Second Serve

By JIM ALBRECHT

PTR Instructor

For the Herald

I had the privilege, some years ago, of attending an auction of some of the world's best engineered and superbly finished automobiles.

One bidder stood out from the rest of those in attendance in that he managed, thru his persistent bidding, to purchase all the cars presented. When I asked one of the unsuccessful bidders what the new owner intended to do with his purchases, he replied that the new owner had a large private collection of cars, worth millions, but that they were to be only displayed, and not driven at all. Seemed like such a waste to me!

So…how does this relate to tennis? Simple! Many tennis players invest considerable time, effort, and money in order to learn the skills necessary to play tennis well.

They diligently follow the instructor's guidance to develop effective strokes and racquet skills only to leave those skills at home in their driveways' (so-to-speak). During their lesson period they drill on serves, forehand and backhand volleys, topspin forehand and topspin backhand ground strokes, drop shots, drop volleys, stop volleys, lobs and overhead returns of lobs.

They develop angled chip shots on both the forehand and backhand sides, they eagerly chase down tennis balls hit wide to either side of the court and the lesson progresses well..as a result the student is usually pleased. The instructor is pleased (and hopeful) and skill progression is clearly evident.

But, alas! A mystery presents itself, the solution to which is elusive at best, and sometimes impossible to identify, at worst. As soon as the first ball is struck to start a competitive match, players leave their newly learned skills at home in the driveway! They are reluctant to employ the skills so recently developed even tho they have worked hard to learn them, have demonstrated confidence in them during the lesson period, and in the bargain have paid good money to do so!

Consequently, they revert to playing as they have always done, with only mediocre success…all the while continuing to make the same embarrassing errors over and over again.

Perhaps it is asking too much of players for them, in the course of an afternoon's league play to execute every new skill that has been learned during lessons with the instructor.

However, I do not think that it is asking too much of each player to resolutely decide to employ at least one new skill during the current match at every opportunity that presents itself. I have said, many, many times that the joy of tennis comes from playing well!

It comes from using your hard-earned and hard-learned racquet skills; it comes from using your body's' natural strength, agility, and grace to become an effective and skilful all-round tennis player. Simply stated, if you choose not to use these new skills you deprive yourself of the great joy that comes from playing the game well!