Why You Play Worse in Tennis Matches Compared to Practice

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It is very common to play worse in tennis matches compared to practice. In today’s video, I offer some solutions how you can replicate your practice level in a real match situations.
0:00 Why you play worse in matches
2:49 Don’t think about your opponent
4:19 Warm up
5:03 Receive first
5:56 Don’t play chess
6:58 Repetition
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[@IntuitiveTennis]

The second serve is one of the biggest problems at the rec level. You have to commit time to develop it in order to win more matches 👉 kzbin.info/www/bejne/i2ScgK2whN2Ug68

[@PrecisionPointTennis]

Thanks!

[@SkyreeXScalabar]

"It's the big 3, they're all the same, but I love this guy the most." Nick solved the biggest question in tennis.

[@IntuitiveTennis]

😂🙌

[@jlo3349]

love rafa !!

[@sergioalonso3118]

fun fact: infinitesimal is written exactly the same in English and Spanish!

[@HPontara1]

portuguese is the same too

[@lorenzo97tth562]

@@HPontara1 Romanian too

[@_Greenflag_]

It comes from French. English language "stole" more than 10 000 words from French.

[@tinycuisine6544]

@@miguelbarahona6636 Also the word "No"

[@warrenmiller2044]

@@_Greenflag_ they both originated from Greco-Roman languages. Nobody stole anything from anyone 😂

[@joelhammrac]

Love the advice: “The only way to play as well as you practice is to practice more.” Fabulous. One thing I will do as well is b put game pressure in practice scenarios. One of my favourites is using tempo rallies to groove a shot, with the pressure of a time crunch. Right now I am challenging my juniors to rally 20 balls in 30 seconds from the 3/4 line (orange ball). They are so motivated to get it they are automatically using it as a warmup!

[@tuhlunksss]

think it’s also worth mentioning that in a real match you tend to tighten up due to trying to be more cautious with your shots, which ultimately affects all strokes/serves vs being looser in practice. it allows me to work on my mental toughness and remind myself to stay loose and focused one shot at a time

[@ReidVV]

This is great, great advice. I play low-level recreational tennis and while one might think that at that level the opponents' shots would always be easy to deal with, in reality it's not so easy because of their unpredictability regarding power, height, spin and depth (or lack thereof). My most hated shot is the opponent's full swing that results in a drop shot. They take a full backswing and swing through the ball, but the contact is off because of poor technique and the swing results in the ball dripping short over the net. The hard part about practice is finding someone to do it with. Lessons and even clinics are expensive on an on-going basis and no one I play with EVER wants to just practice, NOT EVER. I have a ball machine, but it fires close to the same ball over and over and it's damn hard using the ball machine, drop feeds, and a wall to do the kind of repetitive drills that improve footwork, timing and technique so I can get better. This makes me sad, actually because I have the desire, but not the means to practice and get better, even with your great lessons. BTW, thanks for all you do, Nik. There are other KZbin tennis channels that have been around longer and have more videos online, but no one, and I mean no one does it better, with more useful content than you. Plus, I like that you are actually a good player, too. That may seem trivial, but that builds confidence in your students, too. You practice what you preach. I see it.

[@IntuitiveTennis]

Thank you James and keep grinding 🔥🎾

[@rattata30]

Amen

[@eyespy3001]

I’m in the same boat as you, man. The neighborhood where I live in Miami has a single, private court. At the height of the pandemic and lockdown, my girlfriend and I decided to start playing tennis, since it was something fun to do outside and good exercise. We borrowed some rackets from a friend and started goofing around once or twice a week. Over time, I really got into it, and now I’m seeking to improve and play more competitively. My girlfriend’s interest, however, quickly began to wane. It’s come to the point where I almost have to beg her to play with me. I have found a decent wall nearby. While it’s good for drills and exercise, it’s just not the same as rallying with someone else.

