1. Strings break in the middle of a point. Don’t panic. If your strings break in the middle of a point, hit for higher margin (middle third of the court, high net clearance), soften the hands, avoid exaggerated swing patterns, use backspin to take pace off the ball and look to conclude the point by coming in on a short ball. Of course if you string your racquet at 30 pounds as I do (slight exaggeration), it’s hard to know when and if you do break a string.
2. Dehydration (muscle cramping). Look for economy in motion – no unnecessary action and avoid abrupt changes in direction. To alleviate cramps in the legs, extend your legs (one at a time) and raise your toes. Extend your arm and pull back on your fingers to address similar issues with your arms and hands. Drink fluid (preferably a product that has a full electrolyte profile) and if possible apply ice compressions during changeovers. If cramping is extreme, stay mobile and do not sit down during the changeover. Strategically, try to stay in the point but at the same reduce angles by playing close or inside the baseline and close into the net when possible. Mentally, focus and acknowledge the discomfort and pain rather than to wish it away and remain singularly focused to be as efficient as possible with every action (effortless action).
3. Intense sunshine when serving. Should the sun break out in glaring intensity just before the start of your service game, blink to bring fluid to your eyes and to adjust your vision to the new conditions of light. Grab your favorite visor or hat out of your racquet bag. Curl the bill (brim) of the hat to provide more cover and push the bill (brim) lower down on your forehead. Use your tossing hand to shield your eyes. Stay back on the serve to allow your eyes to readjust after looking up into the sun and to provide more time to respond to the next shot. Very often, it’s that temporary blindness right after looking into the sun that is the most difficult thing to contend with in the point sequence.
4. Lost forehand. Don’t panic if you lose your best shot or weapon. The important thing is to reestablish rhythm, timing and confidence. Hit with more spin and net clearance. Hit to the middle two-thirds of the court. Be patient and don’t go for too much (particularly when hitting from a neutral or defensive court position). Aim to hit over the middle of the court (using the net strap as a reference).
5. Serving yips. Similarly for the serve, reestablish confidence by focusing on the fundamentals. I like to focus on my tossing arm (full extension and hold), head position (chin up) and elbow (bend, loop and cartwheel extension up and out and into the court). Don’t go for the lines. Take some pace off of the first serve to get a higher percentage of first serves into play.
6. Extreme fatigue. Copy what I said with dehydration. Stay relaxed and fluid with your strokes and be efficient with your motion.
7. Playing a (perceived) cheater. Give the player initially the benefit of doubt. Don’t get distracted. Stay focused on the task at hand. Get help (someone to arbitrate) when possible and appropriate. Questions calls (but don’t get too worked up or energized with every perceived missed call). Hit within a safer margin as necessary. Never retaliate but at same time don’t forget. Look for the opportunity next time to thrash this particular opponent and not put yourself in the position where one or more perceived bad calls could impact the outcome.
8. Choking. Everyone has or will experience that gripping, debilitating fear of losing or winning. The symptoms are restricted range of motion, difficulty breathing, etc. To get yourself back on track, refocus on the process of hitting the ball and not the outcome (easier said than done). Breathe out and then pull your chest up and draw breath deep into your diaphragm (breathe in and breathe out). Slow things down by taking more time between points (within the confines of the rules). Hit with more spin and margin when taking a ball outside of your strike zone or when hitting from a neutral or defensive court position.
9. Compromised vision (such as a lost contact or broken pair of glasses). Focus on the point of contact and keeping your head still through the finish of each stroke. Maintain a centered, upright posture, particularly when moving to the ball. Square off to the hitter. Essentially do everything possible to accentuate your line of vision and ability to track the ball.
10. Dysfunctional partner. There is no such thing as a dysfunctional partner only a dysfunctional team. Collaborate to solve problems together. Prop up your partner and worry first and foremost on what you can do to help your partner be more successful.

Next article – “When good things happen to bad players”

Steve Gallagher

There are a number of viable and not so viable strategies do deal with a partner who is making what you believe are more than his/her share of questionable calls. Here are ten options (some better than others) and (some to be taken seriously and some not to be taken seriously).

1. The first response is to give your partner the benefit of the doubt particularly if your partner is emphatic with his/her calls. To extend this benefit to a few errant calls or more correctly stated what you perceive to be a few errant calls is reasonable and healthy for your relationship with your partner. If you perceive a pattern, like every close call, every call that would be difficult to challenge by your opponents (i.e. baseline calls) or worse yet, on consequential game points, then a more challenging response may be required by you.
2. The next logical step is a conference with your partner during the changeover. A short (not to exceed 90 second) discussion can go a long way to clear the air and to resolve any conflicts. Perhaps your partner is having difficulty seeing the lines but is nervous about being indecisive (particularly with the added pressure of playing with someone of your playing stature and reputation).
3. At some point, you may need to overrule a specific call (particularly if you have a better and clearer sight line). It would make sense for the well-being of the relationship with your partner to follow any overrule with an acknowledgement and apology to your partner. A phrase such as “I’m sorry and although I really thought the ball was going to be out I saw it hit the line” could help to soften your decision and “save face” for your partner.
4. If you are playing in a team or tournament match, you could ask for help or more appropriately encourage your opponents to ask for help. Help could be a tournament official or tennis professional to stand by the net post or sit in the umpire’s chair and act as arbiter in the event of subsequent questionable calls.
5. Reminiscent of the V-8 commercials, a good “thunk” on the head could jolt some sense into your partner. A “tap” on the head could provide your partner with better clarity and vision.
6. At the risk of having your tires slashed in the parking lot, you could openly confront your partner and overrule each and every questionable call not worrying about the consequences or the sensitivities of your partner.
7. Another option is to “put blinders on” and obsequiously agree with all your partner’s questionable calls. If your moral compass is “a little tweaked” and you like to have fun at other peoples expense, a fun “pile-it-on” response is to politely taunt your opponents by acknowledging but doing nothing about their concern. Phrases like “sorry fellows”, “hard luck” and “so close but just missed” can a go a long way to unravel your opponents psyche. Of course the result may still be slashed tires.
8. You could confer with your local psychologist (who coincidently happens to be courtside during your match) for advice on conflict resolution and an explanation on the role of ego in sports.
9. Since you are now “thinking outside the box”, another option is to collude with your opponents (particularly if they have brought some great “munchies” for after the match). An example of a (not so nice) collusion would be a short lob hit to the strike zone of your opponents with the understanding that they are going to go after your partner with their overhead. Another less divisive example of collusion is to “dump” your next shot into the net following a particularly egregious call by your partner.
10. Of course by now you are at risk of losing all sanity and need to regain perspective on what is important and what is not. In the big scheme of things, a few questionable calls are not going to tip the balance one way or another and probably not even impact the outcome of the match. The best thing to do in the moment of the match is to do the right thing – be fair and honest with yourself, your partner and your opponents in the most humanely considerate manner possible. After the match, you can exercise your freedom of choice and choose to play again with the same partner (if things work out) and choose not to play with the same partner (if things don’t work out). Above everything else, learn from your experience and have fun in the process.

