JAK'S MONTHLY ESSAY SERIES: Achieving Your Personal Best
Why club players don’t practice
May 2023
The very best players on the planet are out practicing every day with their coach to “try to improve” as Nadal always says at press conferences after a loss. And that’s Rafael Nadal saying that no less! They are not exclusively playing only points, sets, and matches day in and day out.
So why do club players ignore and avoid improvement through shot making practice? Why do they treat practice like the plague, or more currently, like the pandemic?
It’s such a conundrum since everyone wants to do well, get better match play results, and win more. Some, particularly those who never practice, curiously also, typically, even avoid engaging in a productive, proper warm-up before match play.
"Let’s just play." Nonsensical if improvement is something you aspire to.
If you do not, and you’re quite satisfied with your existing playing skills, and results, that’s fine. But if that’s the case, then let’s not whine about, or are perplexed about, why you’re losing too many of these never ending matches.
In part at least, practicing is out because too many club players are mostly “matched-out,” or “played-out,” not unusually accompanied by a resulting perception of practice as drudgery, which then piles on to an actual awareness of too much on-court time. Factor in their scheduling norm of only playing more and more matches, league or friendly or social, and you’ve got a game stuck on a plateau hanging by your fingertips.
These never ending matches are predictably viewed as lots of fun, when winning. It’s all good. Yet, not so much when losing. Particularly when losing is experienced too often.
What’s the solution? Playing more and more without practice is definitely not it!
How about realizing that practice, particularly when all by yourself (ball machine, backboard, drop hitting, serve practice) can be both enjoyable, satisfying, and fun. Even Zenish. There’s no pressure in having-to-win, a misguided singular metric for success. That belief represents a game growth killing mind set, present in too many clubbers, who, would you believe, cling to winning as the only thing – while standing pat with holes in their games yet, nonetheless, expecting better results (?) – including even in friendlies with nothing at stake but one’s ego.
Prioritizing performing your best is the coin of the competitive tennis realm – at every level. Perform well, and have a good chance to get that win. The “wins” are a product of better performances. Perform poorly, often because your mind is preoccupied with the fear of losing or making an error, and the “W” becomes elusive.
It’s all about the performance! Even if you don’t get the win, you’ll feel good about yourself if you played well, or at least better, even in a loss.
So what’s one of the best ways to enhance your match play performances? Practice! Not scheduling match after match after match after match – not to mention those truncated warm-ups - ad infinitum, without any regular practice. Huh?
It’s a process. One brick at a time… the success template.
Any practice component will do: ball machine, hitting wall/backboard, drop hitting, serving to targets, or drilling one-on-one with a practice partner, all of which can be very satisfying. No eye-rolling double’s partners to be concerned about. No overly uncooperative, combative opponents to get under your skin in the warm-up. Just you working on your game in a no pressure setting at your own pace and tempo.
And, by the way, it actually can be fun and satisfying when you sort out that troublesome inside-out cross court doubles backhand from the deuce side for example. Getting the feel of that uncomfortable altered grip, and toss, necessary to bend in second serves with aggressive spin, maybe even a kick. Or developing a lethal drop shot – such a huge weapon in club play. And whatever else you need to improve.
Repetition.
Think of it as an investment in your game, especially in the off-season when league play is diminished here in Florida. No investment, no return…that’s putting your game improvement under the proverbial mattress.
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