If I had to use only one word to condense the group wisdom I had benefited from working with competitive players (link), I think it would be "efficiency".
All the players I asked mentioned that tennis is not a 100 metres sprint. There are multiple rounds just to reach the finals. Often, the last two players would be taped up with muscle strains or injuries.
I have never seen in any tournament where the conditions of the last two players in the finals were as fresh as when they were in the first round.
This makes conservation of energy paramount. (Much like how critical pacing is in a marathon) Along with this, there would be less wear and tear and less injuries and strains too.
But I asked, what exactly is the key to this conservation? Most of the answers I received pointed to game tactics and style of play.
For tactics, it meant understanding opponents' preferences, strengths and weaknesses, and always playing to maximize their discomfort. Whatever that might be.
Making them do something unnatural, or outside of their preferences would meant increasing the opponents' effort needed in the match.
However, whatever we could do to them, could also be used against us. So I ruled out tactics. Unless one had superior abilities in execution of those tactics.
Only style of play remained. After rounds of debates on various styles of play, ultimately, all agreed that whichever player that was more energy efficient or productive than their opponents has the edge, assuming comparable skills/techniques/experience.
Again I probed, so how do we achieve this superior state of efficiency?
Two things were raised under style of play:
- Player style
- Equipment
Player Style
All beginners arm the racket. Few step into their shots and activate their legs to power their shots. Their reliance on ground reaction force is negligible.
As their game mature, they learn to loosen their grip, step in and swing through the ball. With earlier prep, they use more momentum and kinetic transfer. Less arming and less muscle.
This sounds simple. But to execute it well demands good anticipation, footwork and timing.
There is no player that can achieve 100% swinging all the time. It is always a combination of both swinging and arming. In our opinion, about 70% swinging would be as best as one could achieve, with 30% of the shots hit via "arming". Probably less in a closely-match competition.
Several coaches told me that they could almost always gauge any players' standard by how much the players arm the racket versus stepping in and swinging.
Likewise, they believed very few players who relies on "brute force" could go far or last long before injuries set in.
So the more footwork they relied on, the better the players, the longer they last.
Equipment
Unlike wood rackets, most modern rackets and strings have certain "inclinations". Some are baseliner sticks, some are spin setups while others may favour flat hitting more.
Not only that, the various combinations of string patterns, weight and balance, and lengths meant that modern equipment has a much wider latitude to cater to different players' anatomy, height, movement, timing and style of play. It is no longer a one-size-fit-all like woodies.
Conversely, this also means that ill-fitting rackets/strings could also be much worse off than before.
And if your opponents' equipment is more efficient and a much better fit for him than yours, then the odds would be against you even before the first serve.
All the competitive players whom I have worked with admitted overlooking the importance of fitting equipment. They were unaware so much physics was involved in a seemingly simple tennis racket and strings.
To all who believe that technique alone suffices, I can produce a racket that would totally breakdown your game. And those who keep blaming your tool, I am certain even if you had Federer's or Nadal's actual match rackets, you would not be able to serve nor spin it like them.
Both technique and equipment are equally important. They are not mutually exclusive.
To hone your techniques, get a honest coach. To tweak your equipment, find a trustworthy stringer who knows his stuff.
More importantly, make sure BOTH technique and equipment are efficient.
