Shanghai Open - Tics & Fidgets
Written by Tennis Pro, Saturday August 28 2010
Athletes are a strange bunch of characters and personalities that sometimes exhibit some very strange behavior for what appears to be absolutely no reason, no logical founding, and it has absolutely no effect on the outcome of what ever they are trying to accomplish. These are called tics, and tennis players probably seem to be the worst because their tics can be observed so easily in any match if you watch them with the focus of picking up these idiosyncrasies.
BALL BOUNCING
When serving, this is “Dribbling” the tennis ball up and down like a basketball, for what seems to be an eon of time to someone watching the match. I can only imagine what the opponent on the other side of the court receiving the serve must feel like. I’d be screaming, “Just hit the damm ball will ‘ya!
In watching the Shanghai Open this weekend I counted Novak Djokovic bounding the ball an average of 12 to 14 (or more) times before actually throwing it up for the serve. Now I ‘gotta ask, what is going through their mind while all this is happening? Some people say it’s to achieve some kind of rhythm or attunement with the ball, the game, the…whatever. Being an instructor of the game for over 25 years and a high school coach for part of that time, producing several Cds and DVDs on the mental side of winning along with a book on that subject (http://www.awinnersway.com/tennis.html) I think I’m qualified to comment on what does and does not give you a better chance to come out a winner. Bouncing the ball 17 times before serving just uses your energy and makes for a mental distraction. So what’s the deal, if you don’t bounce it just right or just the right amount of times, you’re not going to get a good serve? You don’t need this going through your head right then, so just get on with it, your opponent will thank you, the crowd will thank you and you’ll probably have a better first serve percentage or at least the same. I wonder if anyone’s ever done a statistics analysis on “Ball bouncers” vs. “Non-bouncers” as it relates to first serve percentages? The problem is, the rank and file player sees it and they figure, “If it’s good enough for the pros, it’s good enough for me”, so they start doing it, now you got an epidemic of ball bouncers who think this is something they just “Gott’a do” to improve their game.
Here’s a tip, “Don’t waste energy for any reason”, you’ll play better, and win more matches…Duh!
RACQUET SPINNERS
These are the people that after they hit the ball, in between strokes, they spin the racquet, yes WHILE the point is in progress. Where in Heaven’s name did they learn this (probably on television of course)? Talk about using up energy and making things more complicated, that’s the way to do it. Once again, just hit the ball! Every second you spend doing unrelated behavior wastes energy.
HAIR & CLOTHES ADJUSTMENTS
This is something that makes me want to ask, “What is the coach thinking”, aren’t they suppose to pick up on any and everything that could make a player better at winning? Wouldn’t eliminating every little thing that is not essential to hitting the ball effectively, be better for the player?
Roddick - I see Andy Roddick pulling on his shirt every 30 seconds or always in between points. Why not just buy a shirt that doesn’t hang on you like a wet bead spread? You’ve got enough to think…or not think about, why be wearing a shirt you have to “Adjust” every point. Sleeveless shirts are the new rage, and they fit great, and don’t require any “Micro adjustment” all the time. Anyone you see wearing one never is pulling on it or messing with it. Just BUY ONE!
Nadal – Now here is one guy that is really off the deep end when it comes to tics and weird non-essential behavior. He has such a regimented behavior tic pattern it’s just a riot to watch. On change-overs he’s got two bottles of water he drinks out of, each one sitting in a specific place, and goes through the same “Dry off-drink water- knee bounce – towel off proceedure. My wife and I are laughing so hard we can’t stand it watching him last night against Lopez in the semi’s at Shanghai. We even made up terms for the ritual he goes through before serving. First of all, his shorts (which look like Pjs) are obviously too tight because he’s always pulling them down by the ass end. So…it works like this, with the serve. 1- the “Shairapova pull-back” hair adjustment (she’s another one) it’s like there’s an invisible lock of hair on each side of his ear…but there isn’t…that he’s got to push back over his ear. He’s wearing a headband to KEEP the hair in place, but he does this “Over the ear” thing anyway. 2. The butt pull – Tugs at the back of his shorts in the gluteus maximus region. 3. The pocket check/push – Pushes down in the pocket that his holding the second ball. 3. The Snarl – Left portion of his lip raises showing some teeth as the ball hand goes up. So…it’s the Hair push, butt pull, pocket check, ball bounce, Snarl – SERVE! Every single time, minus the ball bounce if receiving serve.
STATISTICS: In an average 3 set match 6-4, 4-6.6-4 (30 games) each player will serve an average of 120 serves. If they bounce the ball like Djokovic only 10 times before serving each time that’s 1200 bounces per match. Does that make any sense at all, if you’re trying to conserve energy?! If you’re Nadal and you do the Butt Pull, Hair push, Pocket check, when receiving as well as serving…in that same match (not counting tie breakers) you’ve just done almost 1000 pieces of unrelated behavior (not counting ball bouncing) that could have been eliminated and have nothing to do with winning.
Solution for them all: get a pair of shorts/shirts that fit, trim your hair, quit bouncing the ball and SERVE! You’ll play better, win more, and…we’ll enjoy watching more tennis in less amount of time!
Keep your eye on the ball, and don’t make me come down there!
Roger the Tennis Pro
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