Why your tennis changes under pressure, and why one technique can't fit everyone

We are all different. So the way we move is different too.

This is called your motor signature. It is like the way you sign your name. Nobody else does it quite like you.

The best system I know for reading it is called ActionTypes. I am a trained ActionTypes practitioner, and I use it with players on the pro tour and with amateurs online.

There are four main families of movement. Most people have one family they use most of the time. Then they have a second one they switch to, often when they are tired or under stress.

This is why one technique can't work for everyone. And it is why your tennis can change in the middle of a match.

Let me show you with my own story.

Why I couldn't finish matches

When I was six, I watched Boris Becker diving on the grass at Wimbledon. I said, "I want to be like him."

At 18, I went for it. For five years I was in the top 70 in France and around 700 in the world. That is decent. But it is a long way from the top.

My big problem was finishing matches. I would get close to winning, and then I could not play normally any more.

So I looked for answers. I saw a psychologist. That helped me understand where some of my fears came from. But on court, not much changed. I worked with a coach who helped me relax. I learned a kind of self-hypnosis to stay present at the end of matches. Each thing helped a little. None of it was strong enough, and it did not work every time.

Today I can see what I was missing.

What really happened when the score got tight

Under stress, my body switched to my second way of moving. And my second way of moving is very different from my first.

In my first mode, I lean forward. I start my movement from the top of my body, and I bounce off the ground. I hit my forehand close to my body and my backhand far away. (I am right-handed.)

In my second mode, I start from the bottom. And I want the ball far away from me on everything. Forehand, backhand, serve, volleys. All far away.

My shoulders change too. Stand up for a second and look down. Is one shoulder a little more in front than the other? That is your lead shoulder in the mode you are in right now.

In my first mode, my left shoulder leads. So I turn a lot on my forehand. In my second mode, my right shoulder leads. I hardly turn at all. I push the ball long and far, with a big follow-through.

Both ways give me easy power. But they are two different kinds of easy.

So picture me at 5-4 in the third set. My body has switched. And I am still trying to hit the ball close, the way I did in the first set. No wonder it felt wrong.

This summer I ran a camp in France. After lunch, the body often wants to rest, so it switches mode. I felt it happen to me. So I played points with the ball far from my body, and it worked beautifully.

This is the training I wish I had done 25 years ago. When you feel the switch, you do not need to judge it. You do not need to say "I am scared" or "I am choking". You notice where your body is right now. Then you play the way it wants to play.

The four families of movement

Here is a simple picture of the four. Every example is for a right-handed player. If you are left-handed, swap forehand and backhand.

Rafael Nadal is a good picture of the R family. Roger Federer and Carlos Alcaraz move like the C family. For the G family, think of Mike Tyson. He got in close, and his power came up from his legs and hips. Or think of the haka in rugby: low, strong and together.

Each family also has its own mood. In my first mode, I am warm, I listen, and I improvise. In my second mode, I am structured. One, two, three, four. My wife laughs at me, because in that mode I know everything and I am always right!

This shows up in my coaching too. Recently a junior player kept talking to himself in a very negative way. My body switched to my structured mode, and I was very direct with him. That was what he needed that day. The next day I chose to go back to my warm mode, and we worked on his breathing.

No mode is bad. Each one has tools you can use.

Why copied technique breaks

Most coaches give the advice that worked for them. I have made this mistake too. The advice feels true because it was true, for one body.

Take the serve. A common rule says: toss the ball as high as you can and reach up as high as you can. It sounds logical. More height, better angle.

But for some bodies, it is wrong. For me, in my first mode, reaching up too high does not help at all.

Some players are "vertical". At contact, their arm is close to their ear and their body stays upright. Other players are "horizontal". Rafael Nadal is a good example. At contact, his upper body leans to the side, so there is space between his arm and his ear. That lean is how his body finds its balance.

Now tell a horizontal player to stay straight. He can copy it for a few serves. Anyone can copy anyone for a few serves. But it will never feel natural. It costs a lot of energy. And when the pressure comes, it breaks.

