Overview
Strategy is your overarching plan to reach a goal. Tactics are the more specific steps and actions you will take, in each moment, to achieve those broader strategic objectives.
In a certain sense, playing winning tennis is about the choices you make in each moment of a match and the continual adjustments you make as a match progresses.
Here is an example of strategy you can deploy:
“I am going to play aggressive tennis and take time away from my opponent.”
And here is an associated tactic:
“Each time my opponents ball lands inside the service line, I am going to hit a deep approach shot and move up to net.”
As you progress into the higher levels of the game, becoming more specific in your tactics can be the difference between winning and losing.
While it is possible to win tennis matches without consciously deploying any strategy or tactics, your probability of becoming a winning tennis player goes up dramatically if you learn how to harness your technical skills, movement, fitness, and mental toughness, to execute an intentional plan in each moment of a tennis match. Conversely, if you have not yet put in the work to become proficient in each of the skill areas, your tactical options are limited.
This journey becomes more fun – and exciting – as you develop new tools and start to deploy them successfully in the heat of competition. I find those moments exhilirating, and I hope you will, too!
Path to Mastery
- Study great tennis players – by watching, reading, and listening – so you learn all the tactical possibilities of the game.
- Develop a clear list of a range of possible strategies/tactics in your current wheelhouse and endeavor to add new capabilities and possiblities to your game.
- Practice with purpose. Have strategical process goals each time you walk on the court.
- Learn to assess and analyze in realtime and make the necessary adjustments.
- Study your own play (by videoing your practice and matches) so you can learn from your small successes and failures and develop a keen sense of the correct choices you will want to make in any given moment of a match.
Next Actions
Beginners
Focus on the most basic strategy of being consistent.
Intermediate
Develop 3 strategies you can use in a tennis match and consciously practice all of them.
Advanced
Identify 2-3 players you practice with and develop a plan that you will execute when you play with them. After playing, evaluate how that plan worked and what adjustments you need to make.
Tournament
Before a competitive match, write down the the tactics you will use. Between each set, mentally review how these tactics have worked for you and what adjustments you want to make.