Tip #36: Know the six steps to serving out a match.

            

             The most difficult job in sports is finishing off an opponent in a tough contest. Baseball teams pay millions of dollars to “closing” pitchers who might only face one batter a game. Unfortunately, in a tennis match, you can’t call the bullpen and bring in your huge server to serve out the match while you stand on the sidelines watching. The best players in the world are the ones that can consistently serve out a match and make the difficult seem easy.

 

             In one of my first pro tournaments, a $10,000 future in Korea, I found myself in the first round of the main draw playing against the previous week’s winner. I was up 5-1 in the third and decisive set, holding a double break lead, and feeling good about my chances to serve out the match. To make a long story short, I quickly lost the next game, and the next, and the next, and the next, and the next, and the next. I lost 7-5.  Afterwards, I was heartbroken. That night I didn’t sleep a wink because I was lying in bed thinking about the match. Finally, I got up, started to write, and drafted this plan.

 

             Step #1: Activate the “now” before your service game by focusing on breathing and heartbeat.

 

The two most common feelings before serving out the match are complacency and nervousness. It is so easy to think ahead to how happy you’ll feel after winning. Guess what? It ain’t over. The fat lady hasn’t begun to sing. On the other hand, the feeling of nervousness causes tightness and tentativeness. Both complacency and nervousness shift the focus away from the present and into the future, which is into a time that does not exist. Before serving out a match, I focus on two things: my breathing and my heart rate. They bring me to the present moment. Try it now. Listen to your breath and heart by closing your eyes and concentrating on the inside of your body. When you focus on your breathing, you are focused in the present.

 

             Step #2: Walk like a champion: loose, confident, relaxed, focused, and happy.

 

After intense focus on the now, walk around the court like a champion, take your time, and be sure and cocky. Walk the way you want to play the next game, relaxed yet intense. Roger Federer often bounces the balls between his legs before he serves. This action keeps him relaxed and having fun. “I’m not playing for world peace or a happy life,” I think, “I’m just playing a game.”

 

             Step #3: Smile and think of something that makes you laugh.

 

Approach the baseline, ready to serve, with a clear mind. Now, take a second and think of something funny. It feels empowering to be able to smile on the tennis court, especially before you serve the match out. I always think of a time when my sister dumped a full glass of milk on my brother at the dinner table. With that thought, I’m happy, loose, and ready for the next step.

 

             Step #4: Cool yourself down by blowing on your hand and say, “Cool as ice.”

 

Now let’s coordinate the mind with the body. I shift the racket into my left hand and lightly blow on the palm of my right hand. “You’re as cool as ice,” I think. This action reaffirms my confidence and cools me down—or, I feel like it has. Now, I don’t go around the tournament telling myself, “You’re as cool as ice,” but when I am standing on that baseline getting ready to serve out the match, it helps to reaffirm my abilities.

 

             Step #5: Loosen the arm before serving.

 

Now, take care of the actual serving arm. To combat feelings of tightness, lightly shake your serving arm as if it were a wet noodle, loose and uninhibited. It’s a crucial step in coordinating a relaxed mind and body.

 

             Step #6: “Eyes on the prize.”

 

Lastly, as you bounce the ball before your serve, think, “Eyes on the prize.” It helps me keep the eyes on what is important, the ball, and not where my serve goes or my next shot. All through the point, think, “Eyes on the prize,” and nothing else, because nothing else matters.

 

             I know that they seem drawn out and lengthy, but all six of these steps can be done quickly enough to keep you within the time limit. After developing these techniques, I saw a dramatic improvement in my ability to close out a match. During one stretch, I closed out 37 straight matches. Feelings of nervousness may still linger, but these six steps help turn the negative emotions into positive ones.

 

101 Tips for Winning More Tennis Matches is organized into seven different chapters;

Pre-Match, Match Play Singles, Match Play Doubles, Post-Mach, Practices, Tournament Environment and Mental/ Physical Preparation.  In all, the book is 148 pages of helpful hints.

 

Below, you’ll find the book’s introduction and a sample tip.  The tip I’ve included is Tip #36, in the Match Play Singles chapter.  If you like this one, there are 100 more just like it! 

 

Michael Kosta.  Ann Arbor, Michigan

www.WinMoreTennisMatches.com

Email: info@winmoretennismatches.com

 

Introduction

            

             Unless you are embedded deep in the tennis world, you have no idea who I am.  You have never watched me play on TV.  You’ve never seen me win a grand slam.  I don’t have an agent.  There isn’t a racket named after me.  Pete Sampras doesn’t have me on speed dial.  So, why should you read this book?

 

             Great question.  The answer is, I am a damn good tennis player.  I am ranked in the world.  I have won a few minor league professional tournaments, called futures.  (Baseball has the minor leagues and tennis has something very similar– highly competitive “futures,” “satellites,” and “challenger” circuits.)  I have played tennis for most of my life.  I learned to play hitting against the garage as a child.  I’d play with my parents and older siblings until I could no longer stand from exhaustion.  I went from playing “knock out” at the local Racket Club with kids twice my age to winning the state tournament, being the best player in the Midwest, and receiving a college scholarship on a #1 NCAA-ranked and Big Ten Championship team, the University of Illinois, to traveling the world as a professional tennis player.  It’s been quite a journey, and I’ve learned a lot.

 

             I started writing this book in November 2003, while in Mexico playing a $10,000 tournament.  I was in my second consecutive singles quarterfinal and doubles semifinal.  Playing some good tennis, I didn’t want to lose my form in the off-season.  So I sat down one night and wrote a list of what I was doing particularly well– things off the court and on, before the match and after, in singles and doubles.  Everything was originally written for me.  Later, reading my notes, I thought: “These tips won’t just help me, they will help every tennis player!”

 

             This book includes tips I learned from other coaches I have met throughout my two decades of competitive tennis, and from other talented players.  Many simply come from what I’ve learned on my own, through hard-won experience.  All of them will help you.  I know because all of them have helped me.

 

             I certainly recommend reading the entire book start to finish.  But reading any one of the tips can help you improve your tennis right now.  Flip to any page, quickly read, and then go out and kick some butt!