While editing some match videos of the top men’s 60’s players in the world, I was reminded by their tenacity and the length of the points, of an old adage a friend of mine had to say. This friend, Warrick Jones (winner of several National Championships), said that to reach the top, you have to make the “make-able” shots. In other words, don’t miss those balls that you are capable of hitting in. You know, hitting the ball into the net, or long, or wide when you really could have gotten that ball into play and made your opponent hit another shot. Maybe you were just trying to do too much, or all your brain cells fired at once and you just don’t know what you were thinking. All that set up time and then you blew the easy shot. Hard to win that way!
In fact, watching the NFL playoffs last weekend, I was amazed by the similarity between football and tennis in that respect. The losing team (or the one that eventually lost) couldn’t seem to make those catches that counted. Where the ball bounced off their receivers’ hands, or worse yet went right through them. Those were “make-able” catches. And it’s hard to win when you miss those catches. And ever notice that when a team is on a roll, they not only make the “make-able” catches, they also make some great ones. But it’s not the great catch in the end zone that counts so much as the six passes that got them there to give them that chance in the first place. And nothing ever stops a team more surely than that missed pass that would have given you a first down. Just as you can’t win a match if you miss that “make-able” shot.
Sounds simplistic, but apply it to your game and watch your results improve. Guaranteed.
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