You can see this in some players. Before every serve, they run a checklist in their head. Do this, then this, then this. It looks tiring just to watch. It does not hold up, because it does not fit their body.

Here is a true story. I worked with a player whose toss needed to go well in front of him. Above his head, but more forward than high. When he did that, he served bomb after bomb. A few months later, another coach told him to toss higher and more to the side, "for more angle". His serve stopped working.

So if you coach, stay open. Your player may need something very different from what worked for you.

Find your own serve toss

Here is a simple test you can do this week. Imagine a clock above your head. 12 o'clock is straight above you.

Step 1: left and right. Toss at 12. Then at 1. Then at 11. Then try 1:30 and 2. I turn a lot when I serve, so I can even go to 2:30.

Step 2: in front. Now toss at three depths. One: just above your head. Two: about 20 cm in front. Three: about 50 cm in front.

Step 3: notice. Which toss makes the serve feel easy? That is the one your body wants.

Your lead shoulder gives you a clue. The player in my story led with his right shoulder, and he needed the ball far in front. I lead with my left shoulder, so I turn more and keep my left shoulder in front.

Keep playing with your toss, even after you find it. Outdoors, the wind will move the ball. If your body has practised lots of different tosses, it will still find a way to serve well.

Return of serve: how you see the ball

Serve and return are the two most important shots in tennis. And a good return starts with your eyes.

Players who lean forward and start from the top (R and C) see the ball best from the top of their eyes. Their nose points down a little. Watch Roger Federer return. He looks up at the ball from under his brow. For these players, a cap can even get in the way.

Players who start from the bottom (D and G) need the opposite. Stand a little taller, tip your head back a touch, and look at the ball from the bottom of your eyes.

Find the head position that lets you see the ball early. Exaggerate it in practice so you can feel the difference.

Your ready position

Bouncy players need their bounce. Step in as your opponent serves, go up quite high, and land. The bounce gives you the energy to push off left or right. Andy Murray did this. These players like to keep moving.

Players who start from the bottom do not need that bounce. It can even get in the way. They do best lower, as if sitting on a chair. Think of the haka again: back straight and low. From there they can go straight away. A small, light split step is enough.

You may have heard a famous tip. When you hit, keep your head level, as if there is a roof just above it. That tip is great for players who start from the bottom. For bouncy players, it takes away their power. They need to bounce off the ground and go up into the shot.

How I plan a session

Before any drill, I need an intention. Why are we doing this? That is the most important question in coaching.

So first, I talk with the player. What do you want? How do you see your game in five years? What will your big weapons be?

I like to do this on a walk, in a park or out in nature. We both feel freer. Nobody is listening. And when we move, we reach a different part of ourselves than when we sit still. Tennis is played in movement, so I want the player's answers in movement too.

From that talk, we set big goals. With those goals clear, I can go on court and improvise. Without them, I would just be running drills for the sake of it.

Young coaches often find drills on Instagram because they look clever or fun. For a while, every coach used the footwork ladder. Now almost nobody does. So always ask what you want the drill to build. That matters far more than the drill itself.

Build weapons

In France, many of us were taught to be good at everything. But when you try to be good at everything, you end up excellent at nothing.

Close matches are decided by weapons. At the French Open this year, the young Brazilian João Fonseca beat Novak Djokovic in five sets. How did he finish it? Three aces in a row. Against Djokovic, you need something like that.

Think of Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2019. He had match points against Djokovic, and he still lost. At the very end, you need a weapon you can trust.

So I help each player find what they do best, and then make it bigger.

Train for the unexpected

Tennis is full of surprises. So your practice needs surprises too.

If you hit the same ball, at the same speed, again and again, your brain stops learning. How often will you get that exact ball in a match? Almost never.

Here are two drills I used this summer with one of my players.

Return and pass. The player returns with topspin, then with slice. (Slice is useful on grass.) Then he hits a backhand pass. But every now and then, I send the ball to his forehand instead. Or a big high ball. Or a drop shot. He has to see it and decide right away. If you watched, you might think I was a bad feeder. It is on purpose!

