First Ball Forehand

Winning Is a Skill You Have to Practice

Everyone wants to win more close matches. The problem is most players never actually practice winning.

Let’s talk tennis.

Think about the typical practice session. Forehands. Backhands. Volleys. Serves. Overheads. Maybe a few points at the end. There’s nothing wrong with any of that, but ask yourself one question.

How much of that practice actually prepares you for 5-5 in the third set?

Hitting strokes and winning matches are related, but they are not the same skill. One develops technique. The other develops decision making, confidence, and execution under pressure.

That’s why so many players leave the court wondering why they keep losing the close ones.

Stop Practicing Strokes. Start Practicing Situations.

Every time players lose a tight match, they usually diagnose the wrong problem.

“My forehand broke down.”

“My serve wasn’t good enough.”

“I need another lesson.”

Sometimes that’s true. Most of the time, though, the problem isn’t the stroke. It’s that the player has never practiced performing the stroke when everything is on the line.

Winning is a skill.

That means practicing break points. Match points. Set points. Tiebreaks. Serving for the match. Returning to stay alive. Those situations should become part of your regular practice, not something you experience for the first time during competition.

Remember pretending as a kid that you were serving for Wimbledon?

Start doing it again.

Picture the crowd. Feel the pressure. Imagine the score. Then hit the serve.

Your brain doesn’t completely distinguish between vividly imagined pressure and real pressure. The more often you place yourself in those situations during practice, the more familiar they’ll feel during a match.

Give Yourself a Plan Before the Pressure Arrives

Pressure isn’t the time to invent a strategy.

Know your go-to serve on break point. Know your favorite return pattern. Decide which forehand you trust most. Decide how much margin you’ll play with. Those decisions should already be made before the match begins.

Then practice executing them.

One of the biggest mistakes recreational players make is believing they’ll simply “figure it out” when the moment arrives.

Usually, they don’t.

Three Things You Can Practice Today

Fortunately, handling pressure doesn’t require a new forehand.

It starts with simple habits you can rehearse every practice session.

First, take one deep breath before every important point. Controlled breathing helps calm the body and narrow your focus to the next shot instead of the outcome.

Second, move your feet even more. Tight players stop moving. Extra adjustment steps improve spacing, balance, and timing when nerves start creeping in.

Third, accelerate through the ball. Under pressure, players guide the shot instead of swinging freely. Trust your stroke and let the racket continue accelerating through contact.

These aren’t emergency fixes. They’re habits.

Practice them every session until they become automatic.

First Ball Forehand Match Point

Winning isn’t just about better strokes. It’s about preparing yourself for the moments that decide matches.

Don’t just practice tennis. Practice winning.

Source: Coaching principles adapted from Stop Losing! Play Winning Tennis Now by Joe Arena.