Every player has been in a situation where they’re not playing well and, as a result, they lose confidence. Lacking confidence, they play even worse, and so on. Shrinking the court is a simple strategic adjustment you can make that will cut down on the number of unforced errors you’re making while still letting you “play your game.”
This strategy requires you to “shrink” the boundaries (lines) of the tennis court by several feet. In other words, pretend the court is smaller than it actually is. Continue to play within the framework of your game — play your style — but do so with these new, more conservative, boundaries.
Shrinking the court is far superior to simply trying to “keep the ball in,” because the latter strategy typically results in pushing the ball down the middle of the court. Most players aren’t going to derive much confidence from this strategy even though they eliminate some unforced errors.
Thanks to Frank Salazar, the 2008 United States Olympic Committee Coach of the Year, for teaching me this technique!