Power or Consistency in Tennis?

Power or Consistency in Tennis

Tennis is a dichotomy of power and consistency. On the one hand power wins out over consistency; on the other hand consistency wins out over power.

Power

In this blog I am only dealing with a specific definition of power: to move or travel with great speed or force. I will not be going into how to generate that power; i.e. racket technology, stringing, hitting technique,etc., only with the aspect of speed or force of a shot executed in the playing of the game against an opponent. We’ve all seen, or played, someone who hits their first serve with as much power as they can. When it doesn’t go in, they ‘blip’ the second serve in. We have all played someone who tries to power their ground strokes and win the point by ‘outhitting’ the opponent. When skill doesn’t measure up to power, power loses. When Player A and Player B reach a point in their contest that Player B starts to draw ahead, Player A thinks that in order to even the score he has to overpower Player B and starts hitting out with the result of more errors and loss of the contest – if their abilities are the equal. That gets old with  time and takes away the enjoyment of the game.

Consistency

Consistency in tennis would be meaningful in the context that Player A hits the ball over the net one more time that Player B, thus winning the point. When starting out, fun is the name of the game. Going out with your friend(s) and playing a game of tennis means knowing how to score and win or lose points. Technique doesn’t have as much to do with the enjoyment at this stage as keeping the ball in play one more time than your friend and winning the majority of the points. How you do this is up to you, which is the creative side of the game. Some move quicker to the ball than others. Some have a knack of placing the ball better. Others have a sense of hitting a shorter, higher ball harder and winning more of those points. Consistency plays a big part in having fun.

Combining Power with Consistency

There is a point where the two, power and consistency, work together. I always taught four concepts: control – get set up to hit the ball, consistency – get the ball back in play, placement – get directional control of your shot, and power – hit with more speed. Develop good technique with consistency first. Over time your consistency will develop with more power because you have good technique and are able to execute the shot at a faster rhythm due to muscle memory (biomechanical feedback) becoming ingrained. Having coached individual tournament players and men’s and women’s teams over the years there was always one thing I could say that would be accepted when losing. “You needed to be more consistent.” I always had agreement.

If you have a choice which is more satisfying to you – working on consistency or power? Which is more fun – POWER. NOT!

About wdkealy

I retired from a career as a tennis professional to move to Portland with my wife to care for my in-laws and my mother in Abbotsford, BC. Not wanting to retire I took a vocational test and at the top was 'writer'. I have been researching and writing for about five years now and am looking to take more steps forward in pursuing this as a career. Time will tell whether I have the 'passion' to stay the course. My wife and I have three grown children with whom we are close. I had the privilege of coaching a high school team to a state championship in 2010. The team won by 1/2 point which was a credit to all team players. Looking to attend another writer's conference this year and grow. In the meantime I look forward to improving my social networking skills in order to have more meaningful contact with others who share a passion for life.
This entry was posted in Your Virtual Tennis Coach. Bookmark the permalink.