Choking in games and not going for shots

[GeoffWilliams]

Anyone who doesn't think Tilden is evil is creepy. Because they ignore child molestation and child homosexual rape. There are a lot of creeps out there.

[klacr]

I have two big problems in many of my matches...

1) I often go up big in a game (40 love, 40 15) but then I end up losing that game a lot of the time. To combat this, do I just need to be more aware during these situations and not let up? Something else?

2) When I play against someone who I hit with a lot and I know he hits well I tend to not go for my shots.I feel like I just mentally tighten up because I know he is a good player. I don't take opportunities when they are there. I kind of just mindlessly hit the ball back. I sort of mentally freeze and tighten. Also sometimes after I miss I notice that my eyes left early/my head pulled early. How can I work on this?


Thanks!

PS: does anyone any recommendations on their favorite tennis books and/or articles?

Focus on the execution, not on the outcome.

You may want to browse through the site a bit more as I'm sure there are numerous articles that can help answer your questions. Trust me, I've read every article on this site, even the ones that don't particularly fit my interest level, I always learn something.

Here are a few that may help...
Head fixation and the mental game
http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/...head_fixation/

The set-up point
http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/..._set_up_point/

Concentration
http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/...entration.html

As for books...
This is a great place to start...
http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/...ans_of_tennis/

Have fun and enjoy the learning experience.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[eaglesburg]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I'll make sure to keep reading. Hopefully the following problem can be helped by some of the articles but please let me know your advice:
I often have big fluctuations in the level of my play. Not only day to day but even between different sessions on the same day. For example I'll play terrible for an hour playing one person then I play someone else later and I play fine. It is obviously in my head. But sometimes that hour where I am playing bad...it's really bad...I can't hit normal rally balls and none of the balls feel clean and confident. My shots just aren't there. Actually this happened to me today too. Is the solution to just follow the other advice you guys have already given me such as visualize and relax? Something else to add maybe?
Thanks again!

[GeoffWilliams]

Nothing more to add other than it may be due to the wrong string/frame/tension set up for your game.

[klacr]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I'll make sure to keep reading. Hopefully the following problem can be helped by some of the articles but please let me know your advice:
I often have big fluctuations in the level of my play. Not only day to day but even between different sessions on the same day. For example I'll play terrible for an hour playing one person then I play someone else later and I play fine. It is obviously in my head. But sometimes that hour where I am playing bad...it's really bad...I can't hit normal rally balls and none of the balls feel clean and confident. My shots just aren't there. Actually this happened to me today too. Is the solution to just follow the other advice you guys have already given me such as visualize and relax? Something else to add maybe?
Thanks again!

Why are you playing multiple times a day? Perhaps it's a quality issue, not a quantity issue. Playing too much can get to a point of diminishing returns, especially if the technique has major flaws which could be digging you into a deeper hole. By playing too often, mentally and physically it's easier to coast and "pace" yourself realizing you need to have some left in the tank for later. Give 100% the first and only time you play that day. Your focus and appreciation for the moment allows you to get to that performance state while giving your undivided attention to the task at hand.

With that being said, the extreme variance in your game makes me curious about your strokes. Care to post some of your shots? That way all of us trying to help and pinpoint any issues know exactly what we are dealing with.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[eaglesburg]

Nothing more to add other than it may be due to the wrong string/frame/tension set up for your game.

Could be. But then why is it that one day I can hit just fine with the same setup and terrible later?

[eaglesburg]

Why are you playing multiple times a day? Perhaps it's a quality issue, not a quantity issue. Playing too much can get to a point of diminishing returns, especially if the technique has major flaws which could be digging you into a deeper hole. By playing too often, mentally and physically it's easier to coast and "pace" yourself realizing you need to have some left in the tank for later. Give 100% the first and only time you play that day. Your focus and appreciation for the moment allows you to get to that performance state while giving your undivided attention to the task at hand.

With that being said, the extreme variance in your game makes me curious about your strokes. Care to post some of your shots? That way all of us trying to help and pinpoint any issues know exactly what we are dealing with.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

If I only play for an hour that doesn't come close to wearing me out. I could just go back to back sessions but I take a break just I make sure I can have a high quality second session. Still, I will try to make sure that I don't pace myself.

I will probably be making video today of my forehand backhand and serves from back side and 3/4 front view. Honestly it is possible that my fluctuations are caused by my strokes. I wouldn't exactly call some of them easily repeatable. You'll see what I mean. For forehands and backhands do you want the video to be just straight up the middle balls? Cc rally? For serves, what type do you want to see! First or second? Slice, flat, twist?

[GeoffWilliams]

The mind is more important than any stroke practice or equipment issues.

