Bigger Better Tennis - Paul Dale

So many players are finding that under the spotlight of an actual match, all their pre-tournament preparation seems to amount to nothing. Are we approaching "practice" all wrong?

" Most practice sessions prior to competition  often  revolve around  perfecting strokes  and gaining confidence." The biggest misconception among players and their coaches is that practice sessions should create comfort. Most practice sessions prior to competition often revolve around perfecting strokes and gaining confidence. However, relying on comfortable practice conditions and seeking to develop confidence during practice sessions will later hinder performance in real match play. In this article, we will explore the significance of making practice uncomfortable and focusing on mental toughness, decision-making, and adapting to unpredictable situations to achieve success on the match court. The Illusion of Comfort: Many advanced players approach practice sessions with the goal of making their strokes feel good and comfortable. They believe that by grooving their strokes in ideal conditions, they will automatically transfer that confidence into match play. Unfor...

Gael Monfils, his tennis shirt stained with clay from numerous falls during this nearly 3-hour match, is bent over his racket, looking like he can't go on. Will he continue? Can he even run to another ball? You bet he can! During his long career, Gael Monfils has been involved in many matches like this. Gael Monfils employs the classic " wounded duck " strategy often and successfully. Imagine that you've worked your way back into a match after losing the first set and have continued to control the momentum by dominating the 2nd set.  At the start of the third set, everything feels under control. Your opponent is making uncharacteristic errors and physically and mentally looking like a beaten player. You have established momentum in the match but is everything as it seems? During a match, momentum can be with you, with your opponent, or in a neutral state whereby both players are trying to wrestle control of it. Players who adopt the wounded duck strategy are ultimatel...

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 neglecte...

If you feel like your tennis is not going anywhere, but you practice super hard every day, here are my suggestions to get you out of your tennis slump.  PUT THESE THINGS IN YOUR PRACTICE IMMEDIATELY! Mental pressure... Whatever you do during practice put pressure on yourself to do it as best you can.  Take the warm-up as an example. It's easy to arrive at practice and begin your warm-up slightly unfocused. You've warmed up a thousand times before and you probably think you don't need to focus much anyway, you think the warm-up can be performed in automatic mode.  But you're wrong. By focusing more during the warm-up you are awakening your brain and preparing it to work at a higher level when you do start hitting balls. It's also important to focus any time you're in the gym, because you'll get more benefits from a focused gym session than an unfocused one. Another time to increase the mental pressure on yourself is when you're drilling or playing points....

Of all the tennis topics, the topic of tennis fitness has changed the most. Alternative fades come in, and are soon replaced by another different fitness idea that comes along. It's enormously confusing for us coaches and players to get a solid idea of what exactly we should be doing with regard to tennis fitness. What does seem to have gotten better however is that we now realize that tennis fitness should be related closely to what happens on the court in matches.  Often in the past, any tennis fitness done on-court was almost completely different from what was needed on-court in real matches.  PERIODIZATION Don't be scared by the long serious term Periodization. Here is what it means to us as tennis Coaches and Players. Periodization is a term to describe what we should do several weeks (sometimes months) out from an important tennis event that we want to peak for. By using periodization a player can build their game and their fitness so that on the day of the event they ar...