Icing the Opponent

I learned from Van the tennis pro that if in the course of a match, it became necessary to shift the momentum back to your side of the court, the easiest thing to do was to slow things down--and not just the speed of the ball—although that was often effective too. He meant to slow down the time in between shots. Do anything that caused your opponents time to think rather than react.

Because thinking too much in the course of competitive play is poison.

And one of my most memorable paddle tennis wins was against a team here in town. My partner and I had lost the first set 6-4 and were losing the second set 2-5 when I called my partner over for a little conference. We spoke at length about absolutely nothing. All the time I looked across the net and pointed my paddle as if my partner and I were strategizing.

I observed the opposition getting antsy.

And when we resumed play we came back and won that second set 7-5 and the third set 6-0.

We won the match to the complete frustration of our opponents.

And on Sunday I watched the Jets play against the Dolphins. And just as the Miami’s kicker was about to kick the winning field goal in overtime, the Jets called a time out. Such a move is called icing the kicker. Its intent is to get inside the kicker’s head.

It worked.

The Jets went on to win. The momentum had shifted to their side of the field.

And while many did not appreciate Van the tennis pro’s stoner-esque style;   I did. I understood that sports strategies extended beyond the court. When momentum pulls you in an undesired direction, the best thing you can do is slow down and let the opposition overthink. Time-outs always work to your advantage—especially when someone is having a tantrum---and even more especially when someone is having a tantrum over their loss of momentum on the other side of the net.