh shirt gets my attention and helps to shake things up a little. It’s a small fresh start.

Jolly Ra...

Paper and Pencil During a practice session I will get some ideas on a stroke or on how to play somebody more effectively. I write it down immediately. Some of the ideas are valuable and get forgotten if you don’t record them right away.

Sunglasses I carry a pair of RayBan sunglasses

Your Equipment Checklist The Basic Daily Requirement For yourself, shorten the list. Here’s what you should take to the tennis court with you for every match. 1. Water. Bring it. Sip it throughout the match. Don’t wait until you get thirsty. And drink water before your match. 2. Two Rackets. Two is the minimum. And remember to alternate them from match to match. They’ll last longer. Bring a third that is strung a little looser, and a fourth strung tighter if you play a lot. 3. Energy Food. Fruit. A candy bar. Something for a quick sugar boost. 4. Flex-All 454. If you’re over thirty-five, stop kidding yourself. Why suffer? Take anything that’ll help you play with less pain. 5. I.B.’s. Ditto. 6. Chemical Ice. For emergency muscle pulls, twisted ankles, and assorted other problems. The quicker you get ice on it, the quicker your recovery. 7. Towels. Only if you sweat. And use it for your own isolation booth when you want to concentrate. Put it over your head during a changeover and think. 8. Sweatbands. Again, only if you sweat. If you don’t sweat, maybe you should be trying harder during your matches or playing tougher opponents. 9. Cap With Visor. The team insignia is up to you. However, I do recommend the A’s or Golden State Warriors. 10. Dry Shirts. Keep several in your bag so you don’t have to pack one each time. 11. Additional Equipment. How much do you play? How many tournaments do you enter? Do you really want to have the equipment necessary to win available? Then dec...

Mark’s Magical Four (or Five) Minutes Your goal during this brief pre-game warm-up program is twofold: to enhance your tennis abilities early in the match (which will affect how you play later in the match) and to prevent injury. Ideally, you should spend twenty to twenty-five minutes preparing your body for the stress of playing a match (at any level) before you even touch a racket. However, it’s a rare recreational tennis player who will do that.

The first 3 minutes are for literally warming up your muscles. These stretches are called dynamic flexibility movements. The next minute is for stretching muscle groups. These stretches are called static flexibility movements. The dynamic (or moving) warm-ups should be done first. Static (or stretching) movements should really be done after a muscle is warm.

What you want to do first is a very sport-specific (i.e., specifically for tennis), low intensity warm-up that will raise the core temperature of the primary muscle groups between the hips and the feet—this means the legs.

CIRCLE THE SQUARE This is the first movement of your warm-up and should be done very gently and at a low intensity. Basically you’re going to jog around your half of the tennis court (the “square”) while always facing the net.

Repeat the pattern two to four times, gradually increasing your pace. You are jogging around one half of the court (always facing the net) and putting your leg muscles through a great all around warm-up.

KICK YOUR BUTT After you’ve circled the square twice, add this to what you’re doing. As you run forward to the net (and then backwards away from it) begin increasing the height of your heel kick. On each step raise your heel up toward your butt as if you were trying to kick yourself in the behind.

THE HIGH STEPPER Finally, add this to your Circle the Square procedure after you’ve done Kick Your Butt. When you are moving forward and backward (toward and away from the net) bring your knees up higher and closer to your waistline—step high. Imagine bringing your knees up to your chest. One time around the circle with this and you’re ready to run hard from the first point. If you have time to continue this routine, take advantage of it.

THE STORK This stretching exercise is easy to remember. You end up looking like a stork. Start out by standing near the net so you can hold it if you need balance. Raise one foot up behind you (bring your heel toward your butt)

BOW TO THE EMPEROR Standing with your feet slightly apart, bend over at the waist as if you were bowing to royalty. Keep your knees slightly flexed and your back relatively straight. Let your arms extend down toward the ground. Do this for ten seconds and repeat.

PULL YOUR OWN GROIN Groin injuries are very common, and this simple little exercise is great preventive medicine. Stand with your feet about twenty-four inches apart. Gradually transfer your weight over to your right foot (without moving either foot). As you do this flex your right knee (it will move slightly forward) so you can accommodate the weight transfer. Keep your left foot solidly on the ground and your leg straight. You’ll start to feel a pull in your left groin. Gradually move into it and stretch. Hold it for ten seconds. Then do the same movement for the other leg.

And finally, if you want to prevent stiffness and keep yourself limber, do the static flexibility exercises after your match. This is very important, especially as you get older.

Here’s a fundamental rule for me: Have a plan. Each stage of the match should be recognized as having some potential for helping you achieve victory. Having a plan helps ensure that you accomplish it. Knowing what you want to accomplish during the warm-up will get it done.