Tuesday, 04 June 2019 / Published in ATP Tour

Women’s Tennis – 4 Myths Busted

For a deeper analysis of the massive impact the length of the rally has on winning a match, I highly recommend THE FIRST 4 SHOTS. Click HERE for more information about this tennis strategy product, focused on the importance of the start of the rally.

The First 4 Shots – Video

Bonjour from Roland Garros!

You may think women’s tennis on clay at Roland Garros is all about long rallies and being patient and trying to outlast opponents. Well, let’s see if that theory is true or not by analyzing the eight ladies who have navigated their way to the quarter-finals. Here are the match-ups.

Madison Keys vs. Ash Barty
Simona Halep v Amanda Anisimova
Sloane Stephens v Johanna Konta
Marketa Vondrousova v Petra Martic

Below are four interesting lessons that will help you see the women’s matches here at #RG19 in a different light. Let’s see if we can bust some myths!

MYTH 1: Women’s Tennis On Clay Is All About Long Rallies

A point in tennis is divided into three easy, clean rally lengths. The way rally length is calculated is by the ball landing in the court. Here they are below…

0-4 Shots
5-8 Shots
9+ Shots

So here is the COMBINED breakdown of the percentage of points played for the 8 ladies who are all still alive in the tournament.

0-4 Shots = 64%
5-8 Shots = 25%
9+ Shots = 11%

Almost two out of every three points (64%) that these ladies have played to reach the quarter-finals has seen them hit the ball a MAXIMUM of just two times in a point. Remember, a four shot rally means four balls landed in the court, which means each player hit the ball just twice.

Clay court tennis is not about long rallies at all. Only 11% of points reached a rally length of nine shots or longer.

MYTH 2: Sloane Stephens dominates more in longer rallies than shorter ones.

The first thing to understand about tennis stats is that you can basically break them down into two separate categories.

Stats that count the number of times something happens.
Stats that count the number of times you win, creating a win percentage.

So when we look at Sloane, she does gravitate to playing longer points. But is it because she dominates there? Or is it because she thinks she will wear her opponents down physically, or because she does not like the risk of attacking opponents earlier in the point, or it’s just how she feels comfortable on the court?

Here’s Sloane’s breakdown to the quarters…

0-4 Shots = 179 won / 141 lost = +38
5-8 Shots = 86 won / 69 lost = +17
9+ Shots = 61 won / 63 lost = -2

Here’s the irony of it all. Sloane has played THE MOST amount of rallies in 9+ of the eight ladies left in the tournament, but she does the worst there!!! She should not be seeking to play longer rallies at all. She has no advantage there, and they are fatiguing. They add up and cost you a shot at the tournament later in the second week.

MYTH 3: Women Create A Bigger Advantage In Longer Rallies over Shorter Rallies

This is simply mind-boggling how factually incorrect it is. Let’s look at all eight ladies combined to see where they win the most amount of points over their opponents.

0-4 Shots: 1381 won / 1034 lost = +347
5-8 Shots: 533 won / 409 lost = +124
9+ Shots: 229 won / 201 lost = +28

Would you rather focus on an area of the game that helps you produce a 347 point advantage or a 28 point advantage? It’s plainly obvious, especially when you consider how much physical effort you have to commit to both areas.

Shorter rallies in the 0-4 shot range are is where winning really happens – at all levels of our sport.

MYTH 4: Long Points Are Where You Win

When you look at the win/loss record in long rallies of 9+ shots, it’s clear the advantages are very, very slim. It’s ironic that Sloane Stephens has played the most (124 points), and had no advantage at all (-2 points won). Nobody else has played nearly that many – not even Simona Halep, who has played 69 rallies in 9+.

Eight Quarter-Finalists – 9+ Rally Length Performance

+11 S. Halep = 40 won / 29 lost
+9 P. Martic = 33 won / 24 lost
+5 A. Barty = 25 won / 20 lost
+3 J. Konta = 12 won / 9 lost
+1 Madison Keys = 19 won / 18 lost
+1 A. Asisimova (2 matches recorded) = 13 won / 12 lost
0 M. Vondrousova (3 matches recorded) = 26 won / 26 lost
-2 S. Stephens = 61 won / 63 lost

The myth that is busted here really relates to the practice court. There is absolutely no need to grind and grind and grind hitting forehands and backhands mindlessly, endlessly…

You will win far more matches being more “consistent” in the 0-4 rally length (not missing either of the first two shots you hit) than in long rallies, where the win-loss ratio naturally becomes a lot more even.

All the best from Paris,

Craig

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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Women’s Tennis – 4 Myths Busted

The First 4 Shots – Video

Bonjour from Roland Garros!