In today’s competitive tennis landscape finding an edge over our opponents has become increasingly difficult. The tennis community has become sharper, coaching education and training methodologies have improved, and more players than ever are following the best learning practices I described in Building the Expert Performer. Where can we find our advantages over our opponents?
One potential place we can look for an edge is in the development of a contrarian mindset. Being contrarian means to be different, but in an intelligent and effective way. Helping our players to differentiate their skills sets and overall strategic approaches in smart and unexpected ways can create potential opportunities for success and advancement over the more typical approaches of the masses.
The Contrarian Mind and Rick Barry’s Free Throws
Popular opinion can play a role in how all games are approached by the majority of players. This can create incredible opportunities for the competitor if one can find a less popular approach that is equally, if not more, effective. Contrarian players choose this road less traveled, avoiding the masses while approaching the game from a completely opposite viewpoint.
An incredible example of the contrarian mindset at work can be observed in the infamous basketball player Rick Barry who was one of the greatest shooters in his era of NBA history. During his tremendous career he was the only player ever to achieve the year-end scoring titles in the NCAA, ABA, and NBA.
Barry’s most notorious accomplishment though was at one time holding the all-time record for career free throw percentage, shooting an astounding 90 percent. However, overshadowing this incredible achievement was his completely unorthodox method for executing these free throws, as he utilized a two-handed underhand toss to send the ball consistently through the hoop!
Even though our modern NBA game is filled with many players who regularly struggle shooting free throws, no one attempts to approach this shot differently because shooting underhand is considered wrong. Instead of doing what was believed to be right or popular, Barry chose an unpopular and yet personally more effective approach, and this is the core of what being contrarian is all about.
Contrarian Tennis Players
The contrarian tennis player is easily observable throughout the history of our sport.
When the men’s game was based upon a serve and volley vertical style of attack, notable players such as Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, and Andre Agassi choose to be contrarian as they developed an elite horizontal baseline style of play. With players like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal dominating the competitive landscape with their tremendous forehands, it took Novak Djokovic’s contrarian mindset to look to the backhand wing and transform this side into his preferred avenue of attack.
In the 2016 US Open final Stan Wawrinka defeated Djokovic employing his unmatched one-handed backhand to great success. Learning the one-handed backhand itself is a perfect example of a contrarian approach as it forces your entire technical, tactical, and athletic skill set to become differentiated from the vast majority of your opponents who are typically taught to play the currently more popular two-handed backhand. Learning the two-handed backhand itself was once a contrarian approach before the evolution of equipment, and the popularization of this shot by players such as Chris Evert, Connors, and Borg.
Federer once again became a model of the contrarian approach in 2017 as he completely avoided the clay court season in an attempt to protect his body and rejuvenate his mind. This unorthodox approach was not popular in some circles, but at this stage of his career Federer knows that this allows him to play his best tennis. The end product was a career resurgence in 2017 that resulted in a 52-5 singles record, and seven tournament titles including winning both the Australian Open and Wimbledon Championships. He is sticking to the same plan this year and has already captured another Australian Open title, so it will be interesting to see what 2018 will bring.
Becoming Contrarian
Contrarian players view the game differently, and train in environments that help them achieve the mental/emotional toughness that I described in Developing the Anti-Fragile Player. Therefore, in order to become a contrarian tennis player you have to develop a detailed understanding of how most competitive tennis players build their games, and have the confidence to trust your process while going against the popular opinion of masses.
While tennis analytics may not be as widely applied to training as it is in other major sports, any casual fan can see that the majority of current competitive players prefer to structure their games around the baseline. Typically, these players favor the forehand as a weapon, and complement that attack with a strong service game on the men’s side and strong return game on the women’s side.
Therefore, if the majority of tennis players are building their games around a baseline-oriented horizontal style then one strong contrarian approach could mean developing a more vertical style of gameplay. Building your game around a first strike attack on the serve and return, learning to hit the ball on the rise and take space whenever possible, and developing incredible skills at the net will certainly differentiate you as a player. Add in the fact that the majority of our USTA sectional and national competitions are played on fast hard courts that favor a more aggressive style, and you’ve identified a vastly less popular, yet highly effective, stylistic approach that could potentially give you a significant advantage in competition.
Final Thoughts
In the challenging world of competitive tennis the edges over our opponents are slim, but one significant way to maintain an advantage is to develop contrarian tennis skills.
Remember, being contrarian doesn’t mean being foolish. Rather, it means that you will be spending your time and energy developing skills and tactics that the majority of your opponents will overlook, because they aren’t the most popular ways to play the game.
By learning to take the road less travelled you will be creating fundamental adaptations in your primary skill set that can be potentially game changing come match time.