Month: November 2017

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SINGLES AND DOUBLES IN TENNIS.

A hard 5-set singles match is the greatest strain on the body and nervous system of any form of sport. Singles is a game of daring, dash, speed of foot and stroke. It is a game of chance far more than doubles. Since you have no partner dependent upon you, you can afford to risk error for the possibility of speedy victory. Much of what I wrote under match play is more for singles than doubles, yet let me call your attention to certain peculiarities of singles from the standpoint of the spectator.

A gallery enjoys personalities far more than styles. Singles brings two people into close and active relations that show the idiosyncrasies of each player far more acutely than doubles. The spectator is in the position of a man watching an insect under a microscope. He can analyse the inner workings. The freedom of restraint felt on a single court is in marked contrast to the need for team work in doubles. Go out for your shot in singles whenever there is a reasonable chance of getting it. Hit harder at all times in singles than in doubles, for you have more chance of scoring and can take more risk.

Singles is a game of the imagination, doubles a science of exact angles.
Doubles is four-handed tennis. Enough of this primary reader definition.
It is just as vital to play to your partner in tennis as in bridge. Every time you make a stroke you must do it with a definite plan to avoid putting your partner in trouble. The keynote of doubles success is team work; not individual brilliancy. There is a certain type of team work dependent wholly upon individual brilliancy. Where both players are in the same class, a team is as strong as its weakest player at any given time, for here it is even team work with an equal division of the court that should be the method of play. In the case of one strong player and one weaker player, the team is as good as the strong player can make it by protecting and defending the weaker. This pair should develop its team work on the individual brilliancy of the stronger man.

The first essential of doubles play is to PUT the ball in play. A double fault is bad in singles, but it is inexcusable in doubles. The return of service should be certain. After that it should be low and to the server coming in. Do not strive for clean aces in doubles until you have the opening. Remember that to pass two men is a difficult task. Always attack in doubles. The net is the only place in the court to play the doubles game, and you should always strive to attain the net position. I believe in always trying for the kill when you see a real opening. “Poach” (go for a shot which is not really on your side of the court) whenever you see a chance to score. Never poach unless you go for the kill. It is a win or nothing shot since it opens your whole court. If you are missing badly do not poach, as it is very disconcerting to your partner.

The question of covering a doubles court should not be a serious one. With all men striving to attain the net all the time every shot should be built up with that idea. Volley and smash whenever possible, and only retreat when absolutely necessary.

When the ball goes toward the side-line the net player on that side goes in close and toward the line. His partner falls slightly back and to the centre of the court, thus covering the shot between the men. If the next return goes to the other side, the two men reverse positions. The theory of court covering is two sides of a triangle, with the angle in the centre and the two sides running to the side-lines and in the direction of the net.

Each man should cover overhead balls over his own head, and hit them in the air whenever possible, since to allow them to drop gives the net to the other team. The only time for the partner to protect the overhead is when the net man “poaches,” is outguessed, and the ball tossed over his head. Then the server covers and strives for a kill at once.

Always be ready to protect your partner, but do not take shots over his head unless he calls for you to, or you see a certain kill. Then say “Mine,” step in and hit decisively. The matter of overhead balls, crossing under them, and such incidentals of team work are matters of personal opinion, and should be arranged by each team according to their joint views. I only offer general rules that can be modified to meet the wishes of the individuals.

Use the lob as a defence, and to give time to extricate yourself and your partner from a bad position. The value of service in doubles cannot be too strongly emphasized since it gives the net to the server. Service should always be held. To lose service is an unpardonable sin in first-class doubles. All shots in doubles should be low or very high. Do not hit shoulder-high as it is too easy to kill. Volley down and hard if possible. Every shot you make should be made with a definite idea of opening the court. Hit down the centre to disrupt the team work of the opposing team; but hit to the side-lines for your aces.
Pick one man, preferably the weaker of your opponents, and centre your attack on him and keep it there. Pound him unmercifully, and in time he should crack under the attack. It is very foolish to alternate attack, since it simply puts both men on their game and tires neither.

If your partner starts badly play safely and surely until he rounds to form. Never show annoyance with your partner. Do not scold him. He is doing the best he can, and fighting with him does no good. Encourage him at all times and don’t worry. A team that is fighting among themselves has little time left to play tennis, and after all tennis is the main object of doubles.
Offer suggestions to your partner at any time during a match; but do not insist on his following them, and do not get peevish if he doesn’t. He simply does not agree with you, and he may be right. Who knows?