[@ArijanaLukic]

My heart absolutely hurts reading this! I just had an argument with my partner whom I am asking to play with me TO PRACTICE and he cannot conceive the idea of playing tennis just to have quality practice, it has to be a match. I am beyond frustrated honestly, but if I never get "practice" I can never truly increase my skill. As said in this video, in a match you are trying to win so you do not develop new technique because you are reverting what your body knows from before, and it's totally understandable. It's just not the same. My desire is to find a tennis buddy with whom I can practice 80% of the time, still challenge one another but build new technique and automatic skills through solid repetition.

[@MainstreamMoviegoer]

This is a great perspective... this also explains why you tend to play worse against worser players, when you know you should be playing better.

[@maxsonthonax1020]

😀

[@digitalmarketingimmobiliare]

All the time

[@zacharylore3400]

I notice that when I started playing matches again my shot speed slowed way down compared to when I would practice rally. It wasn’t a conscious decision it just happened intuitively. I actually got frustrated about how much I was pushing the ball. Worrying about missing must slow down racket speed. At my level though points are won or lost mostly on unforced errors rather than winners. Still the best feeling in tennis for me is hitting a clean winner. Looking forward to the warm weather again. We can’t all be so lucky to enjoy the tropical weather in southern Florida.

[@knotwilg3596]

As a mathematician I can explain the word - and tell you it is used in the wrong fashion. Infinitesimal (in-fi-ni-TEE-si-mal) means "extremely small". The word would be correct in "the ball comes at you at infinitesimally different angles" meaning the angles are almost the same, yet slightly different, which causes you to still make an error. However the book talks about the number of different angles, and this is an infinite number, not an infinitesimal one. An infinite number of different angles. Infinitesimally different angles. Not that it matters :)

[@IntuitiveTennis]

Thanks for clarifying. That makes sense 🙌

[@againsthegrainx7556]

This is awesome

[@jamesharlanjohnson6882]

It matters. You beat me to it.

[@tinycuisine6544]

Of course it matters, thanks for the great explanation.

[@roshanjayaraman6543]

I'm USCF Chess Master, and the lessons you teach for tennis relate so much to the game of chess

[@rossv3436]

This is some of the best tennis advise on the internet. Every time I see a coach go into advanced tactics or some advanced technique on wrist lag I know the person doesn’t know what they’re talking about. Truth is - even at high college levels the basics (consistency and good footwork) will help you win a lot of matches.

[@JanChodura68]

Nice video. I could talk hours about this topic. For example. I prefer to play with better players than me. Worse players doesn't help with my improvement. And as you say it's so unpredictable where bad players want to hit the ball. I'm glad you assured me that the main problem is on my side of the net. All my life I'm talking myself why to run around for forehand, why not go to the net. I need to improve my game. Yes, for today these shots will be errors. But they help me in my future. And thanks to this channel I can recognize what I'm doing wrong.

[@reuelray]

Are you reading my mind? I just decided to work on a new backhand forehand serve and net volley. The weather kept all of us off the court for about 10 days here in Northern Alabama. I hit a few balls with my new strokes with a couple of fellows two days ago, and then started a singles match. Just like you said, I reverted back to old muscle memory because I wanted to win. I'm going to go out today and hit singles for an hour with the same player and then play doubles with another group of people. I probably shouldn't do it, (doubles) and allow myself more time to get used to the new muscle memory as you said. When I get ready to play doubles, please come through the phone screen and say; 'HEY, DON'T DO IT'!😨

[@zenpanda100]

My solution was to play more matches. Once you learn the skills n play enough matches, the fear goes away

[@fedal4ever42]

As a nationally ranked pro (ntrp6.0) there are many times when I train with talented junior players, and thanks to you I can show them this video and help them better understand what are they doing wrong when they play better in practice.

[@SamSung-pn6il]

Watched videos for 10 yrs, this is the best so far since it is the truth.

[@IntuitiveTennis]

🙏

[@boglorenz]

wonderful, thanks

[@hook11201982]

The best way to elevate yourself in tennis besides lot's of practice is playing with a variety of players. Join your local amateur league and enjoy. I almost quit tennis because of forehand/backhand slicing pushers who annoyed me with their boring no wish to be better at tennis style of play. I joined a local league. Sometimes i won sometimes i lost but the variety of play styles helped me to be better in my game. Now those pushers don't want to play against me because they don't stand a chance ;-) P.S. Another great video, keep the outstanding work

[@chetanphoenix]

This is the exact video I needed today. How did you know? I have been working on my technique but met someone who wanted to play a full match and I got destroyed. I didn't feel good since even though my technique has improved a lot during practice. This video was very helpful. Thank you!

