Club-level players put a lot of emphasis on technique. But I’ve always believed that just as important is what we coaches call Tennis IQ — the degree to which a player understands patterns of play and which types of shots to hit in a given situation.
Phil, a 35-year-old 4.0 player from California, had a high tennis IQ but, come match time, “chose” to hit shots that made no sense. I put the word chose in quotes because in reality he wasn’t choosing to hit any particular shot at all, he just hit the ball back to his opponent without thought. Instead of playing High Percentage Tennis, he tried to hit winners from defensive positions and aimed for small, risky targets that inevitably led to unforced errors. Not surprisingly, Phil often lost to opponents with less technical skill and fewer tools than he did.
When putting together my lesson plan for Phil, I decided that in order to take him forward I would first need to first take him several steps back. This meant implementing a rigid structure around shot selection that he was required to follow until, with enough practice, he’d be able to pick smart, appropriate targets automatically.
