*Good days vs. bad days in tennis:

[ferrari_827]

With me, I can tell in the first *few minutes* whether I'm having a good or bad tennis days.

Some days, you just see the ball better, move and react better, timing is effortless. On these days, people stare and gawk at my shots, including myself. Other days, everything feels awkward, timing is off, movement is strained, and basically, there's not much you can do about it, except make the most of it.

So now, I just accept that I'm inherently better on certain days, and go for the spectacular shots on the good days otherwise I can make a fool of myself on a bad day.

[Thanatos]

With me, I can tell in the first *few minutes* whether I'm having a good or bad tennis days.

Some days, you just see the ball better, move and react better, timing is effortless. On these days, people stare and gawk at my shots, including myself. Other days, everything feels awkward, timing is off, movement is strained, and basically, there's not much you can do about it, except make the most of it.

So now, I just accept that I'm inherently better on certain days, and go for the spectacular shots on the good days otherwise I can make a fool of myself on a bad day.

I agree. I also find that if you are playing horrible and getting fustrated to take a couple of days off and analyze your game. Find out what you are doing wrong and fix it the next time you step on the court.

[Gilly1998]

The difference between good players and great players. Is great players can beat good players on their days off.

[FiveO]

There are some days when a player simply doesn't "have it". Alot of outside contributors can cause this, i.e. diet, linsufficient rest, real life pressures, etc..

But, playing HIGH risk tennis can contribute to a player experiencing more than his/her share of those "bad days". Over-hitting, aiming at miniscule targets and playing low percentages MAY work on a day when we're "zoning" BUT over time it will lead to a few "good" but many more "bad" days. If one honestly assesses their performance and then, plays well within percentages and plays shots they have command of, they usually many more highs and far fewer low performance days.

One quick fix is to ask what one's crosscourt or down the line targets are. Without being aware of it a player may actually be aiming for lines! That means that half of the landing zone (including margin for error) is OUT. Moving your target zone maybe 3 feet inside the lines, will usually result in many more of those good days.

Good luck.

[ferrari_827]

You're right, FiveO, on those "off" days it's important just to play high-percentage tennis (easier said than done !), even though it's really tempting to go for the more spectacular shots which you can make on normal to good days.

On normal days, I do notice alot of my shots are close to the lines, and there's not too much net clearance.