Pep Talk: Read this to Juniors Before Matches and Tournaments

In team sports, everyone has a job or position that they’re responsible for. What are you responsible for in tennis? Keeping score and calling lines are not the answers we want. Rather, we want to know which behaviors, beliefs, and decisions are responsible and which ones are irresponsible.

Are you responsible for winning every point? Of course not. 50% of tennis happens on the other side of the net; you cannot take responsibility for 100% of the game. Your opponent is going to miss — maybe they’ll hit a few lucky winners too. You can’t take responsibility when these things happens.

Are you responsible for hitting the most impressive shot in every rally? No! We can hit the best shot and still lose the point. Trying to do this is reckless and believing this is possible is highly irresponsible. Clearly, this must not be the objective.

Are you responsible for feeling good about your tennis? Absolutely not! The belief that tennis is supposed to make you feel good is just a shortcut to letting yourself down. In fact, the higher the expectations, the greater the fall. Think about it; how often do you play and say to yourself “I’m playing great?”

What points am I responsible for? None. You are responsible for the excellence of your fundamentals, and you are responsible for your effort, your values, and your strategic principles. If you stay true to these responsibilities, you hold up your end of the bargain. If you don’t win, at least you can say honestly that you did your best.

When can I hit the most impressive shot? You can absolutely go for your shots as long as you know that impressiveness isn’t the goal but something that happens when good fundamentals meet good opportunity. Some shots, like the first serve, present such opportunities on a frequently, but the average rally ball requires patience and discipline.

If trying to feel good is irresponsible, how should I feel? Go into a match like you’re going for a jog. Know that it’s not supposed to feel good, but rather it’s supposed to be good for you. Most runs are not about attaining a personal best. They’re about getting faster or improving endurance, which involves suffering. Sometimes you suffer so much that you don’t get faster, so you must look for the value in simply finishing the run. Good match or bad match, you will probably suffer. You must find value in finishing. This is responsible tennis.

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Imagine that when you play a match, you and your opponent each have three cards in your pockets. The first card is “fundamentals.” These are the foundational qualities that define your skills (rather than the quality of skills themselves): how well you watch the ball, how well you move, and how consistently you follow-through and remain committed to the technical aspects of the game. If you have a stronger fundamentals card, you win the match every time, and the other two cards don’t matter.

Now, if your fundamentals card is roughly equal to your opponent’s, the next card you pull out is “intangibles.” These are the principles that you carry with you: effort, focus, commitment, self-possession, mental toughness, etc. Again, the player with better intangibles wins the match every time, and the last card doesn’t matter.

Lastly, if both your fundamentals and intangible cards are roughly equal, the next card you pull out is “decision-making.” This is how you well you observe your opponent and how well you understand and execute your strategy. If the two other cards are well-matched, the player with the better decision-making wins every time.

EF