Rally Length Archives - Brain Game Tennis

US Open Men’s Quarter-Finals. Rally Length Analysis.

Tuesday, 03 September 2024 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from New York. 🗽 We are now getting to the pointy end of the tournament. Here’s the quarter-final match-ups in the men’s draw. Jannik Sinner vs. Daniil Medvedev Jack Draper v Alex De Minaur Taylor Fritz v Alexander Zverev Grigor Dimitrov v Frances Tiafoe Let’s take a slightly different viewpoint of the eight players

Published in Alex De Minaur, Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Frances Tiafoe, Grigor Dimitrov, Jannik Sinner, Rally Length, Taylor Fritz, US Open

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Short Rallies Rule The World (Especially In New York)

Saturday, 31 August 2024 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from New York, 🗽 I first discovered rally length data at the 2015 Australian Open. IBM was the data provider, and they created a brand new statistic by breaking down the length of the rally into the following three categories. Rally Length 0-4 Shots 5-8 Shots 9+ Shots Rally length is predicated on the

Published in Rally Length, US Open

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Rafa’s Recipe For Clay Court Carnage

Thursday, 16 May 2024 by Craig O'Shannessy

2022 ROLAND GARROS FINAL ANALYSIS What happened when Rafael Nadal hit three – and only three – balls in the court against Casper Ruud? Calculated clay-court carnage. Nadal defeated Ruud 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 in the Roland Garros final on Sunday on the back of dominating points where he hit exactly three balls in the court

Published in Rafael Nadal, Rally Length, Roland Garros

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Let’s Take Rafa’s Pulse In Rome

Sunday, 12 May 2024 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day From Rome, I was courtside for Rafa’s 6-1, 6-3 loss yesterday against Hubert Hurkacz. As all eyes look forward to Paris and Roland Garros, let’s discuss what he did well at the Foro Italico and what needs to improve by the time he clocks in for work again on Court Philippe Chatrier. THE OPENING

Published in Rafael Nadal, Rally Length, Roland Garros, Rome, The First 4 Shots

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Single Digit Rallies Dominate Double Digit Rallies

Saturday, 27 April 2024 by Craig O'Shannessy

Clay court tennis is dominated by single-digit rallies over double-digit rallies. By a country mile. 🏃‍♂️ Carlos Alcaraz took his first step towards a three-peat at the Madrid Masters 1000 by defeating Alexander Shevchenko 6-2, 6-1 in an hour and some change on Thursday. It’s important to note that Alcaraz did not play in Monte

Published in Carlos Alcaraz, Madrid, Rally Length

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2023 US Open Semi Djokovic v Shelton. The Only 5 Things That Matter

Friday, 08 September 2023 by Craig O'Shannessy

Let’s say for a moment that Ben Shelton somehow finds a way to defeat Novak Djokovic in their US Open semi-final this afternoon (3:00 pm start). How would it happen? How in the world would he pull it off? There are five distinct pathways to victory that all need to merge to spawn such a

Published in Ben Shelton, Novak Djokovic, Rally Length

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Djokovic Rd1 AusOpen Victory: 10 Quick & Quirky Stats

Tuesday, 17 January 2023 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from Melbourne! 🇦🇺🎾 Novak Djokovic returned to Melbourne Park last night with a dominant 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 victory over Roberto Carballes Baena. Here are 10 stats from the match that drill down into his Rd 1 victory. 1: RALLY LENGTH The first thing to understand is that the vast majority of points Novak played

Published in Australian Open, Novak Djokovic, Rally Length, Return Of Serve, Serving

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2022 Wimbledon: Novak Djokovic Tournament Stats

Monday, 11 July 2022 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day! Novak Djokovic has done it again! The Super Serb won his seventh Wimbledon yesterday, which includes the last four in a row. Stunning numbers any way you want to slice them! The following breakdown combines all seven matches in one data set. Those 2022 matches were: Rd 1 def. Soonwoo Kwon 6-3, 3-6,

Published in Nick Kyrgios, Novak Djokovic, Rally Length, Serve And Volley, The First 4 Shots, Wimbledon

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2022 Roland Garros Preview: 25 Match Metrics For Nadal & Djokovic

Monday, 30 May 2022 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from Paris, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will play for the 59th time in the quarter-finals of Roland Garros on Wednesday. Overall, Djokovic leads the head-to-head 30-28. Djokovic won their last meeting, which was at Roland Garros in 2021. All of that will be water under the bridge when they do battle in the

Published in Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Rally Length, Roland Garros

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Rd 16 Australian Open: Average Rally Length For Men & Women

Saturday, 22 January 2022 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from Melbourne! The general consensus in our sport is that women play longer rallies than men. Considerably longer. Is that your impression as well? I just analyzed the last 16 men and women at the 2022 Australian Open to find out what their average rally length has been in their first three matches. The

Published in Australian Open, Rally Length

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The practice court is clearly broken. Here’s the proof.

Points are "front loaded". By far the majority of the action, and the winning, takes place in THE FIRST 4 SHOTS. The practice court is full of long rallies. Matches are dominated by short rallies. There is a massive disconnect occurring.

We spend too much time grinding, banging balls up and down the middle of the court – that have no real benefit to winning tennis matches.

