Tuesday, 26 May 2020 / Published in Strategy Courses

Getting Tight Sneak Peek: We Are All In The Same Boat

G’day,

You look to the other side of the court in the warm-up and assess your opponent. Forehand looks fine. Backhand seems solid. They don’t seem to be moving too fast so maybe you can form a strategy around running them side-to-side.

Here are some questions for you…

Do they have a better read on your game? Is your opponent analyzing all of your shots and formulating a brilliant game plan from what you are showing them? Is there something you don’t know that you should be scared about?

The likely answer to those very important questions is no. Your opponent is in the same boat as you, not really knowing what they are going to do strategically in the match. We tend to have a bad habit of assuming our opponent has uncovered all of our nasty habits, all of our weaknesses, and will dissect them one-by-one once the match begins. It’s normally not so.

Watch the following 73-second video to get an idea of how the new tennis course, Getting Tight, puts things into perspective in this area. Jeff Greenwald reacts to Francisco Clavet’s match analysis from their National 40’s semi-final in La Jolla, California, in December 2019.

Getting Tight Video: Opponent Analysis

Mini-Lesson Reviews

I can confidently assume that your mind is very active and sometimes entertains ideas that are not helpful and maybe even hurtful.
Perhaps you think of the worst-case scenario if you lose the match, imagining what your peers might say if you win or lose.
You may get caught in the terrible web of “shoulds” – I should beat him/her – or you simply discount your own game and success on a given day.
These are just a few of the mental “traps” you might find yourself in.
When you find yourself thinking negatively, which is usually related to the past or future and not the present, practice bringing your mind back to the moment.
Try to feel your feet on the ground, the shower on your back or the seat you’re sitting in.
Gratitude for the opportunity to play, genuinely appreciating the moment, can help dramatically to put you back into a better state of mind.

The universal experience in life and in tennis is uncertainty.
Uncertainty of how you will play, how you will feel, and what the outcome will be.
This is the same for every player, and with the mastery mindset you are developing in this course – one that pulls the mental/emotional aspect together with your tactics – you will reduce that uncertainty.
Understand that all players will experience some anxiety and doubts.
They may be just as scared of you as you are of them. Embrace uncertainty, turn it into a challenge and a feeling of excitement to compete and you will find yourself playing at an entirely new level.

When you’re playing a good player, perhaps someone ranked higher than you, the first thought you might have is how your opponent has a clear tactic against you.
You believe they are going to pick at your weaker side.
Since you know your own tendencies and weaknesses, it is easy to fixate on what you don’t do well enough and make the assumption that your opponent will exploit that.
Remember, they are probably caught up in their own internal drama and don’t have much of a plan at all.

All the best,

Craig

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The practice court is clearly broken. Here’s the proof.

Points are "front loaded". By far the majority of the action, and the winning, takes place in THE FIRST 4 SHOTS. The practice court is full of long rallies. Matches are dominated by short rallies. There is a massive disconnect occurring.

We spend too much time grinding, banging balls up and down the middle of the court – that have no real benefit to winning tennis matches.

There are 3 specific rally lengths in tennis. Here is their percentage breakdown of total points.

0-4 Shots = 70%
5-8 Shots = 20%
9+ Shots = 10%

The First 4 Shots is specifically the serve, return, Serve +1 groundstroke and Return +1 groundstroke. Those are normally the shots that get practiced the least, but matter the most to winning tennis matches.

The net is an extremely high percentage place to be!

If you love playing tennis for fun, spend as much time at the baseline as you like. But if you compete – if the score matters – then you must turn your attention to the net to maximize your potential.

The “herd mentality” in tennis thinks it’s too tough to approach the net in today’s game. The conversation starts with improved string technology, more powerful rackets, and finishes with stronger, faster athletes. The herd think approaching is a relic of the past. The herd is WRONG!

AVERAGE WIN %
Baseline = 46%
Net = 66%

Data from ALL Grand Slams provides the facts about approach and volley, and the data is crystal clear – it’s immensely better than staying back at the baseline, grinding for a living.

The baseline is a tough place to create separation. Here's how to do it.

