Tennis shot selection is what separates pros

One can think of the process of hitting a shot into 3 stages:

1. Shot anticipation.
2. Shot selection.
3. Shot execution.

Anticipation

Shot anticipation is your ability to as quickly as possible predict the spin, speed and height of the ball. The faster you can anticipate the ball, the more time you will have. Some players can correctly anticipate a shot even before the ball leaves their opponent’s racket. Great anticipation is easy to practice.

Shot selection

This is the least practiced area. This is in contrast to other sports, practicing “plays” is a large part of practice sessions. This area feels underrepresented in tutorials online. I’m not sure why. Perhaps it is because it starts to be impactful only at advanced levels of the game and assumes you have mastery over anticipation and execution. If you can’t anticipate or execute a shot, then it doesn’t matter how good your shot selection is.

Shot execution

Shot execution gets the most practice time. It’s also overrepresented in internet tutorials. It’s not that it isn’t important, but at the higher levels of the game, it’s typically not the place that needs the most investment.

The biggest mistake

The biggest mistake I see players who are transitioning from intermediate to advanced is they don’t spend enough time practicing their shot selection. These players tend to hit the shot they want to hit, instead of the right shot to hit. Further, they decide what shot they want to hit before they know what type of shot is coming to them. For example, a less advanced player has already decided they want to hit a strong, inside out forehand. When the ball comes at them high, with heavy spin in a corner, they don’t choose a defensive shot and miss into the net.