Question 078: How should I handle tactics?

Answer

▶ If you are conscious of tactics, tactics will not succeed

"The Ultimate Tennis Improvement Method" is a tennis improvement method learned through the body that allows you to hit with rhythm and timing.

Through this, images related to your swing (trajectory, speed, modulation, force, etc.) are written into your subconscious.

Tactics are the same as your swing.

In other words, they are carried out based on images, not by thinking with your head.

Just as you know the types of basic swings like "forehand" and "backhand," please know the basic types of tactics in advance (and practice them), such as "center theory," "straight attack," and "wide-wide" (and practice them).

These become your accumulation of images.

However, when you are actually playing, there is no need to be conscious of tactics.

Because if you have the images of "center theory," "straight attack," "wide-wide," etc., your body will naturally carry out the tactics when the conditions are met.

You don't consciously think, "Should I hit a forehand?" or "Should I hit a backhand?" every time, do you?

In the same way, playing while predicting, such as "If this kind of ball comes flying, I'll hit it here, and if the opponent crowds the net, then next..." is a no-go.

This is because it sends your consciousness into the future and lowers your concentration on the ball in the "here and now" (resulting in mistakes before you can even carry out your tactics).

You may have had the experience of playing while thinking, "If I hit it there, it will come back here, so I'll hit it like this next to finish it," but "in the first place, I can't hit it there".

Conversely, you may have had the experience where "I wasn't aiming for it, but the opponent's serve came at an easy height to hit, so I hit it straight and the side pass went through!"

This happened because you had an accumulation of images for a straight pass, and the conditions were met—it came at an easy height you are good at—so your body carried out the tactic.

▶ It is easy to think of tactics as "shopping"

I think it is best to think of tactics as something like "shopping." In other words, it is a "choice" of what to select.

"Choice".
You decide to make curry rice tonight.


This is the "strategy" that serves as the outline. Let's say you go to the supermarket to buy the necessary ingredients for that.


This specific action is "tactics."
. First, you put carrots, onions, and potatoes into your basket near the entrance of the supermarket.
No matter how much you love meat, you wouldn't go straight to the meat section at the back of the store, right?

If you did that, you would end up running back and forth in a panic to get the carrots, onions, and potatoes later.

At this time, if you need a cart, you should arrange for one near the entrance in advance.

Please consult your own physical strength and capacity regarding that.

Otherwise, even if you pick up the ingredients, you will end up having to turn back because you cannot carry them, leading to

the exhaustion of "physical strength," "time," and "mental state."
. In other words, you arrange a basket and cart at the entrance, select the carrots, onions, and potatoes, and then get the curry roux in the retort pouch section.
Finally, you head to the meat section at the back of the store.


"Tactics are the choices" of what to select at any given time.

. Be especially careful, because if your "mental state" is worn down, you might even lose your motivation.
As a major premise, there is first the

"strategy" that serves as the outline
of making curry tonight, and the specific actions of selecting what is necessary for that are "tactics.". Naturally, in order to carry out tactics, you must know the layout of the store, such as what ingredients to use for the curry and where they are located, otherwise
things will not go smoothly.
. If you can reach the register from the entrance without ever having to turn back, the shopping "tactics" to carry out the "strategy" of making curry are, for now, a success.
Tennis "strategy" also roughly involves

competing with one of "physical strength," "time," or "mental state,"
so it can be said that "choices" to avoid failing at tactics are important.

▶Tennis beginners do not know the "layout"

However, if it is a supermarket you are visiting for the first time, it won't go like this, will it?

You don't know what is located where.

This is a state where there is "no" image of tactics.
Therefore, it becomes
a groping play that proceeds by trial and error from the entrance.
If you don't even know what ingredients are necessary for curry in the first place, you have no way to choose, which is the state of having "no" tactics.

It might sound obvious, but tennis beginners who don't know "center theory," "straight attack," or "wide-wide" are in this state.

Of course, tactics don't always work out perfectly.

