"EMPATHY" - другой взгляд на теннис

Hello, dear friends! Today I would like to make a video illustration of the word “empathy.” This word has a literal translation as compassion, sympathy. But in fact, the most important translation of this word is to understand the situation from the other side. When you see the situation in your own way, and the player sees it in his own way.

And today I want to show you the situation on the court through the eyes of the players. In order to clearly explain what it is, dead zones on the court, I will try to explain through a car. Probably every motorist is familiar with the expression blind spot. This is a kind of blind spot when you do not see the car at a certain moment in the mirror while it is overtaking your car. There are also such points on the court.

For example, look, we have moved one and a half, two meters forward. If you look at the court from my point, you will already see that not the entire court is visible. The court remained behind. And these points are a kind of blind spot for the player. We will come a few more meters and, for example, take a position here. This zone for a 10-12 year old player simply requires action on the court.

And I think everyone is familiar with the saying that you have heard more than once: “Oh, he made a mistake from his nose, such an easy ball, a short ball, you were close to the net, the ball had no speed.” And in this video, I will try to show you how differently the person who throws a shot sees the court while standing here.

Now we will simulate a situation, for example, a short ball. The ball will be close to the net and fairly low under the net. What does this mean for a player who has a plus or minus of some level and understands that positionally he is close? He has very little court in front of him and if he does not make a decision, most of the court remains outside his zone of action and he loses the ball.

What this means for the player is that he must make a very sharp decision in order to try to turn the play in his favor. There is very little court left. If the ball is close to the net and low, a person of at least a little above average level is well aware that this ball takes away the player's ability to make long decisions in length. If the ball is a little further out, you can play length because the ball has enough room to gain height and can make even longer decisions.

But when the ball is close and low, there are essentially two solutions. This is to play a short line with a short ball along the line and angle it along the net. There may still be a third solution. If the amateur is on the other side and runs very close to the net, then he will leave it to the player getting the ball to decide to play with a candle. But, as a rule, if the player understands plus or minus, he will enter ahead and will not let the candle itself be played. It will simply take away short decisions from the one who gets the ball.

Speaker2: The green court is visible from the spectator's side, but the player hits very small parts of it. The zones highlighted in green are areas where the player can seize the initiative. Short ball. I only have short solutions left. I have to play it as sharp as possible. Yes, I could have made a mistake, but if I didn’t take the risk, I would definitely lose.

Speaker3: The player who shortened the ball probably understands that I got a good shortened one and there are no long solutions left. Yes, he says this way, try to play long, but you can throw the ball to yourself at a height of 15-20 cm from the floor less than a meter from the distance and try to play long. If you succeed, send it to me. Only short ones left.

So he moves towards those decisions, the short ones that are most likely to be played, and takes the opportunity away from the player. But having hit these zones very sharply, the player seizes the initiative and wins the ball. But here is the situation when a player played the entire court, and not zone.

Inner voice: I'm afraid to miss in the sharp zone; I'd rather play safely. And here is a reliable game, leaving 5% of the winnings for the player who made the first shot and 95% for the second shot. Let's consider a simple situation.

And it seems to me that one of the most important mistakes that was in my initial training, when I started studying, they constantly shouted to us, "never change your decision, never change your decision." And I will now try to show on video why I think this is wrong. For example, the player standing opposite me receives a task. At number 1, catch the ball with your right hand. At number 2, catch the ball with your left hand.

For example, 2, he caught with his left hand. For example, 1, he caught it with his right hand. For example, 1, 2. What was he supposed to do during the flight? He should have changed hands. 2, 1. He changed hands.

Now I'll show you how it works on the court. These numbers are 1, 2. For example, you serve an oblique serve to the right, into the first square. Naturally, you serve this in order to finish, for example, with a forehand down the line or a backhand diagonally with the next shot. But this is only if your serve is successful and you get the desire to complete the ball.

Now I will show you, I will try to show in this video how it looks from the point of view of the player who serves, goes to the end of the game, and how the player moving on the other side forces the server to change this or that decision.

I want to throw a slant serve into the first square and get a response from the right diagonally. I receive and finish on the right along the line. I want to throw a slant serve to the right, receive a forehand return down the line, and finish backhand diagonally.

The player serves a slant serve, receives the intended diagonal. He wants to play along the line, option 1. But he sees that the opponent notices his desired decision, and he copes with the change of decisions and moves the diagonal. This is such an easy diagonal from the outside, but not so easy in reality.

The same situation, only the player cannot cope with changing decisions. The player serves an oblique serve and receives the desired hit to the right. He wants to hit option 1 along the line, but sees that the opponent notices and changes the counter diagonal to option 2. Then he sees that the opponent made a false movement towards the line, and changes his decision to option 1.

Thus, he changes his decision twice. From the player’s point of view, everything doesn’t look so simple, does it? Now I will try to show you another situation that, I think, everyone has had, but not everyone can feel free to admit it.

This is a wonderful shot past into an empty cord when the ball was in flight for a long time. During a long ball, our memory often reminds us of dozens of missed mixes into an empty cord. And when a player falls, it also adds responsibility for not hitting an empty line with a player lying on his back.

When you turn off memory and responsibility, everything is simple in principle. You hit it faster than the player's quick kick, giving the ball a plus or minus sharp angle. Another point in which I want to show how the player sees the cord and why this cord is very small for the player.

This is a way out of an oblique cross when a player is sent into an oblique cross. And the player completely loses cord, moving to the side. He doesn't have many solutions left to return to the rally by seizing the initiative. This is a reverse oblique cross, this is a long line, this is a long diagonal and two short ones.

Shortened along the line and shortened on the diagonal. There is also one solution in which the player can try to return without creating anything, but this is for a fairly low level player on the other side. You can simply, for example, try to throw it up and thus provide yourself with time to return.

More for players with a level. There is one way out of an oblique cross. A tight, long strike to the center. If hit, there is a high probability that the player will stop the development of the attack.

Speaker3: As you can see, from the directions of shots that I showed, also standing here, this is far from a whole court on that side. These are pieces of the court that a player who has lost the court positionally is trying to hit.

So don't strictly follow the player and try to understand through this video how difficult it is to play from different game situations. And if from your chair it seems to you that the court is empty and intact, then this is completely wrong from the point of view of the player standing here.

Thank you for watching. If you like this video, then you can make this an empathy section and look at various situations that will help, perhaps, parents see the court through the eyes of the players. Write your comments about what situations you would like to see, and we will visualize them. And don't get old on the court!