Abandoning the percentages

[Kobble]

Has anyone ever just got sick of playing the percentages? It just gets boring when you do it for a prolonged period of time. I have decided that I am going to just smoke the ball tomorrow. Forget about working the point until you get an opening. When you beat the same oponent the same way everytime it can get real dull. I feel like Tin Cup, Par just isn't good enough. I am just going to serve my biggest, and try to brutalize every return. It is going to be a blast.

I was wondering about something similar. If you worked hard and nearly perfected a particular "low percentage" shot, wouldn't that shot be considered high percentage? I heard something say on this board that "everything is relative." I guess this applies to percentage play as well?

[jayserinos99]

i play very low percentage when i'm playing practice sets. not try to serve big or brutalize every return, but play some really oddball shots strategically (drop shot return for example).

[Bungalo Bill]

LOL

Playing the percentages does get rather boring. I remember an old saying Vic Braden used to say and that is just go out there and hit that same old boring winner. When your holding up the trophey you will be glad you did.

Go ahead and just smack low percentage shots around and do it until you get frustrated missing! Have fun though.

[ma2t]

Originally Posted by VTL

I was wondering about something similar. If you worked hard and nearly perfected a particular "low percentage" shot, wouldn't that shot be considered high percentage? I heard something say on this board that "everything is relative." I guess this applies to percentage play as well?

But your "low percentage shot" that you've turned into a "higher percentage shot" would still not be as high percentage as a "high percentage shot" turned into a "still higher percentage" shot without working as hard!

[Grimjack]

Hey man, unless you're a pro, and winning is the only way to put food on the table for your family, having a good time is a lot more important than winning. Do what it takes. Sometimes going a little nutty out there can be refreshing!

Try not to kill anybody, and good luck.

[msn]

If you're beating the same guy over and over again, perhaps you just need to upgrade your opponents.

You can certainly use weaker opponents to practice less common shots, but I just don't see how you can get much satisfaction from beating the same guy over and over.

[Kobble]

The opponent I will play, if he doesn't get scared and stand me up, is the real arrogant punk I posted about once before. I try to be as humble as possible when I play anyone, and I usually just do enough to get the job done against this particular player. He is still a jerk, and he seems to believe I am just getting lucky. Even if I have won 9 of the last 11 times. Now he is resorting to petty tactics like standing me up at the last moment. I feel like I need to take away what little dignity he has left one last time. He used to attempt to bother me into losing with junk balls, and other low tactics like never hitting to a certain wing in practice. It has become the same old crap. I hit the returns to the most open part of the court he throws in some short slice that never comes up above the net, then I hit an approach shot and volley away the weak reply. Or, I get into a backhand rally and break him down. He is scared to hit from the baseline with me anymore, and that makes it really dull. I usually start off slow until I find my range, but this time I am going to practice before the match with a quality player, and then try to go out firing. Hopefully, I will do every tennis player on planet earth a favor by beating him so bad he never steps onto a court again.

[brijoel]

i was hitting with a guy a couple days ago.....took it very easy, hell even let up to give him a few extra balls during practice trying to be a good sport and let allow him to warm up since i was out there before he was. he proceeded to clock one or two balls off the softer replies i gave to simply keep a rally going and did one of those pumping motions with his fist like he'd made some big point, which i thought was rather odd. so we started hitting a little more and picked up the pace still just just rallying. i hit a soft chip back to him on his side of the court after pulling him way off the court and he hits it up the line as hard as he could for a winner, LOL.
i was just thinking oooooook.....especially considering i hate rallying since staying in the back court isnt my style.
i was a lil frustrated at this point, and politely asked if he wanted to play a few games.


.....i cant remember the last time i was so hard on someone, lol. i was into the net on almost every single point off my serve it seemed like, putting every single volley away HARD , and chip and charging his serve to death.
4 games into it, after him seeing to run just fine, he calls it quits because his quad was sore.....
so i said sure ok nice game, shook hands and watched him walk off the court without a limp or anything. lol


kobble, i say go for it. make him wish he never opened his mouth, hehe. if it means he gets one or two points from errors off you so be it, but just pummel him till he takes back his smack talk.

arrogance in tennis players ive met lately is rediculous. so forgive me if i sound overly harsh

[Kobble]

Brijoel,what is with their injuries? The same thing happened to me today. I had a poor start, and he was beating me early. Then when I found my range and cut back the errors he quit with an injury, not allowing me to complete the victory. I felt like I had cement on my feet and still battled through it, despite struggling to hit the shots I wanted. I think he is faking, because he looked surprised when I acknowledged is injury as legitimate.

[@wright]

That makes me soooooo mad for you guys. In high school there was a kid on our team who would act like he had to leave before you could finish him off. His ride always got there at the most inopportune times for his opponent. And his ride was impatient, I suppose, because he had to leave as soon as his ride got there. The guy died in a car accident about 4 years after the last time I played tennis with him, so all the gamesmanship seems kind of irrelevant now. If you're ahead and the other person leaves, they gave up and you win no matter what...

[brijoel]

yea, the injury thing is rediculous when people fake it. hell, ive played on a twisted ankle just to finish a match before. my trainer wasnt happy, but i was, lol. so the whole injury thing bugs me, and believe me, ive had numerous people do the frivolous injury bail out. i had my pro that i taught with do that to me once even cause he was having trouble returning my serve that day. he walked off the court without speaking to me hahaha. i was only up one game too.

[@wright]

I played a guy a couple months ago who complained about wind, which was nonexistent, because he was having a bad day. It wasn't even very cold. After I won the first set 6-0, he left.

[Kobble]

Yeah, it seems the better I play the more injuries my opponents suffer. I guess some people are not into earning their points.

[peter]

Originally Posted by Kobble

Brijoel,what is with their injuries? The same thing happened to me today. I had a poor start, and he was beating me early. Then when I found my range and cut back the errors he quit with an injury, not allowing me to complete the victory.

Sounds just like my little sister when we were growing up. Whenever I was near winning a game of Chess she would suddenly turn very tired and run up to her room. I have until this day (I'm now 36) not been able to finish and really win a game of Chess against her

[kevhen]

High percentage tennis is about beating your opponent as efficiently as possible. If ripping serves and forehands does it quicker than playing out long rallies, then that is the more efficient method for you. High percentage tennis is knowing what you are good at and what your opponent is not good at and applying your strengths against your opponents weaknesses. Sometimes aggressive tennis can be high percentage tennis if your opponent can't handle the pace, lacks footspeed, or is just too consistent against slower paced balls. Sometimes changing up the pace from point to point can mess up your opponent too.

[kevhen]

I play more aggressively myself against higher ranked opponents (and also against much lower ranked opponents for practice purposes) because I win even less points playing conservative tennis since I can force more errors against my higher ranked opponents when I hit more aggressively. I still lose but I win more points and more games along the way. Whatever works for you to win matches and to keep yourself entertained and focused throughout the match, go for it.

[lendl lives]

kobble,
lol!=)....i feel the same way sometimes. go gonzo! imagine how good this guy is if he's gotten this far just blastin people.