[@weyman4317]

So very true- the number of times i have played matches with all these theories and coaching tips in my head only to lose heavily by not executing them properly. You need loads of repetition to get the muscle memory correct and when your old and old school as I am it’s hard trying to change your game and break some of those bad habits.

[@pleaseenteraname1103]

This video is so helpful, I had all my strokes down and I could do them really well in practice, but when I actually played the game I would get nervous and I would just follow under pressure, and I would mess up constantly, and the more insulting there was thing was this kid who was way worse than me but he would always beat me. I think my biggest problem was I would always lose confidence, and I would fall under pressure.

[@IntuitiveTennis]

Keep going

[@alephbeta4090]

Love the tip about using the first game to get warmed up!

[@umutkara739]

You are right. But my friends don't want to warm up and practice. Aslo they don't want rally. They want to start match as soon as possible. And because of this we argue. I must find new friends.

[@splitraven7060]

Lol right!! I did one time play just like out of my lesson still lost but was proud of myself. I noticed the more relaxed I am the better my shots are and my overall playing of the game is.

[@meintennisgame]

What an important and true video!!

[@IntuitiveTennis]

Danke Marcus 🤜🤛

[@joseh899]

You are the BEST Nik. I agree 100% with your analysis of what makes this game so hard. I'm a 3.5 tennis fanatic, and enjoy the process of becoming better, even though it can be very hard and frustrating. The bottom line is that we must have FUN playing this difficult game. 👍👏🎾🎾🎾

[@JoJo-Mo-63]

I have seen a lot of KZbin coaches over the years. I can say with absolute confidence that you are the best at it. Thank you Nick.

[@IntuitiveTennis]

🙏🙏

[@Mickey_McD]

At some USTA matches and tournaments there are no free tennis courts to practice on beforehand, so you might only get the 10 minute game warm up session. On the team I played on we searched online for some local public tennis courts that we could practice on before heading over to the USTA tournament site.

[@clarencejosephcavalida6231]

I noticed that you really love wearing those Nike Vapor Xs. You should try GP Turbos I promise you will love it

[@Alexander-dt2eq]

So true! Great analysis! So whats the goal? To put it simple: "Hitting your best 2nd serve consistently while having break points against you!" Also keep in mind the recreational players you face are having the same problems, so you can actually take advantage of those and at the same time learn how to play more consistently

[@jonathanchen1026]

You pronounced the word infinitesimal correctly at the end of the video 👍🏼

[@jeremyrogers1247]

Great video as usual on an important topic. In the past the main reason I played worse in matches than in practice was nerves and fear of losing. This caused me to seize up and play cautiously, or over think my shots. The serve was the one shot in particular that was affected the most because of its complexity and concentration required. I have found that thinking about one point at a time and not being continually conscious of the score was the best way of playing better in matches. It’s a skill in itself though that I haven’t mastered but is useful at every level of tennis.

[@rectim34]

Man, this just brought back all my teenage years back to me. Kinda wish I played just a bit more then. No need to look upon the past now, just gotta get my game now better. Thanks for the video!

[@ambadale]

Just read RAFA to start the year. I think what Rafa also shared was that he’s super competitive even when he is simply practicing with his coaches or playing other games with his friends. He’s always sharpening his skills.

[@DeceitfulDestiny]

The last tidbit was great! 🤣🤣

[@gevlovestennis5388]

Good tips coach. I agree with you. I just accept that I will get more nervous during sets. You just have to accept it and do the best you can and go point to point.

[@SH-ip4db]

Great video 👍! It is so true. I always think too much when playing a match and lose points I think I should win.

[@dmitryprivate6558]

Nikola, you are the best! However, I have to disagree with you. I play just as bad in practice as in the games/matches; I am very consistent :) As far as the book, I agree; great book. I read it in Spanish. The odd/interesting thing is that the book was initially written in English (Rafa must have been talking to a ghost writer). Then, it was translated into Spanish. Thank you!

