Playing the Greats: Stan Smith

Stan Smith regularly disciplined himself with sprints to improve his ability to close the net.

The lesson to be learned from the career of Stan Smith is that a simple game plan with little variation or adaptability can be
extremely effective if it is executed well. Having many strategic options is not always a blessing. A plan where the player makes
few decisions can improve execution by allowing him to concentrate fully on forcing his simple plan home.

Stan was at his prime in the early 1970’s, when he won the US championship (1971) and Wimbledon (1972). As dedicated a
work-horse as Roy Emerson, Stan was not as good an athlete as Emerson but was more a disciplined technician.

Where Emerson might spend hours simply running and smacking the ball, Stan would spend his time practicing his serve or working
in exacting detail on the intricacies of some other stroke.

The first time I ever saw Stan he was about seventeen years old and all alone on a back court at the Los Angeles Tennis Club
practicing his serve and volley. He was hitting serves and following each serve with a full-speed sprint all the way to the net.

For…