Adjust

[GeoffWilliams]

The site ref

Some of these guys are awful, and it's best to ignore them. They will burn you if you get on their bad side, so don't. They will: call you for foot faults, cheat on the calls against you, decide any dispute against you if they are grudging. Don't give them a reason to, or you will regret it. They are supposed to be above the fray, but none of them are, and there is no recourse, even if you make a valid complaint, nothing will be done what so ever about it. If the ref misinterprets the rules against you, forget it. If he cheats against you, forget it. If he puts you down for violations, forget it. YOu will be wasting your breath. It's like having the lumber jacks decide whether to cut the trees or not. OR the eskimos decide whether to harvest mammoth fossils or not. Cops stick together, and so does the tennis group. The ref has to basically shoot someone before anything is done against him.

[GeoffWilliams]

Change a losing game and change a losing frame

Test out which frame/string job feels best before any match. String accounts for about 70% of results, and the frame determines spin rates/ra stiffness/power levels. Test it against someone you are even with, and that will tell you, say a set or two, tie breakers, and those will tell you if you are confident with that frame. String a few lbs different or so, and carry four frames to a match you can change if you don't feel right with it. Just takes a few points to determine which one is playing the best. You will feel it soon enough. Match play is all about feel.

[GeoffWilliams]

develop a split personality

A continental grip game off both sides. Lots of pros return wide serves by blocking with a cont. grip off fh. deuce. Lots of heavy topspin players don't see a skidding slice off fh either, and that shot gives the hawaii western grippers hell. They will retaliate with high shots to the cont. grip, so, you just change that grip to a western on answering it, and use the fh slice to skid, not lay up the slice against the topspin guys. Also will increase shot tolerance with a dual push slice off both sides.

The point is to master both personalities, so you can dish out any type of shot and change rhythm/depth/pace/spin at will, so they can't get a bead on their own self.

[GeoffWilliams]

Use your subconscious to win

Esp. for a grudge match you really want to win: Ask your sub, when going to sleep: "I would like you to help me win this match. Show me the way, and let me remember the dream." Visualize your opponent, and winning the match, smiling at the director as he hands you your trophy, taking it in your hands, smiling yourself. Grudge matches make the difference. Win them at all costs if you want to enjoy the game!

[GeoffWilliams]

Use what you learned in the last match to adjust

Keep cards on your opponents: why you won, why you lost, what their fav. shots are, which sequences worked, which didn't and why. Which shot you have to add to beat them if you lost, and which shots caused them to lose if you won. Lendl kept 3 x 5" cards. Why not you?

[GeoffWilliams]

Spray glue on your shoes for more traction

Adhesive gule spray is avail at art stores, and this glue will add traction to your shoes if they are getting older. Best if used an hour ahead of time, not during the match.

[GeoffWilliams]

Remember the great shots and forget the bad ones

Enjoy your great shots, with great emotion. Forget the bad ones. Play for fun and excercise. Compliment your partners great shots. Don't be stingy or competitive. Play for fun, not just to dominate and to win. Improve your self, not just your shots and game.

[GeoffWilliams]

Tennis is medicine

Play to enjoy the game first, and bleed off stress first. If the group you are playing with does not employ that feeling, dump them and move on. Shake the hand of your partners and quickly say, "Thanks so much.", for hitting with me ________________! And mean it. Even if they are not as good as you are. Too many stuck up players in this game don't thank anyone.

[GeoffWilliams]

Have fun

There is a great joy in hitting great shots and winning. Losing hurts badly and does not balance winning. It's far easier to perfect your mind, and mental outlook, than it is to develop a dominant game! Decide to enjoy the game whether you win or not, or improve or not, and you will be happier with your self and your game no matter the score, or your results. That is far simpler a task to master. More than one way to master the game.

[GeoffWilliams]

Contact point will determine the winner on rallies most of the time

Contact the ball inside the baseline, more than your opponent, and you will: have a better angle, take time away from him, win more points doing so. Become more dominant in court position. Play inside the baseline, not behind it, and few will be able to knock you back off.. Back up if they hit deep, they won't be able to very often, and it will be like you are placing a thumb on their forehead from 80 feet away!

[GeoffWilliams]

If you are going to be an attacking player you have to practice those sequences

Make sure you serve and volley a lot in practice, and take most short balls dtl approaching, unless you disguise it, and go cc, it better be: 30% more open than a dtl approach: due to: they have 15% less ground to cover,and 15% less time to pass you if you approach cc rather than dtl and you have the opposite in terms of: covering a pass dtl after a cc approach. You have: 15% more ground to cover, and you have: 15% less time to do it in! Something Roddick never learned! WaY too many bad bh slice approaches cc, where he got beaten/owned/destroyed by dtl passes. Dumb. Attacking takes a lot more skill than counter punching/pushing. You have to practice it all the time.

[GeoffWilliams]

Adjust your mind

If losing: either go for it more or go for it less, don't just stay neutral. If winning: either go for a new shot, or for more, or keep doing the same thing, don't just stay neutral. If even, believe you will win and stay neutral and calm. If angry: calm down. If upset due to psyches;: calm down and don't sink down to his level of junior shit. You are a man, not a punk kid.

[GeoffWilliams]

Practice time: recharge batteries

If going every day: recharge by taking time off. If going once a weeK: recharge by going 4 x a week. Too much or too little will demand a recharge either way!

[GeoffWilliams]

The balance between passive and aggressive

Most are either too passive or too aggressive. If the point is big, start with a passive no lose rhythm, and only take chances if they force you to. Take risks when ahead, not when behind or dead even.

[GeoffWilliams]

Shots to hit during a warm up to find a weakness

Shots out of the normal warm up/rhythm strike zone are called for you to probe him: high balls to both fh/bh sides, low balls/slices that don't lay up, that skid, short balls to both sides to see if he can transition, lob at the net to see if he can hit an over head. No pace shots to see if those bother him, high rpm shots to see if those are a weakness. Some flat shots to see if he likes those. Some deep shots, some very short shots to see if he can react. No one will like you for this, but it's your record at stake, your pride at stake. Everyone just hits medium and slow down the middle to be polite, esp. if it's a regular hitting partner, but this guy is out for your blood and vice versa. All fair in love and tennis. You have only about 4-5 minutes to hit the patterns. That's how much time the director/ref will allow before they start shouting "Time."