Do you face your fear?

[Jono123]

I will admit my OHBH is not where I want it to be. Its not a weapon like my FH and is functional at best. So I embrace the fear and play on the left, always I even do inside out BH to get more practice.

Many players I see , have a glaring weakness be it volleying, 2nd serve, overheads, BH's etc...do you face yours or hide from it?

 

[StringSnapper]

I hide from mine- volleys and overheads! Just don't find that tennis fun.

 

[ppma]

I drill more what is not working for me at the moment (call it week, month, or day).

It's usually volleys, but in general BH needs some time to adjust timing with the ball/court conditions.

 

[ChaelAZ]

Tennis, all the way up to the pros is finding ways to use your strengths and shield your weaknesses. That is where strategy starts and how patterns of play develop.

At this point I consider myself pretty even and more all-court overall for my level, but I continue to work on improving each area (maybe not serve as much cuz I do pretty good there). Right now my work is more in fitness and footwork than anything else.

 

[FuzzyYellowBalls]

I have terrible footwork and maybe I do hide from it by ......still being lazy and not "training".

 

[AnyPUG]

Fear of losing over hope of victory keeps me away from situations where a loss is a possibility.

 

[kayak4water]

I don’t fear any of my strokes. After four years they’re all still average.
My strokes suffer because
A. of my difficulty “watching” the ball
B. I look up to see where the ball is going.
C. My feet need practice moving
D. I tend to rush my strokes.

Today I focused on:
1. Preparing a bit earlier on my forehand, using my non hitting hand to take the racket further back than the front shoulder, keeping the rear elbow high, sensing my strings and using the kinetic chain. I “let” myself relax more. I hit more relaxed and less panicked.
2. Watching the seams of the ball & keeping my head down for as long as I could. Success meant more sweet spot contacts and fewer short balls.
3. Doing the same on the backhand
4. Putting those together while using the ball machine’s sweep motor

I have The Inner Game of Tennis audiobook and have listened to it a couple times. It might be helping.

 

[user92626]

Fear of losing over hope of victory keeps me away from situations where a loss is a possibility.

Are these situations USTA tournament, league matches, money matches, or what?

Last 6 months I decided to play anything, anyone (in singles), and i have been losing a ton. Whatever.

If I'm fit, dedicate, tennis smart, there's a bunch of peeps who are fitter, more dedicate, more tennis smart.

That's life.

 

[LuckyR]

Last 6 months I decided to play anything, anyone (in singles), and i have been losing a ton. Whatever.

That's life.

You have a great, but rare outlook. Most competitors fear losing. They fear it a lot. That's why tennis requires so much more of a Mental game than sports with time clocks. You have to win match point, you can't run out the clock. And if you can't win match point, you can't win, no matter how many points before you have won.