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The hard-hitting, unpredictable, net-rushing tennis-player is a creature of impulse. There is no real strategy to his/her attack, no comprehension of your game. He will make brilliant coups on the spur of the moment, largely by instinct; but there is no, mental power of consistent thinking. It is an fascinating sort of character.

The really unnerving player is the one who mixes his/her style from back to fore court under the command of an ever-active mind. This/her is the player to study and learn from. He is a player with a definite purpose. A player who has an answer to every query you present him in your game. He is the most subtle antagonist in the world of tennis. He is from the school of Brookes. Second only to him is the player of dogged determination that sets his/her mind on one plan and sticks to it, bitterly, fiercely battling to the end, with no thought of change.

This is the player whose psychology is rather easy to understand, but whose mental viewpoint is difficult to derail, for he never permits himself to think about anything except the business at hand. This/her player is your Johnston or your Wilding. I respect the intelligence of Brookes more, but I admire the tenacity of purpose of Johnston.

Choose your sort from your own mental pattern, and then plan your game along the lines most suited to you. When two men are on the same level concerning stroke, strength and equipment, the deciding factor in any match is the mental viewpoint. Luck, so-called, is often just grasping the psychological value of a break in the game, and turning it to your own account. We hear a great deal about the “shots he has made.” Few realize the importance of the “shots he has missed.”

The psychology of missing shots is just as vital as that of making them, and at times a miss by an inch is of more value than a return that is killed by your opponent. Let me explain. A player drives you far out of court with an angle-shot. You run hard for it, and having reached it, you drive it hard and fast down the side-line, missing it by an inch. Your opponent is surprised and put off his stride, realizing that your shot might just as well have gone in as out. He will expect you to try it again and he will not risk it next time. He will attempt to play the ball, and may make an error. You have thus taken some of your opponent’s confidence, and increased his/her chance of error, just because of a miss.

However, if you had just popped back that ball, and it had been killed, your opponent would have felt even more confident of your inability to get the ball out of his/her reach, while you would only have been out of breath for no reason.

Let’s just say that you had made that shot down the sideline. It was a seemingly impossible achievement. First it amounts to TWO points, in that it stole one away from your opponent that should have been his/her and gave you one that you ought never to have had. Second it also worries your opponent, as he feels that he has thrown away a big chance.

The psychology involved in a game of tennis is fascinating, but easily understandable. Both player begin with equal opportunities. However, once one player has gained a real advantage, his/her confidence goes up, while his/her opponent worries, and his/her mental standpoint becomes poor. The sole objective of the first player is to hold his/her lead, thereby holding his/her confidence.

If the second player pulls even or draws ahead, the inevitable reaction is an even more drastic contrast in psychology. There is the natural confidence of the leader, but coupled with the great stimulus of having turned a seemingly inevitable defeat into a probable victory. The situation of the other player is the reverse. He is apt to lose confidence and play worse. The breakdown of his game plan will be the result.