What the Queen’s Gambit can Teach You About Returning Serve like Roger Federer

A combination of the Covid19 virus, ensuing lockdowns and the Netflix hit series, The Queen’s Gambit[1] has led to an upsurge of interest in chess. Would-be grandmasters have been glued to their computers playing opponents half a world away.

But why am I telling you this? It’s because chess has a lot to tell us about playing tennis.

So what does it take to be a chess grandmaster? Well, the short answer is – you have to have the mind of one. What grandmasters have and you and I don’t, is a storehouse of chess memories.

From this storehouse of memories grandmasters instinctively recognize patterns of play, underlying structures and principles that are oblivious to mere enthusiasts. Such patterns had been soaked up and stored in their long-term memories over a lifetime of playing.

They’ve seen it all before. Instead of the need to freshly analyze the muddle of pieces in front of them, their subconscious instantly recognizes a pattern held in their long-term memory. And hey bingo, their next move instinctively drops out.

As curious as this may seem, this is the same mechanism Roger Federer uses to return serve.

And Why Aren’t You Roger Federer

So why can’t you return serve like Roger Federer? For the same reason as you’re not a chess grandmaster. You don’t have the mind of Federer. But let’s ask him what his secret is. Here’s what he’s said when asked.

   “I have the impression that I sense how a ball is coming and my reactions are automatic”.[2]

So Federer is pretty vague. He can’t give us any insight into what he does. And there’s a good reason for this. The reason being his subconscious controls the show. It dips into his vast storehouse of long-term memories, makes a match with the current situation and without thinking or knowing what he’s doing, he automatically makes the return.

So without this lifetime of memories you can’t be Roger Federer.

What to Do?

You can’t be a chess grandmaster tomorrow. Nor can you be Roger Federer in a hurry. But you can make a start. And you need to spend endless hours in practice and play gathering those long-term memories.

But this takes a lifetime of practice. But what sort of practice? And can we speed things up a little?

Answers to these questions and more are to be found in my ebook, What’s Chicken Sexing Got to Do with Tennis? And How to Return Serve like Roger Federer.

All the very best, Roger

[1] The Queen’s Gambit is a chess opening that temporarily sacrifices a pawn to gain control of the centre of the board.

[2] Stauffer R. (2006) Quest for Perfection: The Roger Federer Story. New Chapter Press.