Monday's Important Things : Consistency

Part Two of "Building a Better Varsity Player"

CONSISTENCY = Highly successful JV player / Lower positioned varsity player
Examples from last year: Jonny Shenk, Ben Mast, Seth Krabill, Matthew Amstutz, Mikey Kelly and others

The first part of this series was developing proper form, and thus the proper spin to each shot. Once this has been developed, the next step in the development process is consistency. This means we are still not working on pounding the ball or even on precise placement, but are simply hitting shots with good form into the court time and time again.

Without developing any further, being a consistent player can lead to wins at the varsity level. Players with consistent groundstrokes can load up the wins at #3 singles (even #2 singles if they are very consistent). A great example of this is Jonny Shenk, whose greatest weapon was his consistency and competitiveness. Over two years, Jonny won 33 matches at the varsity level. That is incredible.

What consistency does is wear down your opponent. High school players are typically not dedicated enough to the game of tennis to be patient. We all want results and we want them quickly. When an opponent makes us stay on the court because they hit everything in, we begin to get anger and try to hit shots we have not yet mastered. Consistency alone can break down many opponents.

This is true in doubles as well. If a player can get to the net, and consistently hit solid volleys and approach shots, then the pressure of having to lob every point or hit passing shots will get to them. Consistency will win you at least 15 matches if you are playing in the lower varsity spots.

But these same steps don't have to only apply to your all around game, they can apply to specific strokes as well. Let's say your have good form and consistency with your forehand, but you need to work on the backhand. Again, the first place to start is the spin and form, then move along to the area of consistency. This can be applied to any shot. First, form/spin and then consistency.

How do you develop consistency? You practice. You hit and hit and hit. This is what ball machines were made for. This is why you call your teammates and go play. This is why we do crosscourt drills every day to begin practice for 15 minutes. To develop consistency, you hit.

And not just randomly hit. You hit with the intention of getting every shot in. You don't go blasting at every shot and seeing if you can hit a winner, you hit back and forth with a friend until you can't hold your racket up anymore. A consistent player comes from hours spent on the court practicing.

This is why Daniel was so consistent this year, this is why Jonny was able to win so many matches. This is why we dominated those lower varsity positions, because those guys went out and hit. A lot. A whole lot.

So yea for step number two. For all y'all looking to be higher than #3S or #2D, come back next Monday for step three.