The game plan

At expert level a match doesn't begin with the first serve; it begins in your head beforehand. The match plan is your strategy set in advance: how do you want to play against this particular opponent? Whoever steps up with a plan is a step ahead of the one who only reacts.

A good plan rests on two pillars. The first is the assessment of the opponent: do they play offensively or defensively? Where are their weaknesses, how is their mobility, how are their nerves? The second is your own game: what can you do best, what is your most reliable strength? The plan connects the two — it turns your strength against their weakness.

The plan stays deliberately simple. One or two clear guiding ideas carry further than an overloaded concept. For example: drive the opponent back with long balls and tire out their backhand. Or: keep the pace high, because they fade in long, fast rallies.

The most important thing about the match plan is the readiness to adapt it. No plan survives the first contact with the opponent unchanged. If you notice it isn't working, you change it — try a different way instead of clinging to the failed one. The expert keeps reading and adjusting throughout the match.

A match is a game of chess. You've prepared an opening, but you have to respond to the opponent's every move and adapt your plan continuously. Whoever stubbornly clings to one opening loses to the one who thinks along.

Before your next match, take two minutes for a plan. Answer two questions: what is the biggest weakness of your opponent that you know or suspect? And what is your most reliable strength with which you can attack it? Formulate a single guiding idea from that. In the match, watch whether the plan works — and change it deliberately if not, instead of clinging to it.