[@PrecisionPointTennis]

Love this!!! I’m working mostly on my serve. 9 out of 10 by myself, but a dozen or more in matches. I’m learning from you and your other videos on this subject. Gosh, a huge thank you

[@IntuitiveTennis]

🙌

[@joanbarrancogonzalez9707]

Actually i was talking whit a friend and i told him when i play i feel more comfortable playing whit anyone whit the same or higher level than me, it's true when you find some recreational players you can't predict their hits and it's difficult to get the timing. Another think about to play practice and to play a match it's definitely mentally, you play very relax the practice, you know may have mistake so doesn't matter, but once you're playing a match it's more tense because you're focus for not to make mistakes. Definitely it's all mental and psychological.

[@paleodude]

Your insights are so helpful! Keeping the game simple, but not simple to a fault (tennis pun!) works. Too much information is counterproductive. Thank you, as always, for these lessons.

[@ziaulmannan9635]

Great topic Coach. Thanks for the insight on it. If you could talk on a related topic, "Match day Preparation"; would be very helpful for juniors. E.g. what to eat, when to to eat etc.

[@yuyifu]

Just watching this video again and realize that the video is divided into different sections by key points, which are labeled on the timeline. Great job, Nick!

[@againsthegrainx7556]

Your content is great and is helping me to improve at coaching

[@CoVaTennis]

had this exact same conversation with a student over the weekend! 🙏🏽

[@davidyager2579]

Great information. Thank you for your help, much appreciated.

[@Jamsome59]

Thanks for this just played my first high school tennis match. I’ve played 2 set matches before just very limited times bc of COVID. I lost 1-6 1-6 against a pusher I was definitely nervous and caught of guard. Going to use these tips in my next match definitely going to keep practicing and improving my mental game. Sometimes I feel like my mind is my toughest opponent.

[@IntuitiveTennis]

Keep trying J

[@dennisthegreek5336]

That's true about your mindset. But vs a pusher who rarely hits an approach shot winner, or a volley, but almost never makes an unforced error you shouldn't apply the same strategy as against a player with your own style. Send some short balls to him, make him come to the net where he plays poorly and attack the net after your best shots if his best passing shot is a slow slice.

[@jag3384]

Really like your take on tactics Nick. You know there are online coaches now with full programs that expound on tactics. I haven't gotten involved with them b/c I know they'll be of such minimal use, or even detrimental to actual match play.

[@MB-le7tw]

super good talk nick. you articulate the challenges & obstacles, hurdles very clearly (practice, practice, practice to get your technique automatic under match conditions and play, play, play USTA/UTR/club matches & tournaments to name but 2) with actionable strategies to chip away at them. tennis is a physically but also mentally very draining sport and presents challenges on so many levels. at the end of the day there's no shortcuts: it's countless hours of practice and playing 100s of matches. ill be book marking this one for future reference, thanks!

[@IntuitiveTennis]

🙏💯

[@anicorner7723]

desperately needed this video.

[@nathanmiller6051]

Thank you! Great video! Thanks for this lesson

[@LiamApilado]

Thoroughly enjoyed this👍

[@joemitchell4155]

How could anyone dislike this. Thanks Nik.

[@rodrigoafonso6643]

I usually can't replicate in matches what I do while practicing. But after seeing this video, I'm starting to feel more relaxed by following these fundamentals. High level content, Nick. You're the best!

[@manjucs2331]

Very informative video Nick. Thanks I usually tried to change technique during the game thinking to experiment when I actually play the set paid the price.. Thanks

[@jonathangreen6163]

Always great videos! Thanks for teaching

[@vivy_xo]

Awesome video Nick! Meanwhile Rafa knows how to say “infinitesimal”! ❤️Rafa!

