Tennis psychology is nothing more than understanding the workings of your opponent's mind, measuring the effect of your game on their mental outlook, and understanding the mental effects of various external causes on your mind. . You cannot be a good psychologist for others without first understanding your own mental processes, you must study the effect on yourself of the same event in different circumstances. They react differently depending on moods and circumstances. You need to be aware of the effect of the resulting irritation, pleasure or confusion on your playing or the form your reaction may take. Does it increase your efficiency? If so, strive for it, but never give it to your opponent.
Does it prevent you from concentrating? And if so, remove the cause or, if that's not possible, try to ignore it.
Once you have accurately gauged your reaction to circumstances, study your opponents to determine their mood. Temperaments interact in the same way, and you could judge men of your type for yourself. You should seek to compare opposing temperaments with people whose reactions you know.
A person who can control his own mental processes has an excellent opportunity to read other processes, because the human mind operates along definite lines of thought and can be studied. One could control one's own mental processes only after carefully studying them.
The phlegmatic key player is rarely a passionate thinker. If so, it will not adhere to the baseline.
A man's physical appearance is usually a very clear indicator of his type of mind. The simple, easy-going guy, who usually defends the base game, does so because he hates hoarding his clumsy mind to think of a safe way to the net. There's the other type of baseliner, who prefers to stay in the back of the field while you lead an attack meant to break your game. He's a very dangerous player and a thoughtful opponent. He achieves his goals by juggling his height and direction, and disturbing you with the variety of his game. He is a good psychologist. The first type of player mentioned only hits the ball with little idea of what he is doing, while the second always has a definite plan and sticks to it. The tough, erratic, rushed player in the net is an impulsive creature. There's no real system for his offense, no understanding of your game. He'll make brilliant shots on the spur of the moment, largely by instinct; But there is no mental strength for coherent thought. It's pretty interesting and cool.
The dangerous man is the player who mixes his style back and forth in the direction of an ever-vigilant mind. He is the man to study and learn from. He is a player with a specific objective. A player who has an answer to every question you ask him in your game. He is the smartest opponent in the world. He's from Brooks School. After him is the determined man who sets a plan and sticks to it, fighting until the end, never thinking about change. He is the man whose psychology is easy to understand, but whose mental point of view is difficult to disturb, for he never allows himself to think of anything but the work at hand. This guy is your Johnston or your Wilding. I respect Brooks' intelligence more, but I admire Johnston's tenacity by design.
Choose your type of mental process, then play along the lines that work best for you.
When two men are in the same class, as far as racing gear goes, the determining factor in any given match is the mental point of view. Luck, as it is called, often realizes the psychological value of the break in the game, turning it into your own account.
We hear a lot about "the pictures we took". Few realize the importance of "misses". The science of missing shots is just as important as making them, and sometimes a missed shot is more valuable than the return your opponent kills.
Let me explain. The player pushes you off the field at an angle. You run hard, you reach, you drive hard and you accelerate down the sideline, you lose it an inch. Your opponent is surprised and shaken, realizing your shot may have gone inside as is. He'll expect you to try again, and you won't take any chances next time. He will try to play the ball and he might make a mistake. By doing so, you've captured some of your opponent's confidence and increased their chances of making a mistake, all by mistake.
If you only had this return, and he was killed, your opponent would feel increasingly convinced that you couldn't put the ball out of his reach, when in fact you would have been out of breath without consequence.
Let's say you pull the button. It was apparently unobtainable. First, it goes down to 2 points in that he took 1 point from your opponent that should have been his and gave you a point that you should never have had. This also worries your opponent, as he feels he has thrown a big chance.
The psychology of a tennis match is very interesting, but easy to understand. Both men start with equal chances. Once a man establishes a real lead, his self-confidence increases, while his opponent worries, and his mental perspective weakens. The only objective of the first man is to retain the lead, thus maintaining his confidence. If the second player shoots or pulls forward, the inevitable backlash occurs with a greater variation in psychology. There's a natural confidence the commander now has in the second man as well as that great incentive to turn apparent defeat into potential victory. The reverse in the case of the first player tends to hopelessly ruin their game, and a crash ensues.