You intended to buy potatoes, but they are out of stock.

When things don't work out like that,
"tactics" are choosing whether to substitute with other ingredients or manage without them.
If you make a mistake in "tactics (choices)," the "strategy" of making delicious curry will not be achieved either.

In tennis, for example, sinking the ball at the opponent's volleyer's feet to induce a floating ball.

This is also a fine
"tactic." At this time, if it is difficult to sink it sharply with topspin, sinking it gently with slice can be said to be a

wise "choice" as a tactical execution. To induce a floating ball,

there is no need for it to be a "fast ball." Even if it is fast, if it floats, it will be smashed.
Tactics is "choosing" that if you sink it gently at the opponent's feet, even if you reduce the speed, there is a high possibility that the next return will come as a floating ball.

▶Tactics are "chosen"

"How do advanced players set up tactics and hit the ball as they intend?" Regarding this question, I can answer that "they are hitting a ball that has been chosen according to the situation at that time from among the accumulated images." However, that does not mean "being conscious of tactics."

If you have an image, you don't consciously think every time, "Is curry made with potatoes or sweet potatoes?"

Therefore, in tennis as well, rather than thinking, "Should I use topspin or slice here?"

it can be said that tactics are "chosen" according to the situation at that time based on accumulated images.

▶If you "track" the ball, synchronization is OK!

If you want to check your finish for the purpose of checking your form, I recommend doing it with practice swings (this becomes the accumulation of images in your swing).

However, checking your form while hitting the ball is a no-go.

If you are conscious of your form while hitting the ball, you won't hit it with good timing, so it will become a stressful tennis....

There are probably not a few people who have experienced this to the point of hating it.
If that happens,
"bad images" such as irritation, anxiety, and sulking are accumulated, so it is a negative spiral that gets you deeper and deeper into a vicious cycle.
As you say, "it is better to always keep your head forward and follow the path of the ball after hitting it" is
exactly right. Instead of following the path of the ball with your peripheral vision, please turn your whole face toward the ball and keep following it with your central vision.

By "tracking" the ball with your eyes,

you can sustain your concentration and play while continuing to synchronize with the ball.

▶With "face facing forward," it becomes so much easier to see!

"A New Way to See the Ball: Techniques for Removing Fear-Colored Glasses and Seeing Things As They Are" provides an explanation.

If you look at the ball out of the corner of your eye, look up at it, or look down on it from above, it is physiologically designed to be harder to see.

After all, the area you can capture with central vision, where your eyes are perfectly focused, is only a "point".

Try this now: keep your face facing forward and try to look at a person or object on your left.

When you look "out of the corner of your eye" like this, "you can barely see it," "it's hard to grasp the distance," "it puts a strain on your eye muscles," "and therefore it also causes psychological stress" but I suspect you were looking at the ball that way to check your form during the finish.

This is actually quite common.

Looking at a lob "looking up" and hitting a smash into the net or over-hitting it, or looking down on a low volley "from above" and mis-hitting it...

Instead, face the ball directly and look at it.

It is well known that Roger Federer kept his face directly toward the ball until the moment of impact.

And after hitting it, he turns his face forward again to follow the ball's path.

Try "looking again while facing directly" at the person or object you were looking at out of the corner of your eye in the experiment earlier, as looking at it again while facing it directly.

It should be easier, clearer, anxiety-free, and look completely different.

https://youtu.be/q-oy9zqjVSI

▶ At the "moment" of impact, don't try to look!

However, some people say this and try to "stare hard" at the moment of impact, but that is a no-go.

You should always keep tracking the real-time ball flying back and forth, "staring intently" at it.

Therefore, there is no need to force yourself to keep your face on the impact.

The moment of impact is an "instant," said to be 4/1000ths of a second.

Even if you "concentrate for just an instant," naturally, you won't achieve the state of "continuing to concentrate" on both the incoming and outgoing ball, which I explain in "The Ultimate Tennis Improvement Method".

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