[@stephenk.3226]

I really enjoyed the section that you read from Nadal’s book. Extreme well articulated on how NO two tennis shots are ever exactly the same! Everything that you shared regarding the complexity of tennis is absolutely spot on and applies to EVERY level of the game. After all, who’s to argue with Nadal (best player of all time!) and Nick (Best KZbin/Tennis Coach of all time!) With that being said, for some reason I pegged you as a Djokovic fan, however, I was pleasantly surprised to hear that you like Nadal the most. Can you elaborate a bit on why Nadal is your favorite? I would love to hear your feedback on this and thanks so much for your response!

[@IntuitiveTennis]

Thank you Stephen. Not sure why Nadal is my favorite. I saw him beat Federer in Miami in 2004 and since then I’ve been rooting for him. I love absolutely everything about this guy and the funny thing is that I usually don’t like Spanish players. He is my all time favorite and replaced Agassi. So when they faced each other while Andre was still playing I wanted Nadal to win.

[@martinas32]

Thank you for all of your videos, greatly improved my game :)

[@Dom-yv4nq]

Nick, immensely thorough and insightful information. At 52 yrs of age and having competed at a high level (National) I still stop to think of the infinite number of mental nuances to a match. One thing you mentioned which is VERY key to club level players is that many club players strike the ball in sometimes unorthodox ways hence a player may receive balls which are very unexpected. If your technique isn't good enough that you can make necessary adjustments one can find themselves making many unforced errors. Thank you for another great video.

[@helimax]

Underrated comment. I find more experienced mid level recreational opponents often resort to low trajectory back and side spin chop shots both fore and backhand for added precision and to manufacture angles - their intention being to try and kill points and or force an error vs an open rally and expansive tennis. Faced with this I think I overcook my top-spin fore and backhand and miss long or wide then you get in a low confidence spiral. Before you know it you too are chopping and hey presto you get terrible tennis. Equally for return of serve , it will often come back high , deep and spinning with no pace. I usually find one of two things happens. 1 I can power drive through to oddly positioned but slower balls and win easily , 2 I cannot as the ball is just too out of my comfort zone to swing at properly - then after losing a few games failing I also resort to higher or spinning hack shots and we get protracted rallies where no balls are deep or with pace until someone comes to the net and then its really 50/50 as the lob is usually effective in low pace rallies. The only respite in all of that is when I am returning serve- then you can at least hit the ball well and usually start a rally with pace at least. sigh. its just a hurdle to overcome . But they don't hit those balls like that in practice either I find, so often you only get confronted with this enigma in lower / mid levels of competition. Just me or anybody else have this problem also ?

[@spooky1304]

@@helimax yep :)

[@floridamancooking5984]

Great Tips, Thank you Coach Nik

[@stef4492]

Thanks for the great insight!

[@Mrmelody85]

Brilliant advice Nick! I get so much from your videos on KZbin, more than any other tennis tuition videos. I've been playing again in Spain for about 18 months after a 15 year hiatus and am around a 4.0 level. Your lessons are proving invaluable, what I wouldn't give to have you as my coach!

[@IntuitiveTennis]

🙏🙏

[@sassanxersi1027]

Nikola, you are wonderful man! Your words of wisdom even better than Rafael! Me thinks playing once a week is not going to help by much. I did 2+ hours a day when I was a student, and the result was great.

[@andressaenz704]

Best trainer of the world (at least in the internet) I didn't know you loved Rafa so much.

[@alainquattrin6453]

Another so good video,congrats and thanks a lot! You re definitely an outstanding tennis instructor

[@kevinarmes9804]

Love the video. Keep posting!

[@finnarhelger7471]

Hey Nick, Ich denke du kriegst wenig deutsche Kommentare. Ich spreche zwar natürlich auch gut Englisch, dachte mir aber aufgrund deiner Biographie (Top 20 Junior, zweiet Bundesliga mit Dortmund), dass du dich bestimmt freust, auch mal nen deutschen Kommentar zu lesen. Bin vor kurzem auf deinen Kanal aufmerksam geworden, und da ich neben meinem Studium selbst Tennistraining gebe und auch als Spieler selbst in den nächsten Jahren noch große Fortschritte machen und mich entwickeln will, schaue ich mir jedes deiner Videos an. Die helfen mir sowohl bei Problemen mit meinem eigenen Spiel und meiner Technik, als auch dabei, meinen Schülern Sachen zu erklären. Liebe Grüße aus Wiesbaden

[@IntuitiveTennis]

Vielen Dank 🙌🙏

[@mauriziodenapoli873]

hitting the ball and playing tennis, we tend too often to forget, are two different exercises.

