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Rabbit’s First Law: There is no such thing as a bad day. There is only the human condition.
Credit for the first law goes to Master Pro Bill Tym. It is the first law because it goes to motivation, the most important element in improvement. Improvement is a rocky road. Every time you step on the court or go out to hit against the wall or practice serve, you are a different tennis player. Some days your forehand is great. Some days you can’t do anything with it. Some days you know you’ve taken a step forward. Other days you’ve lost whatever you gained the day before, and maybe more. The day-to-day variations in timing, coordination, energy—i.e., the ups and downs—are simply the human condition. And here, as Bill Tym emphasizes, is the most important part of the human condition: no matter what is happening out on the court, you have the power to do something about it! So, if you’re playing or practicing poorly, don’t bemoan your fate, do something about it.
Rabbit’s Second Law: At Any Given Level of the Game, Consistency is the Most Powerful Weapon.
Yes, it’s true, the pros have spectacular shots, but they are far more effective with all their shots, not just the spectacular ones, than we are with our’s because the pros can hit them more consistently than we can. One can define improvement as increasing your consistency in hitting increasingly difficult shots. Consistency is the great fundamental. Consequently, it will be the subject of the next several laws.
Crosscourt Rabbit’s Laws of Consistency
Rabbit’s Third Law—The First Law of Consistency: Do NOT Follow the Ball. Rather, Look Through the Contact Point.
That’s right, you should not be keeping your eyes on the ball all the time, as many (most?) recreational players believe. You should, of course, attentively follow the ball from your opponent’s racket onto your racket, but once the ball strikes your strings, forget about looking at it. Instead, keep your head steady and look through the contact point until your follow through is nearly complete. The fact is, you can’t actually see the ball strike your strings. It happens too quickly. The most you can see is the blur of the ball as it approaches and rebounds off the strings, and you definitely do want to see that. Keeping your eyes on the contact point assures that you will. Moreover, it keeps your head, and therefor your upper body, steady, giving you an axis around which your entire body can rotate. Roger Federer is known for the length of time he keeps his eyes on the contact point. Here is a video that illustrates Roger’s technique: Finally, don’t worry that you will lose track of the ball’s direction or won’t be able to see where your opponent is and what he or she is doing. In executing your own shot you’ll have a good idea of where you’re placing the ball, and the time between contact and the near completion of your follow through (i.e., the moment when you look up) is very short. You’ll have no problem seeing all you need to see. Remember, you and the people you play are not hitting nearly as hard and fast as the pros do. If they have time to look through the contact point (and they do look through the contact point), you will have more than enough time. And by the way, if Rabbit could only give you one tip, this would be it.