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JAK'S MONTHLY ESSAY SERIES: Achieving Your Personal Best

HEY!… MAYBE IT'S JUST YOUR GYRO NEEDING RECALIBRATING

By Jak Beardsworth

Once upon a time, while driving back to my former summer gig in Lake Placid, NY, right after participating in a colleague's clinic/mini-camp in NH, I was stopped and ticketed by a Vermont State Trooper. Far behind schedule in getting home after taking a short-cut, which turned into a frustrating long-cut , I finally reached a long straight away after a maddening half-hour behind slow pokes. So, I punched it, all the way up to 100 mph. Of course I was looking out for cops in the far distance horizon on that empty stretch of road just in case. Suddenly, a tiny dot appeared, but wait, oh no, it's a cop! I'm sure I went by him with my front end heaving downward , this time with a heavy foot on the brakes. He made an immediate u-turn as we went by each other in a flash. I immediately pulled over and surrendered. Caught red handed.

As he walked up to my car I prepared my license and registration for the inevitable. In a surprisingly friendly manner, he queried me about my tennis gear in the back seat and the Florida license plate. Satisfied I was probably not a serial murderer, he then asked how fast I thought I was going. I sheepishly offered, "70?" His dead-pan, response was, "When was the last time you had your speedometer recalibrated?" Huh?

In a more tennis specific vein, still analogous, much like a match that took place at the 2024 Miami Open women's doubles final, color commentator Martina Navratolova – no wall flower and one never timid about critiquing players – offered- up this after star doubles specialist, New Zealander Erica Routliffe, was, inexplicably, unable to buy a first serve in the second set after serving well in the first. Her "factory settings" were suddenly not working, and she, apparently without a saving "a get out of jail serve"… a phrase attributed to stellar ESPN commentator Leif Shiras. After Routliffe audibly whined to her coach seated close by, Navratolova exploded on air without a trace of empathy, "Oh my God. Figure it out! Aim higher. Aim lower. Aim more to the left. Aim more to the right."

In other words recalibrate.

Even world class players have to adjust for wind, sun, balls, or an opponent's different ball bounce, and themselves as well. It could just be a momentary hiccup – a single point, or a full game. Or, when really off, perhaps the whole set, or even an entire match due to an uninvited, repeated, loss of shot accuracy.

So, it follows that when it comes to mere club player mortals with far less accuracy and reliability, it becomes an absolute necessity to recalibrate when your shot intentions are not what you intended or visualized, despite striking balls cleanly and solidly.

Far more than most clubbers realize it's often more than just the strokes themselves. Adjusting your inner gyroscope (your personal GPS if you will) when your shots are a bit off involves some adapting. Your mind's eye actually starts "aiming" slightly wrong to get it "right."

In any event, as Navratolova makes clear…sometimes you just have to "figure it out" with what you've got.

Copyright© 2007- 2024 by Jak Beardsworth Tennis. All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

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Past Essays

  • November 2024 - The Walking Wounded
    [read more]
  • October 2024 - HEY!… MAYBE IT'S JUST YOUR GYRO NEEDING RECALIBRATING
    [read more]
  • August 2024 - The Game's Most Difficult Skills & the Most Taken For Granted
    [read more]
  • June 2024 - KNOW YOUR DOUBLE’S IN-POINT SITUATION WHEN BACK or RETURNING SERVE
    [read more]
  • April 2024 - Coulda, shoulda got that: The Art of Poaching
    [read more]
  • March 2024 - Get Your JuJu On
    [read more]
  • February 2024 - Giving Opponents too Much Respect
    [read more]
  • January 2024 - Rally Ball Or Pull The Trigger
    [read more]
  • December 2023 - The Forgotten Stop Volley
    [read more]
  • November 2023 - "You're Only as Good as Your Second Serve"
    [read more]

Essay Archives

Click a year to view more essays

2023

  • October 2023 - good misses vs bad misses
    [read more]
  • September 2023 - Why good players are good players!
    [read more]
  • August 2023 - On poaching and fake poaching: Becoming a Force at the Net in Doubles
    [read more]
  • July 2023 - The Beautiful Game is Getting Ugly
    [read more]
  • June 2023 - The Approach Dropper: Lob Killer
    [read more]
  • May 2023 - Why club players don't practice
    [read more]
  • April 2023 - DON'T FIGHT TIGHT
    [read more]
  • March 2023 - Classic finish line failure
    [read more]
  • February 2023 - Defending the lob over your net partner - The "Switch"
    [read more]