Steve Gallagher

It’s fun and productive to spend time hitting with a partner with or without points. Some of my most memorable times on the court have not been competitive based. One example is the opportunity I had to hit with Eduard Shevardnadze, the Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Soviet Union, prior to his address to the United Nations. As it turned out Shevardnadze, who later became President of Georgia, was crazy about tennis at the time and was animated and fun on the court. Here are ten reasons to get on the court to hit.

1. Hitting is a great way to improve your consistency. Counting the number of your consecutive shots in play (regardless of what your partner is doing) is a good way to maintain your focus and provide a gauge on how you’re doing keeping the ball in play. To keep things more interesting, establish different parameters. Ideas include hitting only cross court, hitting to a specific target area, hitting with all forehands (backhands), etc.
2. The goal of a rally, much like Aikido, is to blend your shots with the shots of your partner (adjusting the tempo and flow as necessary) to ensure you and your partner have success getting the ball back in play, maintaining the length of the rally and avoiding the need to pick up balls. Developing the ability to manage your controllable variables (pace, spin, depth, trajectory, direction and net clearance) to establish and maintain a rally with players of different skill sets, playing level, mobility, etc. is arguably one of the best skills you can establish as a player. It ultimately defines your ability to dictate and control the pace and flow of the rally in a point situation.
3. Hitting helps to improve your rhythm and timing. Rhythm and timing involves the three main components of tennis – eyes and mind (ball recognition), feet (footwork and balance) and hands (stroke production).
4. Hitting provides an ideal opportunity to work on your technique for all your shots.
5. Hitting provides the repetition necessary to develop and hone skills.
6. Hitting provides an opportunity to experiment and try different shots. In cooperation with your partner, use your hitting time to hit outside of your normal comfort zone. Experiment by hitting with more or less spin, pace, depth, net clearance and trajectory. In his complete four-hour hitting session, Roger Federer works on every possible hitting pattern and shot in his repertoire (including specialty shots).
7. Hitting can offer a productive and beneficial conditioning workout providing an opportunity to hit more balls than possible in a match.
8. Hitting provides an opportunity to interact with a friend in a shared interest. The non-competitive format allows for more dialogue and interchange. What better way to get to know someone better.
9. The cadence and rhythmic construction of a rally can share similar characteristics to music and much like music can serve to rejuvenate the mind and spirit. A rally and the process of a rally can be a very engaging activity requiring intensity and focus. It’s also possible to hit in a more relaxed state of mind without major deliberation and concentrated focus with the goal of establishing a performance zone of effortless hitting (in other words, hitting without thinking).
10. Hitting is fun. It’s fun to hit the ball the ball back and forth regardless of the quality and length of the rally.

Steve Gallagher

1. Beat the dragon to the net. Seize the initiative and come to the net whenever you can behind your serve, serve return and well-placed approach shots.
2. Use the lob effectively and often (even if the dragon can fly or soar pretty high). If possible, lob to the backhand wing of the dragon to force the dragon to hit high backhand volleys or better yet, to overextend his/her coverage and force the dragon to hit off-balanced (inside/out) overheads.
3. Mix up the location and direction of your passing shots to disrupt the rhythm of the dragon. Utilize cross court angles, down-the-line drives and shots hit at the body.
4. Mix up the spin of your passing shots to disrupt timing of the dragon. Hit topspin (preferably topspin that dips at the feet of the dragon). Chip or slice your passing shots forcing the dragon to reach and hit volleys from an off-balanced position. Occasionally tee off and hit your passing shots with pace right at the dragon and to his/her left and right wings.
5. Mix up the pace of your passing shots. Vary the pace of your shots to disrupt timing, rhythm and flow.
6. Pin the dragon to the baseline with an arsenal of deep and heavy groundstrokes.
7. Play the numbers game and make the dragon hit shots. Don’t fall into the trap of always trying to hit the perfect lob or passing shot.
8. Focus on holding your serve. Control the point and dictate play on your service games with a game plan that includes serves hit with varying spin, pace, location and spin.
9. Don’t succumb to the fearsome display of the dragon and play too defensively. Attack when you have an opportunity to attack.
10. Don’t play the dragon in his den (a “fast, hard court”).

Steve Gallagher