Personality and Playing Style

How do tennis personality types affect playing style? My strengths as a coach and instructor are usually analyzing stroke technique, seeing patterns, and helping players translate those things into a winning game. The psychology of the game I usually leave to the experts, meaning my fellow Tennisplayer contributors, who are among the most esteemed students of the mental game in the world. (Click Here). But in this article I want to verge into that field by addressing the issue of tennis personality types. As in other aspects of life, in tennis we handle things on the tennis court based on our personality type. When a person is playing a match his or her personality determines the reaction to all situations. It doesn't matter whether those situations are stressful or successful. These reactions often determine what kind of choices we make, and those choices can determine a win or a loss. Federer and Nadal both blend elements of the opposite into their dominant type. Two Basic Types The two obvious personality types that I will discuss are the aggressive personality (hitter or shotmaker) and defensive personality ( grinder or pusher). I want to address how this basic distinction determines our success...