Playing “Big Points”

Is there such as thing as a “big point”?

Many believe that big points can turn a match because of the psychological effect they have on one or both players. Some believe that big points occur randomly, with two or three points affecting the outcome of the match.

Others believe big points occur more regularly. Ad court points, for example, are considered by some as big points. At love-15, the next point can tie the game or put one player up by two points. At 15-30, the next points can again tie the game or give one player double game point. And so on.

Bjorn Borg is said to have believed that the third point of every game was the biggest, because of the swing it could cause in a game.

A well-known belief is that the seventh game of a set is the most important, while others believe that the winner of the first set is usually at a disadvantage the second set because she relaxes, even for a few games, with her lead.

Statistics, however, bear out the Jimmy Connors mentality that every point is equally important, no matter the score.

According to decades of research and thousands of charted matches by the German Tennis Federations, 99 percent of all matches are won by the player with the most total points at the end of the match. In the one percent of matches in which this does not occur, there is usually one set in which the winner was blown out, causing this aberration.

In 97 percent of matches, the player who wins the most series of points (of three or more in a row) wins the match.

Consider that at love-40, if the player who is down wins the next point, all he has to do is win one more point to close to within one point of a tie.

Another factor in playing every point hard is the pressure it puts on opponents. Players who played against Connors said that because he ran down every ball, no matter how futile, they were never given an opportunity to relax and put away an easy winner. They knew if they mis-hit the ball, Connors would be there, and this mental pressure wore down many of his opponents.

While statistics show that no one point is more important than any other in a tennis match, the reality of the game is that the mental pressure a player attaches to a point or points can be critical.

One of the most effective ways deal with, and even take advantage of the pressure attached to certain points in a match is the pre-point evaluation and subsequent planning developed by top, international coach, Carlos Goffi.

In his book, Tournament Tough, Goffi correctly points out that when a player is winning handily, she will play more aggressively, while a player who is trailing should play more conservatively the more she is behind.

Goffi's players learn to evaluate their opponents strengths and weaknesses, as well as how opponents are likely to play certain types of points, in order to anticipate what they can expect from their opponent before each point.

Goffi has developed a systematic way for his players to play each point, based on the game score, using an analogy based on the colors of a traffic light.

The article outlines Goffi's recommendations for playing points, with three strategies given for situations covering different scores.