There are 3 specific rally lengths in tennis. Here is their percentage breakdown of total points.

0-4 Shots = 70%
5-8 Shots = 20%
9+ Shots = 10%

The First 4 Shots is specifically the serve, return, Serve +1 groundstroke and Return +1 groundstroke. Those are normally the shots that get practiced the least, but matter the most to winning tennis matches.

The net is an extremely high percentage place to be!

If you love playing tennis for fun, spend as much time at the baseline as you like. But if you compete – if the score matters – then you must turn your attention to the net to maximize your potential.

The “herd mentality” in tennis thinks it’s too tough to approach the net in today’s game. The conversation starts with improved string technology, more powerful rackets, and finishes with stronger, faster athletes. The herd think approaching is a relic of the past. The herd is WRONG!

AVERAGE WIN %
Baseline = 46%
Net = 66%

Data from ALL Grand Slams provides the facts about approach and volley, and the data is crystal clear – it’s immensely better than staying back at the baseline, grinding for a living.

The baseline is a tough place to create separation. Here's how to do it.

At the 2012 US Open, only 7 men and 14 women had a winning percentage from the baseline. At Wimbledon 2016, Andy Murray won the title only winning 52% of his baseline points - and he is one of the very best at it in the world!

Num3ers deeply explores the data that rules points, especially from the back of the court. Take a "deep dive" into all three rally lengths (0-4, 5-8, 9+), and winner and errors totals from the elite level of our game. The numbers will shock you!

All 4 Grand Slams

Forcing Errors = 41% Men / 37% Women
Winners = 32% Men / 29% Women
Unforced Errors = 27% Men / 34% Women

Num3ers is very much like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. It's about bringing together different data sets together to create the big picture.

Every recorded match from the 2015 Australian Open - Rd2 to the final.

There is a lot happening on a doubles court. Situations and strategies are constantly being adjusted to create mis-matches with court position. It's hard to keep track of - until now. Dou8les Num3ers is the most comprehensive analysis of doubles data in our sport. The focus is on how a point ends, and it's broken down eight ways to Sunday. Specifically, you find critical information on:

Winners rise to the #1 way a point ends (over forced & unforced errors)

- The last shot of the rally is overwhelmingly struck at the net.
- Center Window: the most important part of a doubles court to control.
- Stephen Huss: an in-depth interview on Wimbledon's Centre Court with the 2005 Wimbledon Doubles Champion.

Dou8les Num3ers leaves no stone unturned. Percentage breakdowns of how often the server or receiver hits the last shot highlight the dramatic influence of the serve. The last shot of the rally is significant, and is broken down into the following categories: volleys, overheads, passing shots, lobs and groundstrokes.

When you play a match, you actually play two matches.

When you walk out onto a tennis court, there are two matches that you are about to play. The first is during the point - a part of the match that you have spent a lot of time preparing for on the practice court. But there is a second match, that takes place in the 20 seconds between the points. This is where the mental and emotional aspects of our sport kick in.

Let's face it, there will be adversity in almost every tennis match that you play. The storm clouds are coming. How bug they are, and how long they last for, are up to you.

Between the points is very tennis specific. It provides a roadmap for the 20 seconds between the points, teaching how to handle the adversity that will surely come, and how to build on the successes that will also be present. Your mind is your biggest asset in a match, and Between the Points takes your hand off the self destruct button and stops you beating yourself.

You don't have to be good at everything, but you have got to be good at something.

You can break tennis down into four key elements - serving, returning, rallying and approaching. Each part has specific patterns of play that consistently deliver higher winning percentages than the others. No more guessing. No more opinions. All facets of our sport are covered in this exceptional product, clearly outlining what patterns to gravitate to, and how to best construct the practice court. Data comes primarily from the 2015 Australian Open.

Building Blocks

MEN = 70% errors / 30% winners
WOMEN = 74% errors / 26% winners

Forcing errors is the best way to construct a point.
You can simply break tennis down into primary and secondary patterns of play - and they are all covered here. Primary patterns include serve and return direction, forehands v backhands, and the best way to approach the net. Secondary patterns include drop shots, serve & volley and 1st volley options. If you play tournaments, this product will greatly help you simplify the singles court.

The conversation starts & ends with the Center Window.

The doubles court is like an hourglass. There are two big ends, but a small neck in the middle where all the action happens. Once you learn the power of the Center Window, where you stand to start the point will take on a lot more significance.

Doubles is a lot more about situations, with four people on the court all "dancing" with one another. Learn all the best doubles patterns, broken down for the server, returner, server's partner and the returner's partner.

Doubles Situations

The "J" - the most ideal movement for the returner's partner to attack the net.

The "V" - a better way of understanding where the server's partner should move to.

Volley Targets - there are four main areas to attack. Know which ones are higher percentage. Beach Volleyball - the idea of a "setter" and "spiker" is ideal for the doubles court.

There are certain parts of the court that the ball travels to a lot, and other low percentage areas that you really don't want to cover at all - like the alley! In general, the serving team wants to keep the ball in the middle of the court as much as possible (to help the server's partner), while the returning team benefits from hitting wider and creating more chaos in the point.

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