The fast, erratic, net-rushing tennis-player is a creature of impulse. There is no real strategy to his/her attack, no comprehension of your game. He will make brilliant coups on the spur of the moment, largely by instinct; but there is no, mental power of consistent thinking. It is an interesting type of character.
The most unnerving player is the one who mixes his/her strategy from back to fore court at the direction of an ever-active mind. This/her is the player to study and learn from. He is a player with a definite intention. A player who has an answer to every query you present him in your game. He is the most subtle opponent in the world of tennis. He is from the school of Brookes. Second only to him is the player of slavish determination that sets his/her mind on one strategy and adheres to it, bitterly, fiercely battling to the end, with no thought of changing.
He is the player whose psychology is rather simple to understand, but whose mental viewpoint is difficult to upset, because he never permits himself to think of anything but his game. This/her player is your Johnston or your Wilding. I respect the intelligence of Brookes more, but I admire the determination of Johnston.
Choose your kind from your own mental pattern, and then plan your game along the lines most suited to you. When two men are in the same class as regards stroke, strength and equipment, the deciding factor in any match is the mental standpoint. Luck, as it is called, is often no more than grasping the psychological value of a break in the game, and turning it to your own account. People talk a great deal about the “shots we have made.” But few people realize the importance of the “shots we have missed.”
The science of missing shots is just as important as that of making them, and at times a miss by an inch is of more value than a return that is killed by your opponent. Let me explain. A player drives you far out of court with an angle-shot. You run hard to it, and having reached it, you smash it hard and fast down the side-line, missing it by an inch. Your opponent is surprised and shaken, knowing that your shot could just as well have gone in as out. He will expect you to try it again and he will not take the risk next time. He will try to play the ball, and may fall into error. You have thus stolen some of your opponent’s confidence, and increased his/her chance of error, just because of a miss.
However, if you had merely tapped back that ball, and it had been killed, your opponent would have felt increasingly confident of your inability to get the ball out of his/her reach, while you would only have been out of breath for no reason.
Let’s suppose that you had made that shot down the sideline. It was a seemingly impossible get. First it amounts to TWO points, in that it stole one away from your opponent that should have been his/her and gave you one that you should never have had. Second it also upsets your opponent, as he feels that he has lost a big opportunity.
The psychology involved in a game of tennis is very interesting, but easily understandable. Both player start with equal opportunities. However, once one player has gained a real advantage, his/her confidence rises, while his/her opponent worries, and his/her mental viewpoint becomes weaker. The only objective of the first player is to hold his/her lead, thereby holding his/her confidence.
If the second player pulls even or draws ahead, the inevitable reaction is an even more drastic contrast in psychology. There is the natural confidence of the leader, but coupled with the great stimulus of having turned a seemingly sure-fire defeat into a probable victory. The case of the other player is the reverse. He is likely to lose confidence and play worse. The collapse of his game plan will be the result.
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