[@CoachAdrian]

Nice way of putting it!

[@furatal-samaraie3884]

Fantastic advice!

[@CoachAdrian]

I love that quote by Rafa, but I have to disagree with you BIG TIME regarding tactics! At the recreational level, we don't all possess perfect technique. In fact, we'll always be pretty far from it. What separates many players are their use of tactics and strategy to defeat an opponent. I've seen many players with great forehands/backhands get demolished by a seemingly "lesser" opponent. Case in point - MEP from TennisTroll KZbin channel. If you've seen him, he has the WORST technique of any NTRP 4.5 player that I've seen, yet employs simple tactics/strategy of being consistent, moving the ball around, taking the ball early, and other things that keep him in a winning position... Tennis is not chess. Tennis is chess on STEROIDS! A lot of moving pieces and parts are in play at all times... Usually, the players that are good at practice but not so good at matches have no tactics or strategy whatsoever. They mainly try to hit winners from all over the place and have no idea of point construction. I would advise them to simply RALLY the point out to the middle of the court. Then, once the player starts being comfortable rallying, start to go crosscourt more, and find opportunities to go down-the-line. For good practice / bad match players, it's all about being more patient and aware there's more to the game than just technique 👍

[@jmsiqueiros499]

Very Stoic! Don't worry about what you can't control, instead, work on what you can control.

[@roshanjayaraman6543]

I bought Rafa's book 5 years ago but didn't get around to reading it all. I'll have to read it now! :)

[@IntuitiveTennis]

Read it. It’s great

[@willhines7012]

Great video! Love watching your channel Nick, I wish I had this resource back when I was playing high school singles. Working my way back into competitive tennis with the hope of eventually playing consistently at the 4.5 level. Appreciate all the great content you're creating, it's giving me great motivation to work harder to get to my goal 🙌

[@IntuitiveTennis]

You can do it! 🔥

[@PNWJenya]

I'm cramming for my first ever tournament in 3 weeks after picking up the sport 4 weeks ago, and this video was very helpful. It is raining in PNW, so I'm doing lots, and lots of shadow practicing. I will have a few more coach 1-on-1s before the start of the league.

[@Doty6String]

What helped me the most so far is just going for EVERY DAMN BALL. If it’s out hit it back and call it out. In practce hit back every ball you can. In the match you just go for every damn ball. It works.

[@125mph]

Great video as always! How about a future video on taking the ball early / hitting on the rise :)

[@JeremyClarksonGrandTourTopGear]

Один из лучших каналов о тенисе ☝️🙂👍 всегда смотрится с удовольствием Спасибо ✌️😁

[@pencilcheck]

I would agree to you , but now I would have object to that as I discover a new way to hit that allows me to hit in practice closer to match play. The only one thatI can’t seems to do well is probably serve but I am finding new ways to close this now but do appreciate for this video

[@PFBruno3]

Facts

[@counsela9240]

Excellent

[@DonYang73]

When you dont have good enough foundation skills and technique, you will screw up. Nik is absolutely correct. Only when you dont have to think about technique then you can think about tactics. At recreational level, most people loss due to inconsistency and their own errors 😃.

[@dennisthegreek5336]

I totally agree on the prematch negative mindset factor and on the mistake of trying to apply techinque changes during a match. But I cannot agree on the tactics factor as you perceive it. Especially at the recreational level, where I confront with players whose game elements have huge qualitative differences. An "all around" player, one who does it everything equally well on the court, is much harder to find at the recreational level. If I adjust my strategy to a certain opponent I can reach to a far easier win, compared to an approach with no adjustments whatsoever. i.e. at the 4.0 level you can find a player that slices 100% of his backhands, another one who always stays in "no man's land" after hitting a short ball, one who has very poor BH serve returns (even at slow serves) but powerful forehand returns, one who can never put away volleys&short balls, some players struggle with high balls but rip the low bouncing ones, some struggle only with low balls and so on... It's a huge mistake not to adjust your strategy according to the opponents' weaknesses. I have won matches 7-6, 6-0 because of such adjustments.