[GeoffWilliams]

Me too, considering he raped many young boys, and is still revered and touted, rather than scorned and trashed as he deserves to be. What if it was your child he raped? Would you be touting him then?

AS someone whose own family was raped, most of my siblings, by a man like Tilden who got away with it all, and two of my siblings suicided over it, for all you touting him, as a great player/writer, I would like to see your own children go through the same evil sodomy and oral rape. Then and only then will you change your minds. The truth is, child rapists are killed in prison more often than any other inmate, because many of the inmates are there because of men like Tilden. It colors your life. Only the strong survive it. The mentally tough.

[klacr]

...Honestly it is possible that my fluctuations are caused by my strokes. I wouldn't exactly call some of them easily repeatable...

You may have answered your own question. Tough to seek consistency and confidence in your game if you can't repeat strokes easily and make it automatic.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[eaglesburg]

You may have answered your own question. Tough to seek consistency and confidence in your game if you can't repeat strokes easily and make it automatic.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Backhands

https://youtu.be/XU9X2sOM-pw

Serves

https://youtu.be/IlkUqC4TGN0

I'm not posting forehands even though that is my most important shot because I submitted that for "Your Strokes."

[don_budge]

Bill Tilden…Maintaining Pressure on Your Opponent

The mind and technique are one.

The strokes don't look half bad. The rather uncommitted attitude in hitting the practice serves may be an indication of a "tennis mind" that is not wrapped tightly enough to effectively concentrate on the rather sophisticated tactical and mental approach that I was quoting from the Bill Tilden book "How to Play Better Tennis…a complete guide to technique and tactics". Specifically I was quoting from the chapter that is titled "Maintaining Pressure on your Opponent". Bill Tilden's "other" book…"Match Play and Spin of the Ball" is a must read for any tennis player. Tilden is the most astute student of the game that there ever has been or ever will be. Reading what he has to say about the game of tennis is going to benefit anyone. I can't speak for his personal life and don't ever feel the need to. Not ever. Bill Tilden is the author of the book of tennis in my coaching paradigm. Period.

Learning to hit repetitive strokes is one thing but coming up with a game plan and a strategy against any given opponent is quite another. I seem to recall you writing something about the website's overemphasis on "how to" and not something else. Obviously this is what your game is lacking and what needs to be developed.

I think that your playing multiple playing sessions on the same day is excellent practice and one that you should do at every opportunity. Exhaust yourself because that is exactly what it is going to take to get this facet of the game into your head…literally. The mental game is one that is largely one of trial and error and until you have exhausted all of the permutations and combinations will you will experience these lapses in concentration and swings of performance level.

The mental game starts with watching the ball…at any level. If you cannot maintain your concentration on the ball it is going to be impossible to proceed much further with the mental game. You must on every single ball try to pick up the sight of the ball as early as you possibly can and at the same time get your body to respond to it…touts suite. Watch the opponent bounce the ball as he prepares to serve and never lose sight of it. Watch the ball strike your opponents racquet to get early feedback on his answer to your shot so that you can ANTICIPATE your response at the crack of a whip.

If you do not see the ball bounce and maintain your concentration on the ball until it is on your own strings you are not concentrating. When the ball bounces many players lose their concentration as they are gearing up to strike the ball. Perhaps you might consciously practice saying out loud "bounce" when the ball precisely impacts the ground and saying something when the ball is on your racquet. I say "five" as this is the fifth step in my stroke model for every swing…impact.

When warming up with an opponent I immediately have a sense of what kind of tactical game that I am going to utilize against my opponent. I know everything I need to know about him after the warmup to begin to go to work on him. I have a very good idea about his relative strengths and weaknesses and what his response will be to any given shot that I give him. This takes a lot of experience in itself and in the modern game of tennis it actually has become a simpler problem as everyone plays alike. Just like you…two handed backhand and "the all-important" forehand.

At this point from what little I know of you and your game I would offer you the following advise. Develop your mental game. This includes learning to concentrate on the ball until it is second nature. Develop your strokes and all of the nuance strokes so that you have a complete arsenal to throw against your opponent instead of the modern paradigm…hit hard and harder. Your game is very predictable I am certain. Develop tactical acumen which comes with playing lots and lots of competition. Build up your stamina as this is going to be a long haul and you had best build up your patience as well. If you read about how to maintain pressure on your opponent you will understand the importance of having enough patience to simply out wait your opponent in many circumstances. You must consistently press what will work for you against the given opponent…until he cracks. Until psychologically and physically he gives up and realizes that you are not going away and you are not going to concede anything to him. Not even in warmup.

Watch the ball and know the score at all times. Keep your head in the game. You have a tremendous amount of work to do. Just how much desire, determination and drive do you have?

[don_budge]

Choking…or indecisiveness?

