Anticipation
Jay Berger
As a player, if I had been asked to define "anticipation," it would have been difficult for me to answer. Growing up, I was never taught to anticipate in any systematic way. Yet as a tennis player, I anticipated and moved extremely well on the court from a young age, whether or not I fully understood what it was or how I was doing it.
Part of this came from a passion and an eagerness in my play, and that of the other players I played against and trained with. We had a hunger for knowledge and a strong desire to get better.
As a coach, I don't always see those same qualities in looking at our young players today. I don't see a passion to discover new things for themselves. Today I see a lot of kids who are just hitting balls with what I would call a ball machine mentality. They aren't really taking charge of their development. They're constantly waiting to be told, instead of going out there and looking for ways to improve. They aren't eager in the same way I was and I think this mentality restricts their ability to anticipate.
That's one thing that as a coach I'm working hard to try and change. Compared to today's players I see at least 5 differences in the way I was trained that helped me develop anticipation. In this article I am going to talk about what they are how to develop them.
1. Playing Sets
The first difference is the number of sets I played. My total set play a week was around 18 sets. Usually I'd play a minimum of two sets a day from Monday through Friday. Then I'd play four sets on Saturday and four sets on Sunday when there wasn't a tournament. It was what I loved to do. I did it from a young age, and it didn't matter who I played with. I'd play sets with anyone.
2.Mindful Practice
The second difference is practicing in a mindful way, what you might even call a of Zen way of thinking. This means being really being focused in the present. By this I mean focusing on what you're actually doing at every moment on the court--not just going out there and randomly hitting balls.