[@CoachAdrian]

Agreed. Nick has made some great videos, but I think this video really missed the mark on tactics. It almost made it seem like that tennis itself is a rudimentary game - like tic-tac-toe! As you say, adjustment in tactics and strategy based on opponent's weaknesses is a necessary skill to have in competitive play (at any level).

[@dennisthegreek5336]

@@CoachAdrian That's right about any level! Of course at the higher levels it's harder to both spot and exploit weaknesses, than it is at the recreational level, where it is also easier to bump into the rock-paper-scissors effect. Because some player's natural strength exploits perfectly another's weakness and there's little potential to adjust, comparing to higher levels.

[@CoachAdrian]

@@dennisthegreek5336 Yep, definitely hard to spot weaknesses in higher levels, but it's still there. Someone like Brad Gilbert would have never accomplished anything without sound tactics and strategy. He even elevated Agassi's game to legendary status with shrewd tactical adjustments in his game. 👍

[@ap7498]

Thank you Nick for a great topic and episode. Word is pronounced - In fin tis imal ....your English is amazing, considering it’s probably your third language. I couldn’t agree with you more about your assessment. I would only add that at the junior level, I believe the kids need to play more practice matches during the week....not one set and done, but real 2 out of 3 set matches....and putting something on the line. Thanks for your great work! 🙏

[@IntuitiveTennis]

100% kids need more match play

[@javiermillan8795]

So true, I play at the high school level and all of our matches are 1 8 game set, but I went to first UTR tournament where you play 2 sets of 6 games and it’s a lot more taxing, but I made to the final and finished 2nd.

[@snzh5436]

Great advice and will share it with my team. I had my second match in my life yesterday .... and we lost. My brain was on fire. I was not myself during the game. I appreciate you share it with us. Thank you.

[@artygunnar]

I played one of these "Recreational matches" and like you are saying about "warm up" and the opponent did not want to warm up, purposefully did not want to do it properly like the pros, he was a real jerk

[@homeropalacios9937]

I was really needing this video, it´s terribly when you get to the court and everything you practiced just...doesn´t work!!!

[@bracemitchell5062]

Thank you

[@n.nurkic4674]

just bought the book couch :)

[@IntuitiveTennis]

🙌🙌

[@maxsonthonax1020]

Every facet mentioned is already very familiar to me! (barely been playing two years).

[@theloserlose]

ive been told my whole teenage to choose to serve first. but i knew deep down i didnt like it.

[@Dom-yv4nq]

I'd like to say that you have not developed a good, consistent serve and hence you don't have confidence in it. I obviously could be wrong but that is my suspicion. I'm short so I serve with spin, a lot of it. I frustrate my opponents with top and side spin and I've never ever received serve first. Being the first on the board is a huge psychological edge. Keep practicing

[@akaebbassouan4979]

Très bons conseils pertinents et réalistes lire un livre est un art thanks

[@myrkotennis]

I personally think that (yes, if your basic technique on all strokes generally works) being able to control your mental state is more than 50% of the game. That includes the well-known thing, that strokes become slower in match play, because we start worrying about making mistakes. But in general any kind of mental setup is problematic, that messes up the ideal state of: being in the moment, playing every shot new and by that keeping negative self-talk and anxiousness in check. I noticed players playing far worse than they could do, just because they hat a predefined mental setup about the importance of a club match or their opponent in their mind, may it be that "I win this easily" or "I can't win against this player". So I missed the importance of mental state a bit here - I think this is a biggy and more than 50% of match play. Might be worth a special video.

