FORGET ABOUT TRYING TO WIN
JUST CONCENTRATE ON NOT LOSING
This tennis season it may finally be time to do what you've been promising yourself for years, become a more complete, consistent and smarter tennis player.
We've all done it, year after year and season after season as we look back on another wasted opportunity to show our club mates that we are no slouch when it comes to the finer points of tennis.
How many times after your New Years resolution have you failed to deliver that personal promise to yourself ? ( 'This is the year I have to limit my unforced error count, I am giving points away, let's make the opposition earn a win'. )
You are not alone.
It takes an extraordinary amount of self discipline to stray from what we know best in sport (or in life for that matter ) as the 'comfort zone' is a wonderful thing.
So to the headline, and is there any proof in the pudding that less errors in tennis will prevail consistently against a higher winner count ?
If the recent US Open is anything to go by it's fair to say that tennis is not a sport you in fact have to 'win', it's more a case of 'not losing' that seems to secure a win.
Confusing ?
Absolutely, but here's the facts.
Rafael Nadal is the best player in the World currently though his run through to the semi finals in New York this year was anything but smooth as he took around 12.5 hours to complete three matches.
A total of 901 points were required for Rafa to progress from the third round to the semis yet the Spaniard only won 21 more points than his three opponents combined, 461 to 440.
So how did he win ?
Simple, he didn't lose.
While his opponents were intent on clubbing winners, Nadal simply rode the bumps and waited for the opposition to miss, hence his rather 'modest' winner tally.
Rafa had 196 winners blasted past him while he could manage just 134 himself yet he won all three matches by doing the single most important thing in tennis at any level, he made less errors.
The Spanish legend made just 107 unforced errors in 13 sets of tennis while his opponents made 65 more at 172.
That's just over 8 unforced errors each set and when you consider that most of Rafa's sets go for about an hour, well that's just plain ridiculous.
In 2011 Nadal won a match at Wimbledon with just three unforced errors in a three set win. In simple terms he didn't over play, an example to all of us, though maybe easier said than done.
Where's the fun in being conservative I hear you ask ?
Well it all depends on whether you want to actually be more competitive or belt the fluff consistently off the ball.
An 'unforced error' is widely known in most tennis circles as a 'silly' mistake, so next time you play the game perhaps it may just be time to tweak the exuberance and simply make the opposition play.
Now obviously we can't all hit a ball like the great man however thinking like him may just pay handsome dividends this tennis season no matter what grade we are playing.
The statistics prove that even at the absolute highest level of tennis you don't actually have to win, you simply need to make sure that you don't lose.
If you try too hard to win you will probably lose however if you play it smart tactically and perhaps play a little more conservatively you may just find yourself winning more than losing rather than losing because you are trying to win.
Tennis, it's complicated but why not try something different this season ?
After all, what have you got to lose ??
GT
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