|
Wizard
Two
What to Look for When Watching a Professional Match.
The
Tennis Warrior is brought to you by Tom Veneziano (tom@tennisserver.com).
Tom is a tennis pro teaching at the Piney Point Racquet Club in
Houston, Texas. Tom has taught thousands of players to think like
a pro with his Tennis Warrior System (http://www.tenniswarrior.com/
).
Most people
focus on the spectacular shots and miss the true dynamics... consistency
and control!
- The
pros are not always going for winners! Watch as they
strategically move the ball around looking for
an opening to go for the gold. Most club
players play in what I call the "hit
winners mindset," always trying to do something spectacular.
Not so with the pros!
- Watch
for deep approach shots as the pros venture to the net.
But then watch how easily they get passed when
they hit a short approach
shot!
- When
pros come to the net and get passed, do they think to
themselves, "I'm not going to do that again,
I got passed"? No, instead they wait
for another opportunity to put pressure on
their opponent and come up to the net again. I've watched
many club matches and if one player comes to the
net and gets passed or lobbed over his head,
that's it for coming to the net....they
just stop! The pros are relentless in their pursuit
to keep pressure on their opponent.
- Most
of the top players are masters at forgetting their
mistake and moving on. Watch as they hit a bad
shot, brush it off and keep moving. They
may have an outburst of frustration, but
then they are back on the move. (When a pro is
playing poorly or has a bad break, put yourself in their
shoes and see how you would react!)
- Watch
for up and down cycles in the match. First, one player
has the momentum, then the other and so on. Cycles
are part of matches and should be understood
as reality, so when you are in a down cycle
just keep plugging along. Good and bad cycles on the
tennis court will always repeat themselves. Your job is to
think like a pro and deal with them.
- Watch
for the pros to split-step every time their opponent hits
the ball -- ready to run quickly in any direction.
If you are not familiar with the split-step,
watch when one player is returning serve.
You will see the receiver jump a little off the ground and
land with his or her feet spread apart; this is
called the split-step.
- Watch
how the pros warm up slowly. A pro is not trying to win the
warm-up by blasting winners! What
do you do when you warm up?
Remember, when
watching a professional match, keep your mind off the spectacular
and on the control and consistency that is the signature of a champion!
E-mail
Arias
Tennis Wizard
.
Back
to the Arias
Tennis Wizard
|
