When two men are, in the same class, as regards stroke equipment,
the determining factor in any given match is the mental
viewpoint. Luck, so-called, is often grasping the psychological
value of a break in the game, and turning it to your own account.
We hear a great deal about the "shots we have made." Few realize
the importance of the "shots we have missed." The science of
missing shots is as important as that of making them, and at
times a miss by an inch is of more value than a, return that is
killed by your opponent.
Let me explain. A player drives you far out of court with an
angle-shot. You run hard to it, and reaching, drive it hard and
fast down the side- line, missing it by an inch. Your opponent is
surprised and shaken, realizing that your shot might as well have
gone in as out. He will expect you to try it again, and will not
take the risk next time. He will try to play the ball, and may
fall into error. You have thus taken some of your opponent's
confidence, and increased his chance of error, all by a miss.
If you had merely popped back that return, and it had been
killed, your opponent would have felt increasingly confident of
your inability to get the ball out of his reach, while you would
merely have been winded without result.
Let us suppose you made the shot down the sideline. It was a
seemingly impossible get. First it amounts to TWO points in that
it took one away from your opponent that should have been his and
gave you one you ought never to have had.
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