Bigger Better Tennis - Paul Dale

  You could be mistaken for thinking tennis is all about aggression. At the top level, players are pounding the ball at every opportunity. You'd be surprised then if you learned that my goal when coaching advanced players is to first have them develop a defensive mental foundation.   I'm not suggesting that I teach players to send up continuous lobs during the rally or for them to stand at the back fence to retrieve balls. My goal with advanced players is to change the internal mental dialogue all players experince before every stroke.  A PLAYERS INTERNAL DIALOG BEFORE SHOTS Every player has a continuous mental dialogue inside their head when they play a point.  "How aggressive should I be on this ball?", "Is this the ball to change direction down the line?" etc. The internal dialogue inside our heads drives our decision making There's nothing wrong with this type of internal dialogue, but there are better questions to ask yourself before each shot. So,

All advanced tournament-level players have reached a high degree of technical proficiency, which has played a significant role in getting them to where they are now.  However, as an advanced tournament-level player, it's important for you to constantly look for other ways to refine and improve your game. There will be areas where slight enhancements or adjustments can lead to further improvements in performance. One such area, and my favorite recommendation for most players, is the mental and strategic side of our game. It's there that you will make the most dramatic improvement in your tournament results. Try to stay open-minded. While the Mental and strategic side of the game can seem daunting, confusing, and even scary to some players, this is where the real opportunities for growth exist.  LOOK AT SIMILAR SPORTS I often compare tennis to boxing. The two sports are very similar. Both involve offense and defense. Both are one on one (except in tennis Doubles) encounters that

I've always taught strategy to players early in their development. For me, strategy is an integral part of a competitive player's toolkit along with stroke technique, fitness, and movement.   When teaching strategy to beginners, you'll need to tailor your instructions to suit the age and level of the player(s), but the teaching of strategy should be done early and not left to later.  I have recently been involved with college tennis in the US and have seen firsthand the lack of any prior introduction players receive on the topic of strategy.   Most of the players I have watched competing at college level have had difficulty implementing even elementary strategy in their matches.  The problem starts when, early in a players career, coaches believe that if a player has perfected their stroke technique, that will naturally transfer into savvy match-play. That certainly is not the case.  The fact is that college coaches are left to deal with this neglected part of a players de