Hello and welcome! Close matches can often come down to just a few silly errors can't they? How can we cut out some of those cheap points and turn frustrating losses into confidence building wins?
Hi, I'm Adrian, lifelong player and coach, and here on Personal Best Tennis we help keen competitive players make the most of what they've got, and today our focus is on how to reduce annoying unforced errors, in fact how to cut out the 'cheapies'!
Let's look at some examples of cheap donations. Have you ever done this? After a really long rally, after some amazing gets, your opponent floats an easy one that hangs in the air and just begs to be hit anywhere for a winner, and you . . . blow it! How does that happen?
You get all the tough shots back, and the easiest one of all. . . you miss!
Not only do you lose the point, but your opponent can't believe their luck!
Maybe that is the turning point! It gives them a lift! It makes you so mad
that now you lose the next few points because you are still so upset!
The reason is our effort level, our concentration level, is based on our
perception of difficulty. We are the most focused at times of extreme
pressure, and then when the apparent threat has passed we relax.
I call this the 'switch off' factor. After a struggle, up pops the
oh-so-easy ball, and bingo. . . we relax. . . and miss!
In my study 'The Beliefs of Champions' I recount one of their core beliefs:
"There is no such thing as an easy shot! The easier the shot appears to be, the more I will concentrate, the greater care I will take!"
Remember this the next time you have what looks like an easy 'sitter'. Imagine the shot is so much harder that it appears, and treat it with the greatest respect!
Now, even the greatest players have missed shots that the average beginner would not miss 9 times out of 10! It happens! But champions know not to react, not to let their opponent know they are at all concerned by their error. Losing emotional control will end up costing more points, so the best strategy is to 'Keep It Together!'
If you mentally budget for errors, a couple of easy misses, 3 or 4 double faults, a couple of razor thin misses, the odd bad bounce or two, then anything less is a positive, instead of a negative! This way it is easier to keep calm, and stay focused on the present.
Another example of unnecessary errors is what I call the 'overpress trap'. Here's how it goes: you hit a shot with medium speed that goes fairly deep, not a bad shot, but your opponent sends it back with no apparent difficulty. Your competitive brain says to you ' Well, you will have to do better than that last shot to have any impact!' So you hit the next shot a little harder and a little closer to the lines. Again it comes back. 'Well now, that was not good enough either, so go harder and closer'. This repeats until you press too much, go for too good a shot, and there's another donation to your ever grateful opponent!
To lessen the threat of this happening to you, you need to be mentally and physically prepared for longer rallies. By being more patient, maybe you will force your opponent into overpressing!
The best role model for this style of play is current #1 Novak Djokovic. He is what I call a 'power pusher'. 'Pusher' is sometimes used as a derogatory term for someone who runs everything down and gets everything back, but with an infuriating lack of speed. Novak gets everything back, but with power, safely.
He rarely goes for a big winner early on in the point, unlike some others, who may not have his retrieval skills, stamina, or strength! He is prepared to have long rallies. He hits aggressively into big targets, keeping away from the lines, and waits for the opportunity ball to pounce. His strategy for tiebreaks is simple: Make no unforced errors! He is the role model for cutting out 'the cheapies'!
So, are you aware of what you do? Do have any self-defeating patterns? Do you tend to overpress at times? Do you try to go for too much, either out of impatience, tiredness, or annoyance? Have you ever 'switched off' and missed an easy 'sitter'? Have you ever stayed annoyed at an easy miss and lost the next few points reliving the frustration?
I hope this was thought provoking, and I would welcome your ideas and suggestions for reducing unforced errors. Next time we will look at Easy Targets - the best areas to aim for in different situations. But be careful what you aim for! Till next time. Happy Hitting!