<p>So I played tennis with this person in a competitive match who kept being aggressive with me…you know, “hey, can you even play??” and stuff like that. I am definitely the better tennis player and won the first set but all those aggressive shots took a toll on me and I then lost the match. Now I am playing tennis again and cant get that match out of my head…its like a phobia thats stuck. </p>
<p>I am tougher now and if I were to play him again I’d definitely retaliate…but how do I get rid of this phobia thats kinda stuck?</p>
<p>Thinking like this doesn’t help you win tennis matches. Guys who say this a lot often are guys who get destroyed by the b!tch game (my favorite term for pushers, retrievers, etc.). </p>
<p>It’s really unfortunate that it’s such an effective tactic unless you play at a high level. The way to beat it is to not b!tch it up right back to them, but to still hit good shots, but make them high percentage shoots, and only take risks when you get good opportunities. It makes for boring matches though. I’d really like tennis more if it didn’t exist.</p>
<p>Have a solid gameplan and focus on executing that gameplan. Even though he may be lobbing back crap on every point and hoping for you to make a mistake, don’t play the same game he’s playing because he has more practice doing it.</p>
<p>Here’s a good one: Don’t become complacent and hit garbage back. Hit solid, high percentage shots (cross-court, pretty deep), and take opportunities to attack on short balls. Don’t become impatient and try to hit shots that you don’t have. I know that this is easier said than done . . .</p>
<p>For all of you telling him to man up & thrive on the competition, etc., I feel like you have to give federernadal some credit. The ultra-conservative style of play I call the b!tch game is really effective in recreational-level style tennis, and playing against it is super-frustrating and changes the game dynamic totally, in my opinion. </p>
<p>While to some degree it appears in other sports, I feel like it is a strategy that’s a lot harder to counter in tennis because it is such a technique based sport. Until you get to the higher levels, you really struggle with being able to do anything consistently, so playing a type of game where you sacrifice the ability to hit good shots to be able to get the ball in is really effective. It changes the game dynamic an awful lot. </p>
<p>The only analogy I can draw to this is in basketball. Before the shot clock was introduced, teams, once they got a lead, would kill clock by spreading the offense out and just sitting around and passing back and forth. It created pretty boring, low scoring games, where players weren’t really able to showcase their basketball skills.</p>
<p>Yeah, this may be true, but I feel like the dynamic in rec tennis is often that you have to sacrifice a play style that when practiced enough, makes you become better in tennis in orderto be able to play a more competitive game in the short run. Maybe I’m just complaining because I lose to the same guys that federernadal loses to though.</p>