At the 2012 US Open, only 7 men and 14 women had a winning percentage from the baseline. At Wimbledon 2016, Andy Murray won the title only winning 52% of his baseline points - and he is one of the very best at it in the world!

Num3ers deeply explores the data that rules points, especially from the back of the court. Take a "deep dive" into all three rally lengths (0-4, 5-8, 9+), and winner and errors totals from the elite level of our game. The numbers will shock you!

All 4 Grand Slams

Forcing Errors = 41% Men / 37% Women
Winners = 32% Men / 29% Women
Unforced Errors = 27% Men / 34% Women

Num3ers is very much like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. It's about bringing together different data sets together to create the big picture.

Every recorded match from the 2015 Australian Open - Rd2 to the final.

There is a lot happening on a doubles court. Situations and strategies are constantly being adjusted to create mis-matches with court position. It's hard to keep track of - until now. Dou8les Num3ers is the most comprehensive analysis of doubles data in our sport. The focus is on how a point ends, and it's broken down eight ways to Sunday. Specifically, you find critical information on:

Winners rise to the #1 way a point ends (over forced & unforced errors)

- The last shot of the rally is overwhelmingly struck at the net.
- Center Window: the most important part of a doubles court to control.
- Stephen Huss: an in-depth interview on Wimbledon's Centre Court with the 2005 Wimbledon Doubles Champion.

Dou8les Num3ers leaves no stone unturned. Percentage breakdowns of how often the server or receiver hits the last shot highlight the dramatic influence of the serve. The last shot of the rally is significant, and is broken down into the following categories: volleys, overheads, passing shots, lobs and groundstrokes.

When you play a match, you actually play two matches.

When you walk out onto a tennis court, there are two matches that you are about to play. The first is during the point - a part of the match that you have spent a lot of time preparing for on the practice court. But there is a second match, that takes place in the 20 seconds between the points. This is where the mental and emotional aspects of our sport kick in.

Let's face it, there will be adversity in almost every tennis match that you play. The storm clouds are coming. How bug they are, and how long they last for, are up to you.

Between the points is very tennis specific. It provides a roadmap for the 20 seconds between the points, teaching how to handle the adversity that will surely come, and how to build on the successes that will also be present. Your mind is your biggest asset in a match, and Between the Points takes your hand off the self destruct button and stops you beating yourself.

You don't have to be good at everything, but you have got to be good at something.

You can break tennis down into four key elements - serving, returning, rallying and approaching. Each part has specific patterns of play that consistently deliver higher winning percentages than the others. No more guessing. No more opinions. All facets of our sport are covered in this exceptional product, clearly outlining what patterns to gravitate to, and how to best construct the practice court. Data comes primarily from the 2015 Australian Open.

Building Blocks

MEN = 70% errors / 30% winners
WOMEN = 74% errors / 26% winners

Forcing errors is the best way to construct a point.
You can simply break tennis down into primary and secondary patterns of play - and they are all covered here. Primary patterns include serve and return direction, forehands v backhands, and the best way to approach the net. Secondary patterns include drop shots, serve & volley and 1st volley options. If you play tournaments, this product will greatly help you simplify the singles court.

The conversation starts & ends with the Center Window.

The doubles court is like an hourglass. There are two big ends, but a small neck in the middle where all the action happens. Once you learn the power of the Center Window, where you stand to start the point will take on a lot more significance.

Doubles is a lot more about situations, with four people on the court all "dancing" with one another. Learn all the best doubles patterns, broken down for the server, returner, server's partner and the returner's partner.

Doubles Situations

The "J" - the most ideal movement for the returner's partner to attack the net.

The "V" - a better way of understanding where the server's partner should move to.

Volley Targets - there are four main areas to attack. Know which ones are higher percentage. Beach Volleyball - the idea of a "setter" and "spiker" is ideal for the doubles court.

There are certain parts of the court that the ball travels to a lot, and other low percentage areas that you really don't want to cover at all - like the alley! In general, the serving team wants to keep the ball in the middle of the court as much as possible (to help the server's partner), while the returning team benefits from hitting wider and creating more chaos in the point.

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Getting Tight Sneak Peek: We Are All In The Same Boat

G’day,

Getting Tight Video: Opponent Analysis

Mini-Lesson Reviews