The myth about consistency in tennis

Written by: GP | January 25, 2022

We have a guest post from tennis coach Evan Gaudreu on the “Myth about consistency in tennis”. I hope you find it interesting.

The author of “The Myth about consistency”, Evan Gaudreau, is a tennis coach on junior and college level (D1). He is rated above 5.0, trained at Van Der Meer Tennis Academy and played D1 college tennis himself.

The Myth About Consistency

There were four players per court, hitting the balls baseline to baseline, crosscourt. Some balls flew with good ball flight, head level, arcing towards the opposite baseline. Other balls flew low, like a laser, almost clipping the tape every time they crossed over the net. The players were working on depth.

โ€œLetโ€™s go, guys. I want to see more height,โ€ I said, really speaking to the players hitting lasers.
One player adjusted their backswing, letting the head of the racket dip a little lower to the ground. The height increased.
โ€œGood Ben!โ€ I said.
I walked around the baselines.
โ€œLetโ€™s Go! More height, more depth.โ€
The players continued hitting. The ball flights didnโ€™t change much.
Five minutes went by.
โ€œWeโ€™re good!โ€ I yelled. โ€œBring it in! Get some water.โ€
The players stopped hitting and walked over to the first court, where are the tennis bags lay. They grabbed their water and began taking sips.
โ€œGuys,โ€ I paused. โ€œAnd girls,โ€ I said with a smirk. โ€œListen. We have to get more arc on our ball flight. Balls are landing short, balls are landing deep, too far left, too far right. We need a more consistent ball flight.โ€
I walked over, grabbed my water, opened the cap, and took a sip. My mouth was getting dry.
I looked at Jack. โ€œWhat do you think of your ball flight?โ€
He shrugged. โ€œI donโ€™t know how to get the ball flight up without sailing the ball out.โ€
โ€œHow do you change that?โ€
โ€œBy dipping the racket down.โ€
โ€œYes. By dipping the racket down,โ€ I repeated.
I brought my racket up in an arc and held the racket on the backswing, dipping the head of the racket down.โ€
โ€œEvery time I do that the ball goes out.โ€
โ€œWhy?โ€
โ€œI donโ€™t know.โ€
โ€œBecause, when youโ€™re approaching contact, youโ€™re brushing up on the deep ball. Thatโ€™s old school. 80s tennis. Today itโ€™s a brush out, not up.โ€
I slowly swung the racket to the contact point and stopped.
โ€œAt contact, you have to turn the racket. The head of the racket will move forward. Not the armโ€ I turned the racket, like a windshield washer at the contact point. โ€œIf you turn the racket at contact, you can control the spin and power better. If you brush up, youโ€™re controlled by your opponent. By their ball flight and spin and speed.โ€
โ€œAvery?โ€ I said to one of my top players. โ€œWhat do we do against brush upswings?โ€
โ€œHigh balls above the shoulder,โ€ he said nonchalantly.
โ€œBrush up swings only exist at the lower levels,โ€ I smirked. โ€œBecause the old teaching pros havenโ€™t adapted to the modern swing.โ€
I took another sip of water. Jack was a new player and had recently joined our group, coming over from another program.
โ€œGrace, what do you think? How was your ball flight?โ€
โ€œI wasnโ€™t working on ball flight. I was working on consistency.โ€
โ€œWhat were we supposed to be working on?โ€
She stared at me. โ€œI wasnโ€™t being consistent. So, I wanted to work on that.โ€
I looked down and shook my head with a smile.
โ€œCome on, Grace,โ€ I said jokingly.
โ€œIsnโ€™t consistency important?โ€ She said, smiling.
โ€œYes. But consistency only gets you so far.โ€
โ€œWell, Deb said consistency is the most important thing.โ€
โ€œDebโ€™s right to a certain extent. But she teaches more beginners. Itโ€™s important at that level.โ€
She was talking about her country club teaching pro.
โ€œGrace. Itโ€™s important. In the beginning. But you want to build more pace. Iโ€™d rather see you hit 5-10 heavy pace balls in a row, than pushing 50 slow meatballs.โ€
โ€œWell, I just think consistency is more important.โ€
โ€œThatโ€™s fine,โ€ I said. โ€œWould you like to play me? I can show you how your consistent balls will be useless.โ€
I took a deep breath. โ€œLook, Iโ€™m not trying to be a jerk. But, at some point Iโ€™m hoping you can learn how important depth and pace are.โ€
She shrugged.
โ€œAlright. Everyone get back out there. Switch sides and continue hitting groundstrokes.โ€
All twelve players walked away, back to their courts and starting hitting crosscourts again.
I turned to the other pro and whispered, โ€œSheโ€™s not at the level to understand yet.โ€
โ€œYa,โ€ he said. โ€œCoaching for me is like parenting. Iโ€™m not going to wait for my kids to be 18 years old and then teach them about drugs and alcohol.โ€
โ€œExactly, but you canโ€™t teach them too early either.โ€
We both smiled.
I turned my head and looked over at Graceโ€™s court. Then I turned to Avery.
โ€œAvery. Switch with Jack and hit with Grace. Give her some heavy high balls.โ€
He smiled.
โ€œBe nice,โ€ I said.
Avery switched courts with Jack. He started hitting high heavy balls to Grace while I watched for a few minutes. She struggled. Rally balls were hitting the racket frame, jumping straight up and hitting the ceiling of the indoor tennis club. Other rally balls were floating, weak, down the line.
โ€œCrosscourts!โ€ I yelled.
The other pro chuckled.
โ€œMan, that brush upswing is getting blasted.โ€
โ€œThatโ€™s the only way she will learn. Show donโ€™t tell.โ€
After a few more minutes, I called them back in.
โ€œGrace, Whoโ€™d you like hitting with better? Jack or Avery?โ€
โ€œJack.โ€
โ€œWhy?โ€
โ€œBecause he hits slower and with less spin.โ€
โ€œConsistent?โ€
โ€œYes.โ€
โ€œBut how many rally balls did Avery miss?โ€
โ€œNone,โ€ she said. Then she smiled.
โ€œNow, do you understand?โ€
She just smiled.

