Getting started right is half the battle. And whoever gets off to a good start in tennis is halfway to a good shot.
The first mental aspect is the ability to guess where your opponent is going to shoot. The intuition obviously does not come from the ability to predict the future but from the careful observation of the opponent's movements.
Both in the serve and in the response from the baseline where the movements are wider, it is necessary to carefully observe the preparation of the shot by the opponent.
The other fundamental element to always be (or almost able) to respond to the opponent's blows is your position on the pitch.
The general rule is to return to the center of the court immediately after each shot, but if you observe Federer you will see that in reality, he almost always takes a second or so to see how the opponent charges the shot and try to understand where he is going to throw. .
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[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2I0wqYMD_E]
Running constantly towards the center of the field, on the other hand, not only gets tired, but opens up to possible counter-attacks and gives greater certainty to the opponent who will more easily get used to your type of game.
The other secret of the great champions is the ability to understand where the ball will land. To do this, you have to look at the direction of the ball from the first few centimeters of movement after it has been hit by the opponent. Especially in response to the serve it is important to understand in a fraction of a second where the ball will arrive and to move extremely quickly to position yourself on the pitch.
The third is the anticipation and here it is all in the instinct, in the intuition and in trying to watch the movement of the whole body of the opponent. Anticipation is essential on the net.