ARM WRESTLING CAN HELP YOUR TENNIS - A LOT!

At the beginning of a match, both players
think they can win. What changes?

You see it more clearly when the players are young and new to competition, but it’s common to all levels of tennis. 

Two players are locked in an on-court battle for some time, and then one of the players wins the mental battle of wills, and the match is essentially over. Don’t be fooled by appearances. The remainder of the match may seem competitive, and the points may be exciting, but the match was over once the mental battle of wills was decided.

That early “arm wrestle” decided the outcome of the match. Think about that for a moment. Winning that mental arm wrestle can decide who wins the match.

In most cases, both players start the match believing they can win. Both players can even start the match, convinced that they will win. However, in nearly every match, something changes that self-belief in one of those players.

But is the importance of winning the game of wills really anything new? People have been saying tennis is 90% mental for a long time now. 

If we believe that tennis is 90% mental then why do players still contest matches focusing mostly on the quality of their stroke technique? I’m not saying good technique is not important, I’m saying we may have been missing an important point here, that winning the mental arm wrestle is a major key to breaking down your opponents resolve for you to win the match.

At his peak, Rafael Nadal repeated a pattern throughout his matches, demonstrating his belief in winning the arm wrestle first. 

Nadal played conservative tennis during the early stages of a match, never going for too much, maintaining a cross-court pattern, and putting great effort into his defence whenever he needed to defend the point. 

Later, after he had won the mental arm wrestle and his opponent's level began to drop, Nadal would start hitting his forehand down the line more and come to the net to finish the point sooner. Watching, you could feel he instinctively sensed his opponent had already been broken mentally.

Nadal is a player who targets his opponents 
resolve early in the match

This “breaking of wills” can take varying lengths of time. It often happens within the first four games, but some opponents take longer.

The other great exponent of the early arm wrestle is Novak Djokovic. Djokovic has won some epic matches in which his opponents throw everything at him for two sets, only for their games to break down in the dying stages of the match.

Andy Murray and Roger Federer are two highly skilled players who expect that if they play sublime tennis they will win their matches.  Playing at their best has worked with the other players, but with Djokovic and Nadal, who are programmed to think about the arm wrestle first, they often came up short.

Andy Murray and Stanislav Wawrinka
have relied on their talent and have often 
come up short" later in matches

I have heard it said “The final tactic is guts,” meaning that near the end of matches, both players end up in a battle based mostly on guts. 

However, I believe the first tactic is guts. 

"Tactics and technique are the weapons you employ, but the arm wrestle can change your opponent's mindset and make the battle much easier." 

Start making mental arm wrestling your primary purpose at the beginning of matches. Once you are dominating the mental arm wrestling, watch as everything becomes much easier.