Summary

I like to write in story form to get the message across. Iโ€™m not trying to discredit consistency. Itโ€™s important at the beginning of your playing career. But, there will be a point where consistency should be assumed. Who wants to hit with a player whoโ€™s whacking the ball all over the place? Right? I get it. For junior tournament players, consistency works in the 12s and the 14s and starts drifting away in the 16s because the bigger hitters are now more consistent and putting the slow balls away with groundstrokes or volleys (I will delve into what consistency means at the higher levels on the next piece).

Consistency can work in adult tennis also. Up untilย 5-6 UTR (NTRP 4.0) level. By 7 UTR (4.5 NTRP), players are generally learning how to defeat that game plan.ย We all need to be able to rally consistently.

The next piece will be about what consistency means at the higher junior level and the college level.

**The brush-up swing** The brush upswing is volatile. It can be defeated simply by high heavy topspin. Another side note is the brush upswing needs constant touching of the ball. If you have a brush-up swingโ€ฆHave you ever taken a day or two off and felt like you havenโ€™t hit in a month? I was that player too. When I was young in my playing career, I had to hit every day or I lost my feel.

Enjoy your tennis and keep looking to improve.

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2 comments

  1. Hey Evan,

    Great article! Left me perplexed because I recognize myself in that story.

    Can you explain a little bit in detail about what you mean by brushing out on the ball? I am not sure what you meanโ€ฆ

    Thanks!

  2. Like your insightsโ€ฆ.trying to tell my college players about implementing certain patterns and tactics right away by assessing your opponent weaknesses. Iโ€™m too old now(67) and just play doubles! But I have seen the transformation of the swing and path of the racket with established players now a daysโ€ฆ

    Yes โ€ฆBrushing up on the ball means more whole arm movement? Rather than what you mention to move the head of the racket โ€œforwardโ€ at contact. Would that be comparable to the windshield wiper movement. I see Roger in slow-mo level the racket head out after contact, like throwing the racket over the net for a lower ball trajectory.

GP