Have you ever heard of the „1 degree error“? The slovenian colleague Tomaz Mencinger has calculated on his blog how much the direction of the ball flight changes with a one degree deviation within the contact ball-racket. He calculated this using the simplest of mathematical methods, not including additional factors such as the deviation of the racket position, such as air flow, the condition of the ball, and the tension of the string and neglecting vertical and horizontal deviation of the club position. But he gives us an idea.

He comes to the conclusion that with this minimal deviation in the racket position one misses the aimed target in the playing field by up to 41 cm. Of course, this explains why it is better to play the ball in the middle of the field in pressure situations. Actually mundane knowledge of a successful tactic on the tennis court.

It gets exciting when we consider what neurobiological research tells us about the “choking under pressure” phenomenon or the observation about “paralysis through analysis”.