How many times have you been on a tennis court and heard a player, or yourself, yell out “My timing is off, Why I’m I so late, or Dang, I caught that one too early” at the top of their lungs, then storm back to the baseline in disgust?  Oh, and it gets better (…or worse).

Then, you sprint back to the line, thinking the next one will be different, and you lose that point, and the next point as well. I mean, it feels like you’re doing exactly what you’ve worked on in practice, but the result is nowhere near as nice.

Sound like you sometimes?

Don’t feel bad if you answered yes. If you said no, never….  that would have been dishonest haha. Why? It’s because we’ve all had problems with our timing at some point during practice or tournament play. No one is exempt.

I wouldn’t start smiling too wide just yet though. Even though a large number of players experience these “off days” where their timing has a lot to be desired, it doesn’t let you off the hook by any means. It doesn’t change the fact of how critical it is to our game and what a great impact it can have on our overall success.

Because, to be honest, many of our most important core strategies like foot work, court positioning, and recovery strategy revolve around our precision. By saying that, I’m talking about the precise timing with which your racket comes in contact with the ball and follows through to the end of your stroke.

I mean, it really is unfortunate that so much of whether you win or lose is dependent upon the difference of a micro-second, if that. In many cases, it’s probably more like  half of a milli-second of a micro second . But it’s true.

And if you’re off by just that much on any one shot (…grounds troke, volley, serve, overhead etc.), the whole game, point, set, match, and championship… OR.. “good old bragging rights” can be flushed right down the toilet just as fast.

Hitting the ball at precisely the right time is really what tennis is all about, and in order to get it to a high level requires practice and focus training.

When a player finally gets the art of bringing the ball to the sweet-spot range (SSR) of his racket at the right time ingrained deeply both in his mind and his body, he’s able to make the best use of his opponent’s force and able to direct the ball to virtually any specific location he or she desires.

Not to mention, he becomes very difficult to beat. His confidence drastically increases along with his hitting percentage.

That’s why I said in the email that it’s an uphill battle when those words, “my timing is off” spill from your lips. It’s because your timing is a huge component of your core strategy, like a base or foundation. And if that’s disrupted, it could be a glimpse of the horrible things to come, completely shattering your game later on, if not corrected.

Oh yes,  it’s many times the biggest difference maker in how effective your shot will be. Hitting a ball a moment too soon will send it sailing to the back fence or first row of the stands and if you hit it a fraction of a second late, your ball will probably end up in bottom of the net. And what’s worse, it will keep happening to you over and over again…. until you fix it.

I mean, when this happens, it’s not by some fluke. You’re doing something wrong. Something has shifted off-course from your original game plan, and if your goal is to change the outcome from an unwanted result to a more favorable one, you’re  going to have to make a change.

Check out some of the key mental factors that can help perfect your timing instead of getting your clock cleaned, if you know what I mean.

Factors Affecting Timing

1. Focus: The main factor which can completely turn the tide on your timing is your focus. Players who aren’t focused get easily distracted by such things like opponent’s sudden movement, outbursts by the crowd, changes in the weather, the idea of trailing and needing to catch up and tons of other things.

And the result is almost always the same. They usually end up hitting the ball late and a lot of times not only lose the game or the set, but it can even become a match or championship ending problem.

Let me tell you, in the hundreds of matches that I see every year, I can easily tell which players have more wins under their belt (…without having ever seen them play before). How?

Well, it’s not rocket science. All of the winners have one thing in common, firm-minded focus. You can see it in their eyes, they mean business out there. You can also see it in their level of precision when going after each and every ball that comes to them. It’s spot on. And that’s why their timing is so impeccable.

They ignore everything outside of those side and boundary lines and are completely dialed in to what’s happening on the court.  You want to know how you can improve your timing and your focus simultaneously? (Check out the tip below)

TIMING & FOCUS TIP: Make a list of all the potential distractions that you believe or have seen affect your performance.  They say that knowing is half the battle, and they’re right! Once you’re aware of the possibilities, both your mind and body will prepare, guarding against those potential events,  helping you prevent them from ever happening. This will give your chance at staying mentally glued and winning the match a major boost!

2. Decision Making: The second factor that has a direct impact on your timing is your decisiveness. Any player who is not sure as to how much pace or force he has to put behind an incoming ball or struggles on deciding what shot he/she wants to execute for a specific situation will definitely hit it late quite often.

And a stroke played late will, many times, result in  incorrect ball direction and placement. This means a lot longer, scrappier, more difficult points. So…

Want to make better decisions? (see below)

DECISION MAKING TIP:

A great way to enhance your decision making ability is to practice hitting balls coming at different speeds. That’s right, give yourself different looks, because that’s exactly the stuff you’re going to see in a live game.

Try renting a ball machine and choose the random setting. If you don’t have access to a ball machine, have a buddy or coach feed you the balls with absolutely no consistency whatsoever. Use different speeds, trajectory, and spin.  Only then will you be able to learn to correctly assess how you should tackle the ball when it’s coming to you.

3. Mental & Muscle Memory Mastery:

Most importantly,  the number of balls and shots you hit has to go up. The more you hit, the better your timing will be. It’s that simple.  If you take time off or don’t play tennis for a while  (as is the case with many club-level players), you’re likely to experience an “off” feeling when returning to the court. I know you probably don’t want to hear this, but it’s not always a quick fix. Darn it! Yea, I know. Many times, it takes time  and practice to get your groove back.

MMMM TIP: I recommend hitting against a backboard. I believe that would even be better than hitting with a buddy, because the wall will ALWAYS get it back. It’ll never miss-hit or direct it out of play. You won’t be wasting your time waiting for someone to go pick up a ball that they hit onto the next court.  Instead, you’ll maximize your time and get more than enough shots under your belt to really make sure your timing sinks down deep.

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It’s important to know when and how to hit the ball as this will help you develop your game to whereby you can shorten the points, save more energy, and of course making winning those matches a whole lot easier.  Remember, better focus means better decisions, and better decisions mean shorter, smarter, and easier points that will be much more favorable to you – trust me!

Have a GREAT week and an even BETTER game!

Brian Hall, Head Coach
TennisMindCamp.com
Email: webmaster@tennismindcamp.com

P.S. Great job to the many of you that have been sending in your proofs for the French Open “Duralast” Derby. It’s really close. I can’t wait to award the winner. The time is ticking… http://tennismindcamp.com/blog/french-open-duralast-derby/