Your Temperament
and Your Tennis

Dexter Godbey

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Is there such a thing as your natural, God given temperament, and can understanding it help you play better tennis? I have no doubt the answer to both questions is yes. I have proved it in my own experience and my work with high level competitive players. In this article I'll show you how to do the same for yourself.

Many tennis players are trained to play in a style that actually conflicts with the fundamental nature of their personality. I know, because I was one of them. Once I understood my true temperament and adjusted my style of play accordingly, I immediately began to win more matches. Probably more important, I had a lot more fun playing the game.

The 4 Temperaments

People fall into four distinct categories of temperaments, in life and in tennis. Some people call these "personalities" or "styles," but I think "temperaments" is more accurate and more useful.

Of course we all put on different faces in different circumstances, and everyone is to some extent a blend of all four temperaments. But your true or dominant temperament is inborn and innate. True temperament can't be faked. In tennis when the pressure's on, your temperament will dictate how you respond, no matter what you may think you should be doing. The more closely you are in tune with your true temperament, the more you'll enjoy what you're doing and the better you'll be at it.

Test Your Temperament

The two sets of questions below will allow you to test your own temperament. Pick which choice more closely describes you most of the time. Your choice doesn't mean you're always that way or that you're never the other way. Just select which, between the two, best describes you most of the time. You can print out the page if you like, and then check the boxes.

The first set of questions measures directness versus indirectness. This is how you deal with the outside world. There's no better or worse answer. It really doesn't matter for your tennis if you turn out to be more or less direct. In my estimation, Roger Federer is indirect in this category and he's number one in the world. So just answer honestly as opposed to how you may think you should or want to be. A good cross check is to ask a close friend or your significant other to fill in their assessment of you and see if they agree.

Now count up the numbers on both sides. How many are "direct" and how many are "indirect" ? This determines the first half of your temperament type. If you chose more in the direct column, you are a "D". If you chose more in the indirect column, you're and "I."

Now answer the second set of questions. This set measures whether your personality is more "open" or "closed." This is how you relate to and express your emotions and feelings. Again there is no right or wrong answer, or better or worse answer.

We judge Roger Federer to be "closed" on this scale so that makes the number player in the world is both indirect and closed. It has nothing to do with your ability to win matches. For what it's worth, I tested the same way. Answer honestly if you want your tennis and temperament in closer alignment.

3 Women's champions and 3 different temperaments.

Again count the answers. More "open" answers means you are an "O." More "closed" answers means you are a "C."

Now put the two letters together to get your dominant temperament. There are 4 possible combinations: IO, IC, DO, or DC. We'll label each of the four possible temperaments with a color, because the colors are simpler to remember, although they have no deeper meaning.

Tennis and Your Temperament

Now let's look at what each color represents. We'll list some of the traits for each temperament, and then what that means for your game and style of play. You will undoubtedly recognize yourself. You'll also recognize characteristics of your friends, family members, and fellow tennis players. By the way, the different temperaments aren't really new. They were documented by Hippocrates about 3,000 years ago. These basic differences have been tested and proven to be accurate for centuries. Remember, too, that we are all a blend of all the temperaments but with one true dominant temperament.

Yellow Temperament

Prevailing Wants: Stability, Consistency, Peace, Tranquility
Motto: "I Do It The Simple Way."

The Yellow Playing Style

Yellow players are primarily counterpunchers. If you are a Yellow, you love consistency and do not like risks, hasty decisions, or major changes. Your temperament says play conservatively, without much risk, but to control play by imposing your style on your opponent. You build your game around your patience and consistency. You are a bulldog and you don't mind a little pain in service of victory. Typically you develop great defensive skills, the ability to retrieve, and to fight. You gradually wear down your opponents. You have the patience for it. The simplest way to win a match is to get the last ball back over the net. Often you can play this style with a smile.

Your basic game plan is simple. You chase everything down. You will mix in an element of attack when the opportunity naturally presents itself. But you won't force this or use it repeatedly, even if it appears to work at times.

