Forgot how to play!

[will3689]

A couple of months back I felt I were playing better tennis than ever before. my ground strokes were really consistant and landed deep in the court every time. I very rarely gave away points and forced my opponents to hit winners. I have been playing almost every day but this last few weeks my game has gone gradually down hill. I'm missing really easy shots and struggling especially with fast balls approaching me. I feel I've become stiff while playing and when I let my shots go they go flying out so I've been hitting much softer. I can't get my confidence back. Has this ever happens to anyone else? How do I snap out of this? Thanks

[Rozroz]

time to change strings?

[SocalTennis]

My advice is slow down, watch your footwork and timing. During practice, use a couple of old balls and start hitting softly to work on feel and consistency. It should come back to you.

[OrangePower]

Originally Posted by will3689

A couple of months back I felt I were playing better tennis than ever before. my ground strokes were really consistant and landed deep in the court every time. I very rarely gave away points and forced my opponents to hit winners. I have been playing almost every day but this last few weeks my game has gone gradually down hill. I'm missing really easy shots and struggling especially with fast balls approaching me. I feel I've become stiff while playing and when I let my shots go they go flying out so I've been hitting much softer. I can't get my confidence back. Has this ever happens to anyone else? How do I snap out of this? Thanks

Everyone goes through bad patches - that's normal.

Other thing is, if you've been playing a lot, maybe you are fatigued? If your arm/shoulder is tired, it causes you to make adjustments to your swing that could be causing issues, likewise if your feet are tired, your footwork suffers and leads to more errors.

Best thing might be to give it a rest for a week and recharge both physically and mentally...

[h2os]

I'm having the same issue. I was confident my game was getting better. All of a sudden I feel unsure of every part of my game. It's amazing how mental this game is. I am starting to read the book keeping the ball in. I hope I get out of this funk soon.

[IA-SteveB]

I think you are playing too much. Back off your schedule and let your body get back into tune.

[LeeD]

I suffered the same fate today.
After playing one set a day, twice a week to slowly build up my legs, today played 2 really slow, lower level push sets, then 2 fast moving 4.0-4.5 doubles sets. By the time the first point started in the better level set, my third, the legs were totally gone. Just watched as low balls whizzed by, late for every volley and poach, and late for most service returns, as well as out of time for my own serves and weak volleys. Twas nice to play really bad, and not blame my racket in any way, any shots.

[Oski10s]

Good advice so far above. I've had this happen before, and it's the tennis equivalent of yips in golf, where I was getting so tight and uncertain that I couldn't even get the ball off across the court for the rally effectively as my strokes deteriorated rapidly. After I was done and my hitting partner (a stranger) left frustrated, an old man on the next court invited me to hit with him. He told me to stop thinking, and instead of trying to further control the strokes and hitting it softer, he told me to do the exact opposite and hit it as hard as I can. Within 5 minutes, my game was back (having sprayed the ball all over the place at first). This worked because over-thinking and adjusting by hitting softer (impromptu on-court adjustment) were resulting in strokes that aren't my typical way of hitting, which created a bad cycle of further doubt and worst mechanics. By simply letting go and hitting hard, it forced my mind and body to let loose and revert back to more instinctive strokes.

[corbind]

Originally Posted by IA-SteveB

I think you are playing too much. Back off your schedule and let your body get back into tune.

^^
Illogical as it seems, taking a week off helps

[Gonzalito17]

play some mini tennis for about 30 minutes, it's great for footwork, anticipation, quickness, controlling the ball.

BTW mini tennis is just using two two service boxes. You can also play using one service box as your court. It's fun!

[Rjtennis]

Originally Posted by OrangePower

Everyone goes through bad patches - that's normal.

Other thing is, if you've been playing a lot, maybe you are fatigued? If your arm/shoulder is tired, it causes you to make adjustments to your swing that could be causing issues, likewise if your feet are tired, your footwork suffers and leads to more errors.

Best thing might be to give it a rest for a week and recharge both physically and mentally...

He's right everyone goes through bad patches. For me the bad patches result from lack of confidence and take me away from how I should be playing. The good thing is that it will usually go away after a good win or practice.