I have two big problems in many of my matches...

1) I often go up big in a game (40 love, 40 15) but then I end up losing that game a lot of the time. To combat this, do I just need to be more aware during these situations and not let up? Something else?

2) When I play against someone who I hit with a lot and I know he hits well I tend to not go for my shots.I feel like I just mentally tighten up because I know he is a good player. I don't take opportunities when they are there. I kind of just mindlessly hit the ball back. I sort of mentally freeze and tighten. Also sometimes after I miss I notice that my eyes left early/my head pulled early. How can I work on this?


Thanks!

PS: does anyone any recommendations on their favorite tennis books and/or articles?

I think what many people mistake for choking is indecisiveness which in turn leads to frustration. Not having a clear picture of what it is that you are trying to accomplish results in a tentative approach to something that if you are being timid you are surely being indecisive. Not being able to "hit out" in more crucial situations is surely a symptom of the problem.

If you do not have the resources to accomplish what it is that needs to be accomplished is one thing but not having the ideas or mental discipline to carry them out is another. For instance if a given situation calls for you to hit a soft underspin crosscourt forehand that lies down on the court and you do not have this shot…you are going to fluff it if you attempt it more often than not. Even with delicate shots you must be decisive. Another scenario in this situation is that you try to crush a forehand and blow it when the soft tactic would have worked…now you know yourself that your game is deficient…hence you lose belief in your mission. Develop your repertoire. Don't forget…CONSISTENCY is the hallmark of any tennis player worth his salt. You must learn to be consistent in every single facet and shot in your repertoire otherwise you are going to exhibit a flaw…a flaw that will be an invitation for your opponent to exploit.

Every tennis player has gone through this phase at one point or another. It is a developmental stage and one that is addressed with more experience and competitive situations…particularly so that one becomes more and more comfortable of thinking on the fly…and on the move.

Nothing is standing still in a tennis match. Everything seems to be happening so quickly. The whole thing is in flux. Particularly if your opponent is stronger and more accomplished than you. But you can learn to level the playing field. You have to learn to slow things down when you have to and you have to learn when to increase the tempo and be able to do it. When you get that space in between points and in between games you need to get your mental balance. You absolutely must know the score at all times…and play to it! You must MAINTAIN PRESSURE ON YOUR OPPONENT in order to deflect it from yourself.

I often ask my students the rhetorical question…what is power? CONTROL IS POWER is the answer I am seeking. What is control? Control is the combination of a number of things foremost of which are SPEED, PLACEMENT and SPIN. Learn to control your self (your shots) and then you can control the ball. If you can control the ball you can learn to control your opponent. Control your opponent…you see what I mean…you increase the likelihood that you win. Winning on the tennis court is not simply a matter of overpowering your opponent…it is more a matter of outfoxing him. Each shot must weigh the consequences and relative advantages and disadvantages of the amount of speed, the emphasis of placement and the amount of spin to be applied. Each and every single point is an equation to be solved for multiple variables…complete with linear digressions, derivatives and integrals.

It is indeed a mental game. It is an intellectual challenge. This side of the game is never more effectively written about than in Bill Tilden's two books. Just a little food for thought...

[klacr]

Backhands

https://youtu.be/XU9X2sOM-pw

Serves

https://youtu.be/IlkUqC4TGN0

I'm not posting forehands even though that is my most important shot because I submitted that for "Your Strokes."

Strokes look ok. touching on what don_budge mentioned about the practicing and tennis mind, do you practice with a purpose? If so, describe your hitting session. Is there a specific thing you like to work on or do you just go out and "hit". Do you work on the nuances of each stroke, the spins, the placements, the heights, the angles, or is it just a slugfest? It's easy to fall into that habit. It may not seem as fun to have a regimented plan but it will pay off as you will have greater confidence and better focus.
Championship tennis players know they can't always win on their terms, They understand that if you want to shine, you need to embrace the grind.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[eaglesburg]

Right now I'm reading Mindset. Maybe when I'm finished I'll read Tilden's books.

I think you are right about my mental game. Many times I play literally with almost zero emotion. Like stone face. At a camp I went to they said they wanted to see more emotion. So it might not just be the emotion...the lack of emotion could be caused my brain not being completely concentrated on the game because they are some matches where I do get really into it (and play really well usually).

I do need to work on my touch shots. I am predictable. I am also bad at making strategies. I think I become uptight and less confident which is why I am not decisive.

About my bad days...those videos were one of them. Yes the shots don't look terrible. But I didn't feel much control over them at all especially on my forehand side and also the shots oftentimes felt like I was hitting off enter. Sometimes this would mean I get no pace. I would guess this is just watching the ball, so it seems your post is bringing everything together. Thanks!