Happy New Year from The Previdi System. We want to help you take your game to the next level in 2017. We want you to think about the game differently than you ever have before and we want you to embrace the process and not be afraid of the unknown. The biggest thing that stops us from achieving success in anything we do is that our own thoughts limit us by telling us what we can and can't do. Let's leave the self limiting thoughts behind in 2017 and do the following three things to be better than ever this year.
Step 1- Better Practice
*The average point lasts fewer than four shots. You need to practice every shot and situation that can occur in those first four shots when you're serving as well as receiving. Practice the things that happen all the time, not the things that seldom happen and won't have a major impact on the match. You need to make your shots and choices instinctive and permanent by practicing them until you no longer have to think, you can just react. Both partners need to be in the right place, hitting the right shot to the correct location on every point.
*Start using the shots you currently have more effectively rather than constantly tinkering with and worrying about your technique. Practice shots for situations (e.g., mid court volleys, touch, angle volleys, lob returns) so that when a situation arises you've already rehearsed that specific situation so often that your response is ingrained.
Step 2- Commit
* Commit to stick to what you've practiced and believe in your plan.
* Commit to communicating and working with your partner (especially with signals in your service game) and not isolating yourself and getting too into your own head. If you have an idea, share it with them.
* Commit to staying the course when things get tough. Matches are long and there's plenty of time to right the ship.
* Commit to staying in the moment and focusing only on the point you're playing right now.
* Commit to accepting whatever conditions you're playing under and making the most of them instead of letting them get to you.
Step 3- Develop a Winning Mindset
* Focus on your team, your plan and your objectives.
* Stop worrying about the other team. Impose your game and your will on them.
*Adjust to whatever situations come up. Every match is different. Whether you have a close match, a fast start or a slow start, get yourself in the proper frame of mind and work with where you are, not where you wish you were.
*Stop trying to play great! Play hard and keep going!
The biggest issue all players have is an inability to sustain their play for an entire match. Let me give you an example from a recent practice; After spending the first hour of practice (adult clinic) working on serve and volley, SAL and lob returns as well as teamwork and signals, we were playing a set for the last half hour. Here's what happened:
*They serve and volleyed some, if not most of the time, but not all the time. They almost never serve and volleyed with commitment on a big point.
*One partner hits a great return, the other partner fails to get into position and misses an opportunity for an easy point.
*An offensive lob return wins the point without the other team even returning it. They never use it again.
* On ad in after five deuces, I noticed there was no signal being given by the net player. I said, "You better have a great plan here," after which the net player gave a signal and the serving team won the point and the game.
After we were done, my question to the group was, " If you won't commit to doing what we spent all clinic working on in a practice match, what do you think is going to happen when you play a real match?" The answer, of course, is that it will be way worse and they will think about how great their opponents are instead of putting the blame where it belonged. Their lack of commitment and inability to sustain quality play over an entire match.
Successful players and teams in all sports can sustain whatever level of focus, energy, mindset and commitment they need for an entire game or match and it begins and ends with the way they prepare themselves in practice, mentally and physically. Follow these steps and remember to let us know when your results start to reflect the time and effort you put into your tennis.
Happy New Year!