In terms of your strokes, you need a solid, consistent serve to get the point started on at least on an equal footing. But a real key is a consistent return game. You need to make your opponent play on his own serve in order to make him hit more balls, impose your game, and grind him down mentally. You need the skill and will to hit tons of groundstrokes from the baseline, and probably more commonly, from behind the baseline.

Interestingly many counterpunchers don't practice like they play. It's too much work. You may have to consciously push yourself to get out and practice. You will definitely enjoy it more if you balance your court time to play practice matches as opposed to just drilling.

As a Yellow, you learn in big concepts, pictures, and images. You see the whole, not the parts. You aren't inclined to care about the detailed, technical aspects of grips, strokes, footwork, or strategies. You probably prefer to just watch the videos in the Stroke Archive, absorbing shapes and images. But you aren't as interested in breaking them down and going back and forth frame-by-frame ad infinitum.

Before matches, you usually don't want a long warm up. It's "work" and you'd rather save your energy for your match. Besides, all you need is to hit a few of your baseline forehands and backhands, a couple of serves, a return or two, and you're ready to go.

Some Yellows can have a tendency to be too easy going and complacent. You may have to really force yourself to set some goals (big picture goals – not too detailed or technical), muster up the motivation, and push yourself beyond your natural comfort zone of just getting out on the court and hitting everything back.

Chris Evert was the classic example of the yellow playing style, the ice maiden who never missed, passed opponents when they tried to attack, crushed their will, and then shook hands with a friendly smile. Other great examples were Bjorn Borg, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, and Michael Chang.

In the current game, we can point to Dominik Hrbaty who has an incredible retrieving style and a willingness to hit up to dozens of balls to win one point. Kim Clijsters is a more athletic, more powerful modern day version of Evert, with a very calm and pleasant demeanor. David Nalbandian is another player who plays up on the baseline but still uses a neturalizing and counterpunching style. Lleyton Hewitt is an example of a player who mixes a yellow style with a dose of the fierier Red temperament.(See below.) At the pro level, pure yellow players have become fewer because of the overall increases in sheer firepower.

Blue Temperament

Basic Prevailing Wants: Fun, Popularity, Recognition
Motto: "I Do It The Fun Way"

Above all else, Blue players love to have fun. They crave spontaneity. Whether it's practice or competition, if you are a Blue, you find ways to make your tennis fun or you'll quit.

Players with this temperament love to be on stage. They tend to be creative and innovative in their playing style. They insist on the freedom to play the way they want to play. They can show a lot of emotion on the court, and they often play inspiring matches. At the pro level, some of the most dramatic matches in front of big TV audiences have been played by Blues.

Blues tend to be all court players with variety in their games. Blues don't think their way through matches. They have more fun and get better results by playing their way through matches. If you are a Blue player, you probably don't like game plans, or plans period for that matter. You like spontaneity. So whatever game plans you do develop may fall by the wayside as you get into the flow, rhythm, and "feel" of the match. No matter what you believe you should do, don't be too hard on yourself if your natural flair, creativity, and instincts overpower your plan.

Your impatience and short attention span make long, structured practices seem boring. But, you do still have to practice to pull off your all court, creative, and intuitive game. You should accept that. Make practice fun. Keep drills short. Recruit like minded Blue temperaments to practice with. As with Yellows, your best bet is playing practice matches rather than just drilling. Don't be afraid to play your way to maximum success.

Like the Yellow temperament, you are a "big picture" person and learn by absorbing the whole rather than analyzing details and technicalities. You can just "get" what a stroke looks like and how it feels without understanding the mechanics of it. You like to absorb the flow and rhythm of the game from other players.

You'd just as soon not warm up at all. It's boring for your temperament, like drilling. Your instincts tell you that playing your way into the rhythm and feel of the match will work just fine so you prefer short warm ups. Your talent, creativity, and feel can lead to extraordinary results, and also monumental catastrophes. Work to incorporate a degree of discipline into your game. Broadly conceived game plans (leaving room for creativity) may help. Don't lose your feel and instincts, but consider reining them and adding a little more structure and discipline.

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