How to Deal With Lucky or Unlucky Shots

Let me write for you two match scenarios that everyone reading has probably encountered at one point or another.

Scenario #1: You are serving at 4-4, 30-30 on a clay court.  You hit what you perceive to be an adequate serve - nothing spectacular - and the ball clips the line, and vaults over your opponent's head for an ace.  As your opponent looks stunned and irritated, you walk up to the net and profusely apologize for being the beneficiary of the fortuitous bounce.  You proceed to make an easy unforced error at 40-30, and now the score is leveled at deuce.

Scenario #2: You are in the throws of a match tiebreak (or third set tie break if you are a junior player), and at 7-7 (4-4), you crush a forehand at the feet of your opponent at the net, and with a desperate heave, they barely touch the ball with the frame, the ball rises, strikes the net tape, and dribbles over onto your side for the winner.  You are so frustrated, that your opponent easily holds serve the next two points and wins the match.

In one scenario you were the beneficiary of a fortuitous bounce, and in the second your opponent was.  In either case, your decisions as to how you framed the result is, in part, what caused you to lose the following point, or lose the following points and the match.  In both cases, you treated the luck as a negative experience. 

In scenario #1, you profusely apologized for your fortuitous bounce, empathizing with your opponent's feelings of inadequacy and their feeling like the world is conspiring against them.  The result of this outpouring of emotion on your part is that you feel undeserving of the point.  When a player feels undeserving of winning a point, they will almost invariably "give back" the lucky point on the very next point.  The problem with that is we just gave up a chance to win the game and go up 5-4.  All because we feel bad about receiving a good bounce on the clay,

In scenario #2, you lost control of your emotions, and lost your focus after your opponent received the fortuitous bounce.  After the match you blame that one point for the overall result, the loss.  The problem here is the score was only 7-8 (4-5) after the lucky point, and at least two more points needed to be played in order for the match to be decided.  As far as the result of the match, one point does not a loss make.  It was the "preponderance of the evidence," as they say in civil court, that led to your demise.  Focusing on the unlucky point only serves to cloud the mind as to what you must do in order to improve.

So how can you effectively deal with both scenarios?  Let me address each one individually.

In scenario #1, the secret is to applaud yourself for executing your serve under pressure.   The fact that you got the lucky bounce is partially due to your great execution.  Keep your focus on yourself and the part of the game that you have control over.  You have no control over how the ball bounces when it hits the line.  Depending how much of the ball hits, and whether or not it hits on the line, in front, or on the back edge, the bounce will differ,  So you hit a great serve under pressure, begin with that.  Second - empathy during a match is a negative emotion,  especially when you are empathizing with something negative that happened to your opponent.  Let them feel bad that you got lucky, there is no need for you to also feel bad.  You did nothing wrong.  Nothing.  You played a smart point and the bounce went your way.  End of story.  After giving the proverbial "I'm sorry" gesture (by the way, it's just a gesture - no need to include any empathetic feelings while giving it.  In fact, don't even look at your opponent while you give it as protection if you have that problem.), immediate think about the next point, how you are going to win it.  Where are you going to serve?  Forehand, backhand or body?  Slice, Kick, or flat?  Play the point out in your mind before you begin.  Go through your routines (Read my previous blog "Losing is a State of Mind") as normal, and proceed to play.

In scenario #2, you must consider the big picture as it relates to the fortunate bounce your opponent received. First, the match is NOT over.  There is still a chance for you to win the match.  Second, you hit a GREAT shot, despite not getting the ultimate reward for it.  Next, frame your shot in this way - "my shot was so good, if I do that again, there is NO WAY he/she is getting lucky like that again."  You may have just found a tactical weakness.  People shank balls for reasons, not the least of which is they can't handle the pace of the ball.  Treat the event as a positive, rather than a negative. Prior to the next point, visualize what return of serve you will hit, in what direction.  Got through all your routines prior to returning serve in between the points. How you frame the event directly impacts how you play the next point.  Frame it negatively, you will likely play poorly.  Frame it positively, you have a good chance to play well. 

In both scenarios, the use of your routines is necessary for you to be able to shift your focus from the previous point to the next one.

In general, luck has a way of evening out in the end.  However, the result of match is not nearly as affected by such points as they are by the hundreds of points that saw no "luck."  So, at the end of the day, focus on improving those hundreds of points, and let go of the lucky ones.  They do nothing for you long term.