THE CARD COUNT: Why Having the Better Deck Doesn't Guarantee the Win
The Card Count: Why Having the Better Deck Doesn't Guarantee the Win By Paul Dale \ The 3AM Method Every match is decided twice — once on paper, in the advantages each player brings to the court, and once in the only place that actually counts: whether the player with the better hand actually plays it. A Way of Seeing the Match Before It Starts Before a ball is struck, I find it useful — as a coach, and as a way of teaching players to think about their own matches — to run a simple exercise. Compare the two players, advantage by advantage, and hand out a card for each one. Superior forehand? A card. Better movement? A card. A bigger serve, a calmer temperament under pressure, a more complete net game, a longer injury-free run into the tournament, more experience on this particular surface — each one is a card, awarded to whichever player holds the edge. At the end of that exercise, one player is usually holding more cards than the other. Sometimes it isn't close. Five...