Every doubles team should have a leader to direct its play; but that leader must always be willing to drop leadership for any given point when his partner has the superior position. It is policy of attack not type of stroke that the leader should determine. Pick a partner and stick to him. He should be a man you like and want to play with, and he should want to play with you. This will do away with much friction. His style should not be too nearly your own, since you double the faults without greatly increasing the virtues.

Most players who have trouble breaking one hundred have the incorrect perspective on the game. They go out on the course with the goal of hitting par on each hole, hitting greens in regulation, and two putting every green. This goal is irrational and unfeasible. You’re not a Pro and by no means will be. Let me show you how altering your perspective can get you breaking 90 on a constant basis.

Next time you play take with you the mindset that your purpose is to play bogie golf: ninety or better. To try this, simply and fairly, DO NOT have the objective of hitting greens “in regulation.” Have the purpose of hitting greens “in regulation plus one.” So for those who hit the green in three on a par 4 and two putt you will have a bogie. Bogies are good, not bad. 18 bogies is a 90. That’s good! It is much better than 102. The aim of hitting greens in regulation plus one will change your entire day.

To start with you don’t have to knock each drive as far down the lawn as you can. It will get you to swing slower. Less issues go incorrect on a slower swing than a quicker swing. Golf layouts put obstructions right in the place you’re likely to hit it, like sand traps and water. When you hit short of them you won’t need to deal with them. Even when you completely blow it off the tee box and dribble it fifty yards up to the womens tees, no problem because you still have two swings to hit the green in regulation plus one. On the golf course lengthy and broad is way worse than short and straight.

Most golfers who blow their tee shot are furious because they know they will not hit the green in regulation like Tiger would. Ultimately they go to their subsequent shot in a livid state of mind, try excessively hard, and kill their next shot. This continues throughout the hole straight through to an indignant triple bogey and occasionally much worse. By the time the duffer hits the back nine their complete game is off, many stop maintaining the score, and they are not having fun with the beautiful environment they’ve engulfed themselves in.

Now here’s the true key to this attitude: you positively must hone your chipping game. But chipping is simple to work on and simple to get proficient at compared to all the things in golf. Suppose you approach a 375 yard par four by hitting a straight shot off the tee 150 yards, and a fairway metal or long iron another one hundred fifty yards straight towards the hole. Now you might be just 75 yards out. Should you hit that shot inside 10 feet of the hole you may have a shot at a par and no worse than a tap in bogie. More realistically, by using this mental method you will most likely be consistently 25-50 yards out for the third shot, having prevented all of the hazards planned into the golf course. So that is the place you actually need to chip in close.

With this psychological perspective you’ll be way more relaxed as you play. Every par you manage will help defray any double bogies. I call par’s “double bogie erasers” because a par and a double bogie average out to bogie golf. A birdie turns into a “triple bogie eraser!” You manage the golf course, now you should manage your mind course. Bogies shouldn’t be viewed as failures to make par when you keep on the goal of bogies as accomplishments.

If you are a keen social tennis player and youre fed up with always taking your racquet to the pro shop for re-stringing then you have probably said to yourself I should buy a tennis stringing machine. The question is, which one?

Most people opt for a tennis stringing machine with a drop weight tensioning system for their first purchase. This is because of the price. However, it is not necessarily the best choice.

It is true that a tennis stringing machine with a drop weight tensioning system is usually the most accurate machine and it is also the cheapest but there are a few other features to consider before you make your decision. An electronic tennis stringing machine is the ultimate in stringing machines but it tends to be limited to professionals because it is expensive. In between these two types of machines is the manual spring tension winder tennis stringing machine.

The main advantage of the spring tension winder stringing machine is that it is fast. It is a lot faster than a drop weight machine. You may not think that this is important but if you start stringing for more than one member of the family you will want to speed up the process.

Generally, the spring tension winder tennis stringing machine is thought to be less accurate than a drop weight stringing machine. There are two factors to consider here. Firstly, the winder stringing machine is very consistent. This means that if you find the tension on your machine that suits your racquet and your game then you can replicate it again and again. However, the second factor is that if you buy a high quality winder stringing machine such as the Gamma X-ST tennis stringing machine most people say it is simply a matter of turning the winder slowly to achieve an accurate result with regard to tension. This makes it sound as though it will take a lot longer to string your racquet but it is not the case, you can still string a lot faster than the time it will take on a drop weight stringing machine.

There are, of course, other factors to consider such as the clamps used on your stringing machine: fixed or floating; single or dual action; method of gripping the string; type of tensioning gripper; and the list goes on.