[@jacksonlar]

Endlich richtig ausgesprochen! :)

[@finnarhelger7471]

Ist so :) Kennst du diese kurzen Videos wo Patrick Moratoglu seinen Spielern Sachen erklärt? Bsp.: "Wenn du auto fahren würdest, wie schnell würdest du fahren? Würdest du so schnell fahren, dass du alle fünf Minuten einen Unfall baust? Nein, oder? Du würdest so fahren, dass du keine Unfälle baust und heil ankommst. Das gleiche gilt für deine Schläge!" Mich flasht das immer so, weil man denkt sich so:'Hä, das ist doch der Coach von Serena Williams, Tsitsipas und co. Und der haut solche Vergleiche raus? So simple Sachen erklärt der (angehenden) Profis?' Man würde halt von so jemanden viel komplexere Sachen erwarten. Aber dann denk ich mir im Endeffekt doch so:'Brilliant. Absolut genial. Was der erklärt ist kein bisschen komplex? Warum auch. Tennis ist eben simpel!' Und genauso isses. Tennis ist nicht Schach. Es gibt ein paar physikalische Gegebenheiten, die man kennen sollte, z.B.: • Cross spielen hat den Vorteil, dass... a) der Platz in der diagonalen länger ist b) das Netz in der Mitte tiefer ist c) ich mehr mit Winkeln arbeiten kann und dementsprechend weniger Tempo brauche d) der Weg zur Winkelhalbierenden kürzer ist • Aufschlag mit mehr Spin = mehr Winkel, weniger Tempo • glatter Aufschlag = mehr Tempo, weniger Winkel... Abgesehen davon sind die taktischen Möglichkeiten begrenzt. Ich kann grundsätzlich offensiver oder defensiver spielen. Oft ans Netz gehen oder überwiegend von der Grundlinie spielen. Und dann ist noch die Möglichkeit, auf das Spiel des Gegner's zu reagieren. Wenn er sehr groß und steif ist, gern mal nen tiefen Slice. Wenn er unsicher am Netz ist, gerne mal nen Stop und ihn ans Netz zwingen. Mein Stellungsspiel beim Return kann ich an die Qualität des gegnerischen Aufschlags anpassen. Die Möglichkeiten sind aber begrenzt. Alles in allem ist es eben nicht Schach, sondern schon einigermaßen simpel. ABER: Varrieren immer nur im Rahmen der eigenen Fähigkeiten. Wenn ich keinen vernünftigen Stop spielen kann, dann brauch ich nicht versuchen, einen netzscheuen Gegner vor zu holen. Wenn der Gegner auf der Rückhand deutlich schwächer ist als auf der Vorhand, das gleiche aber auch für mich selbst gilt, dann macht es keinen Sinn, permanent Rückhand cross zu spielen und mich damit meiner Stärke, der Vorhand, zu berauben. Anpassen an den Gegner? Ab einem gewissen Level und in einem gewissen Ausmaß ja. Aber niemals auf Kosten der eigenen Stärken.

[@kuncarahadi]

Hello Nik. Very great lesson. However, i have problem with shot anticipation, especially when playing double and in front of net. Is there any useful tips for beginner to anticipate shot early?

[@HimalayinYogi]

Infinitessimal isnt even the correct word. It means super tiny. He should have just stuck with infinite for both your and his sake lol. Nice video thanks... this problem of playing worse than practice is definitely something which has bothered me forever!

[@SuicidalLemonade]

pretty sure that's not even ow you use infinitesimal. It means a number so small its effectively zero (or approaches zero), so literally the sentence says that a ball come come at you in almost zero ways. I think it's meant to mean "almost infinite" in that context, but idk if there is a single word for that.

[@owendennehy995]

Great vid. It boils down to determination / focus vs perceived consequences. In practice focus is more on striking the ball, there is no proof of work or time spent practicing that you need to prove to the universe or against your opponent. Also a good example is how well we return an opponents serve when its just out and we know we are not "in the point" but in a momentarily inert relaxed state. Think of Tesla when pronouncing the word..InfeTes e mal :)

[@spooky1304]

This is so so so so true: I almost ALWAYS hit a great return when a serve's long. Amazing when you think your mind only has about a 10th of a second to notice and relax before you hit the ball.

[@spooky1304]

So true - return of long serve is great EVERY TIME :)

[@smmoore00]

Awesome video and couldn't agree more on Rafa finding a great ghost writer for his book. Vamos!!

[@thebladypundehreviewsfunny2790]

spin high to the backhand