Match play vs drills to raise game level

[heartman]

Realize the answer to this question would be a combination of both drilling and match play. No trouble with that. I live in a northern Minnesota and our outdoor season is short - closest place to play regular USTA tournaments is Mpls/St Paul, about three hours away.

Is it possible to become too good at tennis drills? Seems the guys I play with drill all the time with whoever will lead them, but competitive match play - tournament match play - is too much of an investment of time and money for most and they sorely lack the ability to win tennis matches. When they do play matches, it is against the same guys over and over again. The ability to do what is needed to win, against a variety of opponents, is a skill almost all of these guys lack - maybe that's it - dealing with a variety of opponents is what they need to do?

Not sure if you understand what I'm trying to say, but any advise or suggestions would sure be appreciated. How can we become more match-savvy?

 

[LeeD]

Sure, around here in the SanFrancisco area, there are literally hundreds of fine practice hitters who seem like they can play at almost Open levels, crushing the ball, running alley to alley, perfect form and generally great strokes.
Play a set with them, especially doubles, they can't figure out the side and underspins, hate the short balls, get bored with deep loopy balls, and can't handle changes in placement of serves. They basically fall 1.5 levels from their best looking hitting level against their favorite partner.
Then the opposite exists. He looks like a scared 3.5, hit soft, runs lumberingly slow. But he can play matches right up to lower 5 levels, all of a sudden knowing where to run and which shots that take a hitter off his game.
Both exist, and it's up to you to find the balance.

 

[syc23]

You get match savvy by playing against as many different types of players as possible. This applies to all sports. Having strong fundamentals do help though but it's mostly mental.

 

[Limpinhitter]

Realize the answer to this question would be a combination of both drilling and match play. No trouble with that. I live in a northern Minnesota and our outdoor season is short - closest place to play regular USTA tournaments is Mpls/St Paul, about three hours away.

Is it possible to become too good at tennis drills? Seems the guys I play with drill all the time with whoever will lead them, but competitive match play - tournament match play - is too much of an investment of time and money for most and they sorely lack the ability to win tennis matches. When they do play matches, it is against the same guys over and over again. The ability to do what is needed to win, against a variety of opponents, is a skill almost all of these guys lack - maybe that's it - dealing with a variety of opponents is what they need to do?

Not sure if you understand what I'm trying to say, but any advise or suggestions would sure be appreciated. How can we become more match-savvy?

I think drills, practice sets and match play are all important.

As for drills, IMO, it's important to do drills that work on what you will actually do in match play. For me, that means drilling cross court groundies and volleys, serves and returns. Those drills give me the biggest bang for my buck so to speak.

Do those drills for an hour, and then, when you're really grooved in, and really tired, play a practice set and put all that drilling to the test. After drills, it'll be like a 3rd set.

 

[LuckyR]

Drills get your strokes better fastest. Matchplay gets your head better fastest.

 

[sureshs]

Sure, around here in the SanFrancisco area, there are literally hundreds of fine practice hitters who seem like they can play at almost Open levels, crushing the ball, running alley to alley, perfect form and generally great strokes. .

He said he lives in north Minnesota

 

[LeeD]

Does it really matter if he lives in Alaska or Bimini?
He needs to find a balance of drills, practice time, and match play in order to get better at tennis. He cannot do one without tipping the balance to his disfavor, if he allows the other's to stagnate.

 

[sundaypunch]

Does it really matter if he lives in Alaska or Bimini?

Not if he can teach a moose to play tennis. In the meantime his options are limited.

 

[LeeD]

As in "beggars can't be chosers" kind of thing?

 

[ttbrowne]

For me drill is always better than matches. It's just more fun. Used to be matches were fun but not much anymore. My match personality is Safin on a bad day.

 

[rkelley]

I think ideally there's a progression if you want to be a really good player.

You need the hitting drills to get the basic form down. It doesn't matter much where the ball goes, just that you move to it well, set-up, and swing with good form. I do these a lot because while I have no talent, but I still want to hit the ball correctly.

Then you need take that good form to start directing those balls with some kind of purpose. Going cross court is a good place to start like Limp says. Having certain patterns and shots that you like to play that are effective are important here. For instance, hit me something up the middle and I will go for the inside out fh to your bh most of the time if I can. Love that shot, but that's me. There are other good choices. You can increase your effectiveness and consistency with just your shot selection and some basic positioning principles. You're starting to construct a point.

Also little things become important. When you rip that cc shot and you see your opponent is going to have to work hard to get to it, do you take that step or two into court anticipating the weak reply, or do you just continue to stand behind the baseline? Those two steps can make a big difference in the effectiveness of your next shot.

Then you need to build up your repertoire of shots that are your response for when the rally breaks down. What do you do with a short ball: go for the winner or approach and win at the net? How are your volleys, overheads, etc.? These are not shots that tend to get a lot of practice time, but they come up in games all the time.

Then, in match play situations, the two shots that actually matter most are the serve and return. One you're guaranteed to hit, and the other's a pretty safe certainty. If those shots aren't working then all the rest of it doesn't matter. If your serve is good you may not get into many rallies.

How's your head? It's a lot easier to hit out with that great form when there's nothing on the line. As soon as you start keeping score the fear and tentativeness creep in. Your strokes shorten-up and you get tighter. That forehand where you had the good knee bend to set-up and were whipping the racquet head into the ball getting great pace and top spin - now those knees are straighter and you're pushing the racquet more - you get less top spin and the balls sail two feet long (not that I'm speaking from experience here).

So the match thing is definitely different, but it starts with the good form. You can certainly short cut this and get into the strategies before you have the form and you can get good results . . . up to a point. But it is so cool when you can put together a truly high level point: well hit, smart shots, implementing a basic strategy, get the weak ball that you've worked for and then finish it off.