Two cones and a lane. Two players rally cross-court. There is one cone deep and one cone short. You must hit the deep cone, then the short one. Only then can you go down the line, into a marked lane. Get the order wrong and you do not win the point. It looks like a normal cross-court rally, but it is much more mental. You have to stay calm, let go of the result and find your own answer.

I am good at helping players relax and feel understood. What I am working on now is throwing hard problems at them and saying nothing. In a match, the player who finds solutions survives. So they need to practise finding them on their own.

Connection comes first

Whatever the drill, the most important thing for me is the connection with the player. He needs to feel seen, heard and understood. From there, I can say, "What about this? What about that?"

I coach players on the pro tour. I also coach amateur players online, because I love that connection, and amateurs have the same problems as the pros. They want to find their movement, their clarity and their confidence. When they send me a video, I can often see their movement family and their lead shoulder. Then we find their way of playing, step by step.

To sum up. You move in your own way. Under stress, your body may switch to another way, so learn both. Test your toss, your return and your ready position until they feel easy. Build weapons. And train for surprises.

Do this, and you will stop forcing someone else's technique and start trusting your own. So the tennis you play in practice becomes the tennis you play when it counts.

Frequently asked questions

What is a motor signature in tennis?

A motor signature is the way your own body likes to move. ActionTypes is the system I use to read it. Every player has one, just like every person signs their name in their own way. It shapes where you like to meet the ball, which shoulder leads, whether you start your movement from the top of your body or from the bottom, and whether you like to bounce or stay low. There are four main families of movement. Most players live mostly in one family and switch to a second one when they are tired or under stress. When your technique matches your motor signature, power feels easy and your shots hold up under pressure. When it fights your signature, you burn energy and your game breaks down.

Why does my tennis technique fall apart under pressure?

One common reason is that your body switches to a different way of moving when you are stressed or tired. Your timing, your distance to the ball and even your lead shoulder can change. If you keep trying to hit the ball the way you did when you were fresh, your shots will feel strange and you will miss. The answer is to learn both of your modes in practice. Then, when the score gets tight and you feel the switch, you do not judge it or panic. You notice where your body is right now and play the way it wants to play. Copied technique that does not fit your body also tends to break first under pressure.

Where should I toss the ball on my serve?

There is no single right spot. It depends on how your body moves. A simple test helps. Imagine a clock above your head, with 12 o'clock straight above you. Toss at 12, then 1, then 11, then 1:30 and 2. Then try three depths: just above your head, about 20 cm in front, and about 50 cm in front. Notice which toss makes the serve feel easy. That is the one your body wants. Players who lead with the right shoulder often need the ball further in front. Keep practising different tosses even after you find yours, so your body can adapt when the wind moves the ball.

How should I stand to return serve in tennis?

It depends on your movement family. Players who lean forward and start their movement from the top see the ball best from the top of their eyes, with the nose pointing down a little. They also need a bounce: a step in as the opponent serves, a jump up and a landing, which gives them the energy to push off left or right. Players who start from the bottom do better standing a little taller with the head tipped back, looking from the bottom of their eyes. They wait lower, as if sitting on a chair, and only need a small, light split step. Try both in practice and keep what lets you see the ball early.

Should I copy the technique of professional players?

Copying a pro can work for a few shots, because anyone can copy anyone for a little while. But if the pro moves in a different way from you, the copied technique will never feel natural. It costs a lot of energy, and it tends to break when the pressure comes. Watching pros is still useful. Look for players who seem to move like you, and notice where they meet the ball, which shoulder leads and how they get ready. Then test those ideas on your own body. The goal is to find the way your body wants to play, so the tennis you play in practice becomes the tennis you play when it counts.

Should I work on my weaknesses or my strengths in tennis?

Spend most of your time making your strengths bigger. When you try to be good at everything, you often end up excellent at nothing, and close matches are usually decided by weapons. At the 2026 French Open, João Fonseca finished his five-set win over Novak Djokovic with three aces in a row. That is a weapon he could trust at the very end. You still need a game that holds up, so fix a weakness when it costs you a lot of points. But set your big goals around what you do best. Ask yourself what your big weapons will be in five years, and build your practice around that.