Tennis Mastery: high-performance tactics, match strategy and self-coaching

01

Your performance model: from numbers to targets

In simple words

A pilot does not guess how much fuel is left: they read the dials. In this course your match numbers are your dials. You will pick the few dials that matter most, set a target for each, and check them again and again.

Before this course: Tennis Performance: tactics, match analysis and tournaments (course 10.1.3), which builds on Tennis 2 (course 10.1.2) and Tennis Fundamentals (course 10.1). This course assumes you can chart a match and calculate first-serve percentage, points won on first and second serve, winners, unforced errors and return points won, that you have a written baseline, and that you know the match-day time limits and a four-step between-points routine. If any of that feels shaky, go back to course 10.1.3 first.

Key facts

A performance model is a short list of numbers (coaching term) that describe how you win and lose points. Three to six numbers is enough. More numbers hide the message.
In tennis scoring, you can win more games than your opponent in a set and still lose more total points, and the other way around. Count both points won and games won when you review a match (the ITF Rules of Tennis define the scoring).
Useful numbers beyond course 10.1.3 (all are coaching ideas, you calculate them yourself):

Number	How to count it	What it tells you
Total points won %	Points you won / all points played x 100	Whether you really out-played the opponent
Serve + 1 win %	Points won when the point lasted 1 to 3 shots after your first serve in / those points	How well your serve sets up your next ball
Return + 1 win %	Points won when you returned and the point lasted 1 to 3 more shots	How well your return gets you into the point
Pressure points won	Points won at 30-all, deuce, break points, and in tiebreaks / pressure points played	How you play when it matters
Unforced errors by shot	Count per shot type (forehand, backhand, serve return, volley)	Which shot leaks most

Targets are your own, small and measurable, and based on your baseline. A common idea: improve one number by a small step over about 4 weeks, for example first-serve percentage from 58 to 62.
Leading and lagging numbers. A lagging number is a result (match won or lost, rating). A leading number is something you control in practice (first serves in during practice, depth of returns). Train the leading numbers, check the lagging ones.
Ratings stay a guide. A World Tennis Number (WTN) is calculated from your recorded match results and updates weekly in Canada (Tennis Canada); it is not a measure of your worth.

Step by step

Open your notes from course 10.1.3: your baseline table and your last charted match.
Add the new numbers from the table above: total points won %, serve + 1, return + 1 and pressure points.
Pick the three numbers that tell your story best (for example: first-serve %, return + 1 win %, pressure points won).
Write a target for each, small enough to reach in 4 weeks.
For each target write one leading number you can train in practice (for example: "7 of 10 returns past the service line").
Put all of this on one page called "My performance model".
Check: your page shows three numbers, three targets and three practice numbers, and you can explain each in one sentence.

Watch it

LESSON 01Your performance model: from numbers to targets

LESSON 01 / ANIMATED LESSON / AI VOICE00:00 / 01:00

Voice

Read the video script

[Host] "Mastery starts with a small set of numbers, not a huge spreadsheet."
[Text on screen: Points won, not just games] "Count total points won. It shows who really played better."
[Screen: table with serve plus one and return plus one] "Add serve plus one, return plus one and pressure points."
[Text on screen: Lead and lag] "Results are lagging numbers. Practice numbers are leading numbers."
[Host] "Pick three numbers. Set three small targets. Check them every month."

Try it now

Write your one-page performance model with three numbers, three 4-week targets and three practice numbers. Pin it where you keep your racquet bag.

ClaudeStuck? Copy a ready-made prompt for Claude

Copy this, open Claude, paste it, and Claude will walk you through the lesson step by step.

For a grown-up: Claude is for adults (18+). Copy this, paste it into Claude, and use the answer to explain the lesson to your child.

I'm learning "Tennis Mastery: high-performance tactics, match strategy and self-coaching" on The Future Market. Lesson 1: "Your performance model: from numbers to targets".

What the lesson teaches:
- A performance model is a short list of numbers (coaching term) that describe how you win and lose points. Three to six numbers is enough. More numbers hide the message.
- In tennis scoring, you can win more games than your opponent in a set and still lose more total points, and the other way around. Count both points won and games won when you review a match (the ITF Rules of Tennis define the scoring).
- Useful numbers beyond course 10.1.3 (all are coaching ideas, you calculate them yourself):
- Number - How to count it - What it tells you
- Total points won % - Points you won / all points played x 100 - Whether you really out-played the opponent
- Serve + 1 win % - Points won when the point lasted 1 to 3 shots after your first serve in / those points - How well your serve sets up your next ball
- Return + 1 win % - Points won when you returned and the point lasted 1 to 3 more shots - How well your return gets you into the point

The exercise I'm working on:
Write your one-page performance model with three numbers, three 4-week targets and three practice numbers. Pin it where you keep your racquet bag.

I'm stuck. Please:
1. Explain the main idea in plain, simple words with one everyday example.
2. Walk me through the exercise one small step at a time. Ask me what I've done so far before giving the next step.
3. Don't just give me the final answer. Help me do it myself, and check my work when I share it.
4. This is for learning only. Remind me to check with a licensed professional before I make a real decision about my own money, health or legal situation.

I'm a parent helping my child (about 8 years old) with a lesson called "Your performance model: from numbers to targets" from the course "Tennis Mastery: high-performance tactics, match strategy and self-coaching".

Here's what the lesson says:
A pilot does not guess how much fuel is left: they read the dials. In this course your match numbers are your dials. You will pick the few dials that matter most, set a target for each, and check them again and again. Before this course: Tennis Performance: tactics, match analysis and tournaments (course 10.1.3), which builds on Tennis 2 (course 10.1.2) and Tennis Fundamentals (course 10.1). This course assumes you can chart a match and calculate first-serve percentage, points won on first and second serve, winners, unforced errors and return points won, that you have a written baseline, and that you know the match-day time limits and a four-step between-points routine. If any of that feels shaky, go back to course 10.1.3 first.

The activity:
Write your one-page performance model with three numbers, three 4-week targets and three practice numbers. Pin it where you keep your racquet bag.

Please explain this so an 8-year-old understands: short sentences, a fun everyday example, and no hard words.
Then give me 3 simple questions I can ask my child to check they understood, and a way to do the activity together, one tiny step at a time.
Keep it general and educational. This is not advice for a real situation.

Open Claude

Sources

Tennis Canada, Rules of the Court 2026 (Rules of Tennis: scoring, tiebreak): assets.tenniscanada.com/production/Rules-of-the-Court-2026.pdf
Tennis Canada, Get your World Tennis Number: www.tenniscanada.com/compete-perform/rating-ranking-systems/get-your-w

My notes

I learned this

02