DOES HEIGHT MATTER IN TENNIS?

A mentor of mine told me years ago "A good big man will always beat a good small man". What he was saying was that all other things being equal, size plays a big part in the result of a tennis match. 



Today, I'm not so sure he was correct. There's no doubt that you need to be tall to play in the NBA, and for that matter to qualify for the Olympics in the High Jump. But while being tall may play a significant part in other sports, thankfully in tennis, we don't solely rely on height. We have mobility, strength, endurance, speed, flexibility, mental strength, and strategy as other necessary attributes. 

Tennis requires a long list of attributes than many of the other sports.

Currently, a lot of the new players making their mark on the game are tall. A quick look at the heights of the new generation of players shows us that many of the top players are well over six feet.

Where tall players do have an advantage, is on the faster surfaces such as grass and indoors. 

Back when I was competing in tournaments and was drawn to play a taller player, I would remind myself before the match to focus on my Return of Serve. Tall players usually always serve well. I knew that if I could get a lot of my returns back in the court and engage my taller opponent in a rally, I may be able to eventually gain control of the groundstroke exchanges. 

In 1992 Andre Agassi played Goran Ivanisevic in the Wimbledon Men's Singles Final and watched 33 aces go past him during the match. Was Agassi despondent? Not at all. Ivanisevic was the taller man (6'4") and possessed the better service, but Agassi knew that if he could get the Return of Serve back successfully he could gain an advantage in the rally. Agassi's Return of Serve was up to the task that day and he was able to win his first Wimbledon singles title despite Ivanisevic's dominant Serve.

Taller players will always have an advantage on faster surfaces because the faster surface helps their serve. 
  
On slower surfaces like clay Rafael Nadal and Noval Djokovic (both 6'1") have been dominant. On clay, your movement and particularly your balance are more important than your height.

As much as things have changed in tennis, many things have stayed the same. Tennis will always reward the all-around player. Being extremely good in certain areas of the game, while weaker in other facets will not get you to the top today. 

We only need to look at the examples of the best 3 players of our era (possible of all time) to see that an all-round game requiring the ability to play effectively in all areas of the court, on all surfaces, and against a variety of styles, is the surest way to reach the top of our game. 

Over recent years Nadal has modified his serve and become very comfortable moving forward to the net to finish points when the opportunity presented itself. Djokovic can now dominate equally well on all three Grand Slam surfaces, and Federer has won all 4 of the Grand Slam tournaments also. 

Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer all possessed the versatility in their games to reach the top and stay there. Regardless of your size, tennis will always demand a variety of skills and attributes to succeed. 

Sometimes being tall can also be a problem. Our bodies were never made to run around on a hard surface making sudden changes of direction and contorting ourselves into awkward positions to get our opponent's ball back. Played for long enough, and at the highest level, tennis can lead to physical problems. Often those problems involve the joints.

Tennis can throw your body into
awkward positions during points

Injuries occur in tennis whether you are tall or not, but it does seem that taller players are succumbing to injuries more frequently today.

It's therefore not necessary to over-think this issue of height. If you coach a player or are the parent of a player who is not that tall it's not the end of the world. There are many other areas that you can focus on to help improve your game to reach the top.

#talentisneverenough

Location: London, UK

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