World's Toughest Sport! (tactical)

In the last post I talked about how technically tennis is the toughest sport in the world. Grips, swing paths, and the small court make the technical component extremely difficult. The strategies applied to the game are somewhat simple but understanding the variables that every ball has make this game chess, not checkers! Let's look at the tactical part of it in this post. Counterpunchers, all-court, and serve and volleyers are the most prevalent types of players we see in today's game. Arguably, we can say that serve and volleyers are an extinct species but from time to time we see players implement this strategy throughout their match. With all these strategies, players have to take into account the variables that every ball brings. If a ball is short, weak, penetrating, backspin, topspin, etc, can change the tactical play of that particular shot and point. All sports have the component of variability but not as much as tennis. Because of the change of every ball, a player's strategy can change within a point many times. He/she might start with a serve out wide on the deuce to set up an open court shot on the next. If the serve is slightly off and the opponent hits an offensive shot putting the our player on defense now he will have to counter-punch. The next ball can be a weak one by the opponent and now our player is back to offense. This type of pattern happens ALL the time! It is said players can change from offensive to neutral to defense anywhere from 1 to 8 times in a given point. Most other sports are very direct. If you are on offense you are on offense and same when it comes to the defensive side. Picture a football player who is a wide receiver catching a ball and then tackling himself producing a fumble which he picks up and runs for the touchdown (I think I've seen this before but not by design). Not only was this a run on sentence but it demonstrates the quick change of position. If you are to play tennis, you better be ready for the roller-coaster of tactical play. Be open minded, patient, and adaptable and the game will pay dividends.