Statistics: Going Inside Your Matches

Charting a series of matches can take a player inside his or her own game in a way that is usually impossible
in any other way. Match charting can identify a player’s weapons and show how well they are being utilized. It can reveal a
players’ hidden strengths and weaknesses, and measure undeveloped potential.

A better looking more powerful forehand, but how to use it?

Statistics can show that a particular player has the game he or she needs to win against opponents who are
supposedly at “a higher level.” Often changes in shot selection are the major changes a player needs to turn losses into
potential victories. This provides a practical blueprint that can be a real confidence booster as well.

Junior players often have the most to learn from match statistics. Many juniors have absolutely no idea how
they are actually winning and losing their points. In addition, they often have egregious numbers of unforced errors.

Let’s follow a top Norcal junior through a series of tournaments and see how she really won and lost matches, and what the stats say about how she could improve her results. These same lessons often apply to adult players at all…