You’ve already spent hundreds of hours on the court and in the gym. You’ve worked through lesson after lesson. Despite all of that hard work, though, you’re still not where you want to be on the court. What’s holding you back? If you’re like most tennis players, it may be a few of these incredibly common myths.

Myth #1 – Big Points Win Matches. Big points can absolutely have an impact on your next match. The reality, though, is that if you’re losing those little points, you’re still going to lose the match as a whole. While you might want to play a big point slightly differently because of the pressure, playing to your strengths for example, you’ll always want to focus on getting a single point at a time, no matter what the situation is on the court at the time.

Myth #2 – Good Technique Can’t Be Taught. Natural talent is a huge myth throughout the world of tennis. The simple reality though is that good technique isn’t natural talent, it’s skill. Like every other skill you have, it starts with proper training and practice. Sure, some people tend to pick things up faster than others, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t understand the fundamentals of good technique and continually work on them until you reach your personal goals.

Myth #3 – Speed on the court means a focus on speed during training. Speed is acceleration, and that actually isn’t the most important part when it comes to getting to that ball. To accelerate, you have to begin to move, accelerate, then stop. The first part of that equation actually matters the most, so understanding how to get a more explosive start is going to increase your speed.

Your best match ever shouldn’t start with common tennis myths. Instead, it should focus on good training that helps you better understand every aspect of the game.