I think this, more than anything, separates the wheat from the chaff: the true greats can keep their heads, while for the rest of us the rally degerates into a bash fest. There will sometimes come a point in a rally where the "correct" shot will occur to me like a bolt of lightning, but most of the time it's "speculative" attack, or just staying in it.
Mark: I would say there is a very large range in between. I would argue that when professional rallies get flat and fast, there is probably more reactions than pure thought (e.g. I doubt they are thinking "I should wait with my racket here because I expect the next shot to come there" - that will be down to experience in these situations). On the other hand there is obviously a lot of thought going into some of their shots at certain times. I agree though, that too many people play on "autopilot" just hitting standard responses to standard shots. Perhaps then we should differentiate between singles and doubles? I feel there is a difference in requirement. What do you think?
no, it is subconscious and instinct which you build from experience and practice for fast rally ......
when we say subconscious or instinct, that is not exactly true... because during the rally, we're constantly processing information and anticipating our shots and opponents replies, depending on their court positions, stance, racket head position, strengths and weaknesses, abilities, etc. it is not higher level cognitive thinking like solving math equations, but it is still mentally draining and requires absolute focus
I agree - I think it's possible play more shots "ahead" in singles than in doubles. Singles is more chess-like, even the way I play it: I've often played a shot knowing where the next four or five are going to go. There's less time in doubles, so a two or three (rarely) hit combo is as far as I can see. I always try to have a shot in mind whatever the situation; letting the rally descend into knee-jerk flailing doesn't work for a control player like me.
I try to think as little as possible, I twist my racquet in my hand if I receive the serve, if I'm the non-receiving player, I look to see where the server is just in case I need to do a drop shot. I would say 95% of the time, I try and clear my emotions from the last rally though
In between rally , I would think about the score ........if winning at 19 and opponent score around 17/18. I would think about the tactics to get those two points before he can get one closer to my score. If opponent score was not even close , then my tactics would just to close out the match try not to make any error and get the shuttle back in play.. not too tight on those net spin and have a small margin on every single shot.
I really only think when playing singles, which for me is largely why I greatly prefer singles. Doubles is too fast for me to think on a cerebral level If the shuttle is coming to me I'm thinking about what shot to play, if I just hit it I'm mostly thinking about my position on court and what the most likely replies are going to be. In between rallies it's usually thinking about how to win the next point. Maybe thinking about what I did wrong in the last rally.
Focus on - controlling your bodylanguage between points, look energetic, relaxed, determined will help to achieve that as a mental state. Think either what serve to do and likely return or what serves to expect. Try not to think about previous errors, outcome of match, score, etc
i think relax the hand and move your fat ass sums it up for me i do find myself mainly thinking on the lines of, did my last straight smash work? *looks at large space* i better drop this shot cross court...
