Tennis "Zen"

"You find out that life is a game of inches, so is [tennis]. Because in either game - life or tennis - the margin for error is so small. I mean, one half a step too late or too early and you don't quite make it. One half second too slow, too fast and you don't quite hit it. The inches we need are everywhere around us. They are in every break of the match, every minute, every second. Champions fight for that inch! Champions tear themselves and everyone else around them to pieces for that inch! They claw with their fingernails for that inch. Because they know when you add up all those inches, that's gonna make the difference between winning and losing! between living and dying..."

~ Vince Lombardi

Righty v Lefty - "The Struggle"

I have never given it much thought that a big factor between the winner and the loser in the great rivalry between RogerFederer and Rafael Nadal is not the surface but whether the player's are left or right handed. This weekend, after playing a very difficult lefty in a USTA League tennis match, I finally understood what it must be like for Federer to play a left handed player, and one as talented as Nadal, for 5 excruciating sets.

First off, Left handed players have an advantage when it comes to playing righties. They are accustomed to playing righties because most of the world is right handed. A righty practices with righties about 80-90% of the time, and not often enough, encounters a left handed opponent. So left handed players are adept to playing righthanders. But we, right handers are always thrown when we face the dreadful lefty spin.

Now, I'm considered a pretty good 4.5 player in my neck of the woods and usually have no problem breaking players with my excellent return of service. One time, while playing college tennis I broke my opponent every time they served, I held ONLY once and won the match! Score, 7-6, 7-5! Unfortunately, my return of serve (my biggest weapon) is neutralized when I play a lefty spin. And usually, my left handed opponent zeros in on his God-given advantage.



In my match this weekend, the match came down to one singular tactic. My opponent diligently figured he could diffuse my slice backhand with his lefty spin. He would come in behind every short ball he hit to my backhand and finish the point with him at the net. What he did in essence is kind of the way,Nadal uses his lefty spin to Federer's backhand for the entirety of their matches. Taking away the rest of Federer's magical repertoire and focusing the game on one thing, Nadal's left hand forehand to Federer's backhand. Well, that's exactly how I felt playing this guy. Frustrated, I yearned to see a good ball that I could rip with my solid forehand. Unfortunately, this was the typical battle of the 'lefty v therighty.'



Here are some tactics to consider next time you play a left-handed player. Some of these in combination can work to perfection.

Return of Serve
1. Consider stepping into the court, to receive serve, and hit the ball early off the bounce before it generates too much spin.
2. Swing from low to high, to return. Swinging upward will not clash with the ball's projected spin.
3. Follow through completely on your swing, don't hesitate upon contact as you will lose control sending the ball flying into outer space

The Match
1. Don't let you're opponent control the point. Stay aggressive and take charge.
2. Attack their weakness, lefty's too have a weakness and it's usually in the form of their backhand.
3. Nail them to one corner, until you have the perfect ball to put away to the open court.

Serving
1. Be EXTRA focused on holding serve, their serve may be difficult to register at first, so hold serve until you become familiar with their patterns.
2. Hold serve, again, nothing might work but at least you're holding.
3. SURPRISE: Use righty spin on your serve to wreak havoc on their return.

It can be a struggle out there, when you're opponent doesn't let you see anything else but one tactic for an entire match. So what to do when you're playing a lefty? Give them a similar medicine and zero in on one tactic.this can be, usually hitting to one side of the court for the entire match.

I didn't have the most pleasant day playing a lefty, nor did I win my match. Like Federer, I faced a very good lefty, and I can only hope to beat them next time.

¡La passion de ma vie!

Lately, I've been doing a lot of practice for the upcoming Spring season. In fact, I've been so focused on tennis, that I've been neglecting my other passion - photography. Both art forms require a reasonably dry day and good, clear vision. Unfortunately, in Seattle, a dry day in the middle of winter is an extremely rare thing. It just happens that late last week, Seattle was blessed with the ideal tennis/photography day. Not too cold, some cloud coverage, with a good amount of sunlight. Perfect naturally diffused light! I took my camera and rackets to the court, practiced some serves and inside-out forehands, and took some pictures during my usual sit-down breaks to zen out and meditate. It was one of those fulfilling days. You know the kind. Where you feel like you've satisfied several of your life's passions at the same time. I'm going to incorporate this new "artistic" pairing a lot more nowadays. Of course, I went home later, completely famished and hungry for some good chow down. The following picture is the calm (sink) before the storm! ~ Jocko

Tennis Zen

One of the major no-nos that tennis players do on the court is to judge their performance. I do it, and I've watched many times as students stare in awe after they hit a winner down the line.

In my 10 years of playing tennis, I've come to learn that there should be little to no judgment when executing on the tennis court. I love this passage from The Inner Game of Tennis (W. Timothy Galley) that talks about quieting the mind and allowing your shot to happen spontaneously. It's about trusting your body to achieve its peak performance.

The image comes to my mind of the balanced movement of a cat stalking a bird. Effortlessly alert, he crouches, gathering his relaxed muscles for the spring. No thinking about when to jump, nor how he will push off with his hind legs to attain the proper distance, his mind is still and perfectly concentrated on his prey. No thought flashes into his consciousness of the possibility or consequences of missing his mark. He sees only the bird. Suddenly the bird takes off; at the same instant, the cat leaps. With perfect anticipation he intercepts his dinner two feet off the ground. Perfectly, thoughtlessly executed action, and afterward, no self-congratulations, just the reward inherent in his action: the bird in the mouth.

I tell everyone I coach to limit the amount of judgment they place on themselves while playing. And instead, to replace that judgment with concentrated action. The concentration should be like meditation. Simply enjoy the action taking place, whether it produces a good or bad shot.

In short, 'getting it together' requires slowing the mind. Quieting the mind means less thinking, calculating, judging, worrying, fearing, hoping, trying, regretting, controlling, jittering or distracting.

When I first started playing tennis, there was a lot of judgment going on in my head. Most of it was uncontrolled energy focused on shot accuracy. So if you're just starting out in the game of tennis, this is an important lesson to learn. Even if you've been playing for years (like myself), it's a lesson worth repeating in your head continually. I keep The Inner Game of Tennis in my hitting bag, and from time to time find it useful to skim the pages on concentration when my actions start to become forced.

The Inner Game

It's February, I've signed up for USTA League Tennis for the first time and I'm really excited about getting into tip-top tennis shape. I play at the 4.0-4.5 level; self-taught. This past summer I had my first major tennis injury, which forced me to stop playing for a few months. In December I started working out and hitting again. And though the strokes are still there, something essential has been dearly missing from my game.

My self-belief.

I'm struggling to get into my groove. I'm losing matches I shouldn't. Fading in crucial moments and holding back when I'm ahead. All this is mental. The old tricks I played on myself in the past aren't working anymore.

After losing 4 straight matches on the team ladder, I had been feeling a little dejected. So I decided to turn to the source that first helped me leap bounds a few years ago.

I have started to re-read my favorite tennis book, The Inner Game of Tennis by
W. Timothy Gallwey (the classic). A few years back, I picked up this book and it really helped me to play the game with a stronger mind. This book is gold for any tennis player. If tennis had a religion, this is it! Body, mind, and soul can be nourished and harnessed with this tennis treasure.

My current record on the team ladder 3-4.. not so bad for only reaching the first chapter. The Inner Game is my fifth element. If you have not read it yet, do so and learn to play tennis with a vengeance.

posted by bigE