I watched our #1 player in the world, Roger Federer, get demolished once again by Nadal at the finals of the French yesterday, and was just amazed that Roger wouldn't at least try to find a different way to lose...
It's almost as if he is so stubbornly proud that if he can't beat Nadal playing Nadal's style on the red clay, then screw it, he's not interested in at least trying a different strategy than just staying back on the baseline and trading goundies back and forth.
He's telling us that he's nothing more than a "one shot wonder"...
I'm not saying that a healthy dose of serve and volley, chip and charge, and playing a different "court position" strategy would make any difference in the outcome, even the score, but at least try it for more than a couple of points now and then.
What's there to lose? Nothing... Come on. 1,3, and 0?
I'd rather see Roger lose worse than those scores by at trying to force Nadal out of his comfort zone and making him do something, anything different.
And we're all guilty of this stuff.
I'm right up there at the top. I'm all serve and volley (actually, no longer 100% of the time on my 2nd serve these days, but close to it), trying to force my oponent to hit passing shots by me all match long.
But if either I'm not "approaching" (serve, return of serve, approach shots, etc.) well that day or I've got an opponent who is really, really playing well, I can get stupidly stubborn and refuse to even consider staying back on the baseline for a couple of games and at least try to find a different way to lose the match.
And I know, we shouldn't be thinking about actually losing, but the point here is this, let's try to at least show our opponent something, anything different for at least 2 games, ten minutes, whatever, just to see if that is enough to change their comfort level...
Why is this so hard for us to do?
By changing tactics are we admitting to our opponent that we're getting our butts beat and now our opponent feels even better?
I don't know about you, but when I'm soundly going through somebody and they start to do something different whether it's during the point or between points (aha, between points!), I begin to consider how well I'm playing because there is a change going on over on the other side of the net, and that "awareness" can sometimes be enough to change things.
And changing things doesn't have to be where we immediately reverse from losing to winning.
Changing things could simply mean that you're now playing even with your opponent and you're not necessarily dominating the match at that point, but you're even, and you never know, that dominating play from before by your opponent is an extremely fragile balance.
The only way to be able to have any confidence of making a change during a match is to practice it.
That's right. You've got to dedicate some regular practice time either by drilling or in a practice match where you try something different from what is your normal style.
And in the long run, you'll develop a greater confidence when you play your matches knowing that you've got a Plan B you can bring out if you need it. Even if it's just for a game or two. 10-15 minutes. Whatever.
And I'll bet that extra confidence pays off with you performing your Plan A game to a higher level day in and day out...
Brent
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