Watching Tennis Can Improve the Games of Pros and Amateurs

Asad Raza in the New York Times:

The blue skies and brisk breezes of early September mark the end of the United States Open, and its corresponding state of near-total immersion in the shifting fortunes of professional tennis players. For observers who play the sport, this often means an enthusiastic return to the court, after two mostly sedentary weeks on stadium benches and upholstered furniture. This does not mean, however, that they are out of practice: many amateurs report that seeing tennis played at the highest level improves their own games.

Watching tennis and playing it can be mutually helpful activities, dialectically entwined.

“You get a boost, definitely,” said the tennis historian Bud Collins, who has been watching and playing the game for 60 years. “But six days later, it’s gone.”

Jon Levey, a writer and avid player said: “I always play better after watching the pros. Their form shows you that less is more. They move their body weight into the ball much better than I do. Everything seems to work in symmetry. After the Open, I suddenly know how to hit ‘up’ on my serve, like they do. But after a little while, it leaves.”

Maybe the answer is keep watching lots of professional tennis? Andy Murray said he watched about three sets per day.

More here. [Photo from Wikipedia.]