Anticipation cannot be taught - Vijay Amritraj

Motivational speakers may eloquently extol that skills, talent, and abilities, can be learnt, honed and polished. However, certain characteristics are probably tightly wired with the genes and the individual. Hands-eyes-legs coordination is one such aspect of human abilities that is bestowed in varied degrees to different individuals. John McEnroe is one achiever who comes to mind, with respect to his deft touches, understanding of angles, etc. He demonstrated in his domination in 3 events of each tournament - singles, doubles, and mixed-doubles. Instinct, gut-feeling, etc., are used to describe an extra edge that some individuals have over others, in making decisions that lead to success.

Vijay Amritraj in
Wimbledon Center court

Anticipation, in my opinion, is one such ability that is wired based on the very minute observations, sub-consciously done by the brain over months of practice. Some players have better hardware and software (brain and the neural network) to defeat opponents by making right moves in anticipation.

To explore this theory further, here are some back-of-the-envelope calculations for distances, angles, and speeds, on the tennis court.

Mathematical Analysis and physics

Using the dimensions of the court, of 78 feet length and 27 feet width for singles matches, and modern players able to use sharper angles by topspin and wider shots, we can work out the angle difference between a down the line stroke and a cross court shot as approximately 20 degrees. It can vary from 18 degrees for deep baseline shots to more than 24 degrees for drop shots.

This means that the racket has to meet the ball earlier in depicted crosscourt stroke to change angle of return. If we assume that the sweet spot of the racket is at 21 inches from the hand, and another 24 inches of the arm used in playing the stroke (overall rotation arc), the 10 degree angle means approximately 8 inches difference in contact point.

When we search the internet for information on racket speeds, we get values from 50 mph to 85 mph depending on skill level, gender, etc. With a 60 mph racket speed, the difference in contact point is just approximately 0.01 seconds.

The opponent, would swing only a few milliseconds early, if (s)he wishes to go crosscourt (for given diagram / location of ball), compared to a down the line stroke. Yet, there are a few talented players who guess correctly, on a majority of points.

This is anticipation, and the difference in timing of the swing compared to the location of the ball heading towards the opponent gives a clue to the sub-conscious mind that processes all the information and takes right decision. This is based on the brain learning from years of practice, along with its ability to differentiate inches and milliseconds from its input (visual cues)!

The players are not working with these numbers of physics or mathematics in real-time. These are only used here for the analysis, & to explain the nuance of anticipation as an ability, which is similar to people gifted with better hand-eye-leg coordination.

Carlos Moya in Chennai 2006

Many players may be guessing the direction of a shot, 50-50, as many times as a goalkeeper guesses the direction of the penalty kick! Federer and Djokovic (based on commentators) may have better anticipation, while others have to use other skills to compensate (athletic abilities, better serve, playing end-to-end, etc.). 

Disguised shots

Does better anticipation mean the players with that natural ability always succeed. Not necessarily. Disguised swings are also part of the game of deception. The earlier the opponent is prepared with his/her back swing, and holding at the end of the back swing, the better the option of swinging at different speeds or timing. This will help change contact point & angle, to the latest possible for the specific shot.

Though this is not a scientific study, the approximations, I think, are good enough to understand the differences of distances, angles, speed, which the brain has been trained to assimilate. Later, the brain executes sub-consciously, given each situation, with the visual inputs, by activating the necessary muscles of the body.

Thomas Berdych in Chennai 2011

One's brain has the ability to differentiate inches, and milliseconds, or it is weak in this aspect. Anticipation cannot be taught by a coach - unlike tactics, strategy, etc., which are taught in academies.

What do I anticipate about the future? War, AI, Energy issues, Global warming (or not) - no idea on most topics - not been gifted with that ability to anticipate!