2022

  • December 2022 - E. I. D. - Extended Impact Duration
    [read more]
  • November 2022 - Movement Enhancement to Stay Better In-Point Connected
    [read more]
  • September 2022 - Advanced Visualization 301
    [read more]
  • August 2022 - Tennis' uniqueness: warming-up the enemy
    [read more]
  • July 2022 - Extracting Double Faults Through Receiving Positions... and more
    [read more]
  • June 2022 - Consider Serve and Volley
    [read more]
  • May 2022 - How the Toss Primes the Serve Relaxation Pump
    [read more]
  • April 2022 - Ball Watching and Science
    [read more]
  • March 2022 - Caving
    [read more]
  • February 2022 - Kenny G and Emmo
    [read more]
  • January 2022 - The Knees
    [read more]

2021

  • December 2021 - The Match is with You
    [read more]
  • November 2021 - The Backup Racket in Your Bag
    [read more]
  • October 2021 - Every Tennis Player Can and Should Have a Weapon
    [read more]
  • September 2021 - LEARNING NEW SKILLS: First the Process, Then the Results
    [read more]
  • August 2021 - The Challenge of Visualizing… For Some
    [read more]
  • July 2021 - Playing with both your feet and your hands
    [read more]
  • June 2021 - Finding the Range
    [read more]
  • May 2021 - The Focus
    [read more]
  • April 2021 - About Your Butt Cap
    [read more]
  • March 2021 - The Essential Forehand and Backhand
    [read more]
  • February 2021 - On Being a Doubles All-Courter
    [read more]
  • January 2021 - Same Grip Volleying Myths
    [read more]

2020

  • December 2020 - On mechanics and style
    [read more]
  • November 2020 - THE BIG 3: The Glue That Keeps Your Best Game Together
    [read more]
  • September 2020 - Protocol and Game Tradition Revisited
    [read more]
  • August 2020 - As Good as Your 2nd Serve
    [read more]
  • July 2020 - Shot Shaping
    [read more]
  • June 2020 - Getting a Point in Jeopardy Back to Neutral
    [read more]
  • May 2020 - A Positive Mind-Set: On and Off the Court in Today's C-19 Reality
    [read more]
  • April 2020 - The Zombie Tennis Creed – Top Ten
    [read more]
  • March 2020 - A Roadmap Into "The Zone"
    [read more]
  • February 2020 - The service toss: myths and realities
    [read more]
  • January 2020 - Shot Gazing
    [read more]

2019

  • December 2019 - The Dreaded High Bouncing Moonball Dilemma
    [read more]
  • November 2019 - Chalk Flew: Troublesome Line Calling without Hawkeye in Clubland [read more]
  • October 2019 - In the Spirit of Don't Drink and Drive… Don't Think and Hit [read more]
  • September 2019 - Old School vs New School [read more]
  • August 2019 - Getting the Ball Where You Want It [read more]
  • July 2019 - Taking Points Off…What? [read more]
  • June 2019 - Confidence Is Confidence: Take It Wherever You Can Get It [read more]
  • May 2019 - TENNIS INNOVATION IMPLODES [read more]
  • April 2019 - Defending the Court with Older Bones: A Club Player's Guide to Saying "Nice Shot" Less [read more]
  • March 2019 - Do You Have Doubles Rally Tolerance? [read more]
  • February 2019 - I Knew Jimy Van Alen: A Historical Look Back [read more]
  • January 2019 - The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste: Mental Toughness Skills [read more]

2018

  • December 2018 - Less Bling is the Thing [read more]
  • November 2018 - Anatomy of a Doubles Serve Return…from the Inside Out [read more]
  • October 2018 - Older Dogs and New Tricks: Still Improving at Any Age [read more]
  • September 2018 - The All-Important Dynamic of Gripping [read more]
  • August 2018 - The Cinemascope Syndrome: Undermining Your Ball Watching [read more]
  • June 2018 - Serving and Returning Better with a Quiet Eye [read more]
  • May 2018 - The Man Who Breathed for Two [read more]
  • January 2018 - Rituals Anyone? [read more]

2017

  • December 2017 - Why Serving is so Difficult in Clubland [read more]
  • October 2017 - Managing your body and mind in tennis space [read more]
  • August 2017 - Why Bother Breathing to Improve Your Game [read more]
  • May 2017 - The "Maintaining" One's Game as One Ages Fallacy [read more]
  • February 2017 - Punta Gorda Tennis Clubs: Setting the Bar [read more]
  • January 2017 - State of the Club Game: The Growing Death of Sportsmanship [read more]

Check back often for more essays.