🎾 The Power of In — Why Consistency Is the Real Superpower in Performance Tennis
 

When we talk about performance tennis, it’s easy to get swept up in the exciting stuff. Big forehands, explosive serves, heavy spin, angle-hitting brilliance. Parents see it on TV, players watch it on social media, and suddenly the focus becomes quality, power, speed and style. But here’s the truth that every great performance player learns early on. None of that matters if the ball doesn’t land in the court. It may sound like a simple or even underwhelming concept, but “in” is the foundation on which everything else is built. Without it, the rest is decoration with no structure underneath.

Many young performance players unintentionally put the cart before the horse. They try to hit deep, wide, fast, or with massive spin before they’ve built the one skill that makes those qualities meaningful: reliability. We see players attempt their “best ball” far too early in a rally, or go for the spectacular when the situation simply calls for one more controlled shot over the net. And while ambition is a wonderful thing, the game rewards the athlete who can stay in the point longer than their opponent, not necessarily the one who can hit the flashiest winners. At competitive levels, tennis quickly becomes a sport of margins, and those margins overwhelmingly favour the player who keeps the ball in one more time.

Developing a mindset that prioritises consistency isn’t about playing safe tennis. It’s about playing effective tennis. The world’s best players build their tactical layers in the correct order: first consistency, then control, then power, then variation. When a player can reliably make balls under pressure, rallies become opportunities rather than risks. Only after a certain level of consistency is achieved should players begin to expand their tactical toolbox, building depth, adding spin, changing direction, and applying pressure in smarter ways. Without that solid base, the advanced tactics simply don’t stick.

For parents, this message is a powerful reminder. When you watch your child train or compete, the biggest breakthrough you can celebrate isn’t the hardest forehand or the prettiest winner. It’s the point where they learn to outlast. It’s seeing them choose the right shot, repeat it with confidence, and make “in” their personal standard. Because a player who can keep the ball in the court, again and again, under pressure, fatigue, nerves, and scoreboard stress, is the player who becomes dangerous. And once consistency becomes their superpower, all the other layers of performance tennis suddenly fall beautifully into place.

Dominic Ross-Hurst - Feb 2026
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