Mind
Training for Tennis
- Tip 15
How
To Create Momentum In Matches
http://www.tennispsychology.com
Momentum
swings are amongst the most powerful forces in the tournament tennis
match - and usually being the ultimate decider of the winner of
most matches.
So
today I am going to share a few very simple ways to create your
own momentum in a match, without your opponent even knowing
- as well as how to snatch it back when your opponent has the match
rhythm going all their own way.
Momentum
changes become obvious when you analyze match scores to see where
some of the major momentum swings were - eg. 1-6 7-6 6-1.
Of
course, its much easier if you happen to be the one riding the wave
of momentum in the match - because when its against you, it can
be a tough one to turn around - but unless you are someone like
Roger Federer or Nadal who tend to win most of their matches fairly
easily, the key is to maximize your own momentum while
minimizing that of your opponent.
So
let's look back at one of the former masters of creating momentum, and also for taking it away from an opponent - a master
tactician who was one of the greatest players ever, winning 8 grand
slam titles back in the 80's.
Possibly
he was even the first player to make 'momentum swings' an art form
- and his name was Ivan Lendl.
He
was the guy who stopped McEnroe's supreme reign at the top of the
game - and even after losing their first 7 matches, he went on to
win the next 7, in a row. They were the 'Federer and
Nadal' of the 80's.
One
of the subtle but very powerful methods Lendl used during his
matches was this:
Lendl
would slightly reduce the amount of time between points
whenever he won a point, and slightly increase
time between points whenever he lost the point.
But
he rarely did this enough to ever be easily noticed, or to incur
a penalty point. So
what did this Lendl tactic do? Let's analyze it from
both player's points of view.
Whenever
Lendl would win a point, he would briskly move to the other side
of the court in readiness to start the next point - and each time
he did this, it would reinforce within him the mindset, feeling
and emotion of winning a lot of points in a short time.
This
is winning momentum. Meanwhile, his opponent was losing
a lot of points in a very short time - feeling as though the set
was slipping away, right before his eyes, one point after another.
That, of course, is losing momentum.
Lendl
may have initially exaggerated this tactic a little too much at
the beginning of his career, as he was probably one of the main
reasons why the ATP brought in the '30 second rule' between points.
But
even so, he used this tactic of momentum change highly effectively
even within the 30 seconds, which goes to show
that we are not talking about dramatically stretching out
the time between lost points - possibly just an extra 10 seconds
or so getting set up to serve or receive.
And
of course, reducing the time by the same amount when you
have won a point.
It
sounds like an incredibly simple method, but it has the eventual
effect of creating a strong feeling of momentum within you, while
at the same time, increasing the feelings within your opponent
of a complete lack of momentum (and this never goes astray!
; )
Needless
to say, this is done most effectively when it is done very subtly
- because making it obvious will alert them to what is
happening, and they may well begin to use it back.
When
it's used properly, your opponent does not even know that you are
doing it - which allows you to command the rhythm of the match
without them even realizing.
This
is a tactic that you do not need to use all the time either - you
might just choose to use it at select times in the match, whenever
the pressure is on. Begin to implement this into your
tournament play and see if it makes a difference to the momentum
in your matches.
