In this episode, Carolyn, Erin, and Gin discuss Gin’s singles strategy that helped her climb from a 3.5 to a 5.0 player in just three years. Gin shares that her success comes not from aggressive play or aiming for winners, but from a relentless focus on consistency and smart shot selection. She intentionally avoids going for lines or risky shots, instead aiming three feet inside the court and focusing on keeping the ball in play. Gin emphasizes that most recreational players lose points from errors rather than opponents hitting winners, echoing data seen even at the professional level. Erin and Carolyn reflect on how they were taught to attack short balls aggressively but now see the value in Gin’s approach—being disciplined even on attackable shots. Gin also stresses adapting to the opponent’s weaknesses rather than trying to overpower them. She shares an extreme example where she faced a player even more consistent than herself, resulting in a 278-ball rally. This rare match showed that even her strategy needs adjustments at times. The episode ends with Carolyn and Erin pledging to work on their own consistency and inviting listeners to try Gin’s strategy and share their experiences.

Here’s a Transcript of Our Episode:

Carolyn: 0:06

Hi, this is Carolyn and I’m here with Erin and we have Gin back on the podcast. Gin got bumped from 3.5 to 5.0 in three years. This wasn’t going to be an episode, but we started discussing after the other episodes we recorded with Jen how she was able to win so many singles matches and we thought others may want to hear it. So here it is, jen. Since you have played 3-5, 4-0, 4-5, and 5-0 singles, can you tell us your single strategy?Gin: 0:37

Yeah, I think that you know a lot of rec players have the wrong mindset is kind of my point of view, and I bet you a lot of pros out there are going to disagree with me. But you know, I have just, you know, shown that I can win at singles and, and you know, women’s recreational tennis, and I have done it through consistency. And you know I learned from y’all’s podcast that even at the professional level, most points are lost by an error, not won by a winner, even if Djokovic can’t win a match on more on winners, I’m not going to be able to. So I’ve taken the strategy of I do not ever aim for a line, I’m aiming three feet inside the line. I am really trying to just get a lot of balls back and I have found that at three, five, four, oh, four or five, and you know even a couple of five, oh, doubles, uh, singles matches. This is all singles, um, that I’ve been in. You know they, you, you will win more than you will lose and they will get, they will hit some winners, um, but you kind of just say, yeah, good shot.Gin: 1:39

And and I’m going to go back to the next point being consistent and and I have found a lot of success that way, yeah, so I think that people really should come into a match more with a mentality of of getting you know, finding a ball you know I want you to find as a singles player out there. I want you to find a ball that you can hit 90% of the time in and safe you know that’s a good. You know still be working toward a good deep. You safe you know that’s a good. You know still be working toward a good deep, you know ball. But don’t let it be within a foot of the line. Do not think of it as like I’m going to put this ball away. They’re not going to get to it. Don’t even worry about that. If you can hit a ball inconsistently you know deep, ish, um, a lot of times you know you will win a lot of matches.Erin: 2:26

So what I was saying before we started recording this was that what I learned, and now I’m upset about it. What I learned was when you have a short ball or an attackable ball, right, then you come in and you do something with it. So you, so I learned basically like, do patterns, set up, set up your point, but then when there is a short ball, like, let’s say, inside the service box, you have to do something with it. You’ve got to finish the point. And that was what my pros mentality was for years and Carolyn had the same, the same pro, and what Jen is saying is still be consistent with that ball.Erin: 2:59

Don’t think of it as this ball I have to like, I think of it as I have to kill this ball, and usually what happens to me is I kill the ball to the back fence or three feet over, you know, three feet out or whatever, so I lose. I actually played a woman who’s super consistent that that you guys both know and I won the first three games and I was like I am rolling now and I did not win another game after that because she hit just consistently. You know, back in the court. Every ball came back in the court, no matter if it was short or deep or whatever, but every single ball, and I kept thinking I’ve got to put it away, I’ve got to put it away. And I did not win a single game after that.Gin: 3:32

So yeah, and when I come forward, when I get a short ball, you know I’m going to try to know. If you’ve got a phenomenal approach shot that you can hit consistently, by all means hit that. But I haven’t found many ladies you know in any of these levels I’ve played at who can do that super consistently. So for most people you know what I do is I come in, I have a. I’m much more, I can count on my slice forehand much better in that situation. The pros don’t like it when I do it, but I know I can hit that in 90% of the time, whereas my topspin approach shot I do not feel as confident with. So I hit that and I hit it with that same mentality of like, yeah, I’m going to try to challenge the person. You know I don’t want to hit like an easy ball to the middle but I’m not going to hit a ball that I’m not pretty sure you know very sure I can hit in. You know I want to hit a ball that I know sure I can hit in. You know I want to hit a ball that I know and if that and if all you know you can hit in if you’re at a level, you know, if you’re a two, five or a three, oh, and you only know that you can hit on a pop-up ball, I would encourage you to hit that pop-up ball.Gin: 4:34

Know in your head what your opponent’s weaker shot is. You know, let’s say that they have a weaker backhand Hit them a pop-up ball to their backhand. You’re still in a better position. You know, you’re still in the mentality You’re getting balls back and so that I mean, you know that’s kind of what I’ve done. You know, so be smart about it. You know, notice what your opponent’s weaknesses are. You know, if there’s someone who and every time you hit them a short ball, hit a short ball. Don’t make it a ball that is barely coming over the net that you can only hit in two at a time.Gin: 5:03

Don’t hit a shot that you are only going to be able to hit in two at a ten times, but just something that makes them move. So it’s just really sort of a safe, consistent mentality. And even if we look at professionals, obviously there are different types of players. There’s players who are, you know, fast and consistent and that’s their game even at the professional level. And there are other players who are power players. You know I’m not a power player. If you’re a power player, you know you may have to sort of tweak my strategy, I guess. But yeah, I don’t think that any adult recreational ladies, tennis players, should be going for the line, the line and winners every time.Erin: 5:44

I have not seen anyone be able to do it. Yeah, I would say I’m a power player, and I will tell you.Gin: 5:46

The problem with being a power player is you hit more out than you hit in you know, and that’s the person when I’m playing singles, if I’m warming up against that is I’m like yes like this girl enjoys going for it and she’s going to hit some winners that I don’t get. But you know this is gonna be easy because she’s she cannot do that. If she could, if she could do that she would be a 5-5. You know, like if she could hit that ball in 90 percent of the time Right.Erin: 6:09

Yeah, what’s your mentality, carolyn, in singles?Carolyn: 6:13

It was single. Well, if I get a short ball, it’s put it away, just because I’ve been taught OK, put it away. And let me tell you, I can’t put it away 90 percent of the time. I probably put it away 20 percent of the time because my body’s moving, I’m not set up correctly. But in my mind I’m like, oh, I got a short ball, I’ve really done everything I needed, and and it frustrates me. Then I get frustrated because I go for it and I’m like I should be able to hit this, because when my pro is feeding it to me time after time after time, I can do it Right.Carolyn: 6:45

But in a real match, you know my feet aren’t, you know, I’m hitting it a little differently and I’m missing it and I’ve just, you know, I’ve never thought to like, okay, let’s really bring the ball in. Some like you can still be aggressive, but bring the targets in and not go, not go for these winners, and I’ve always gone for the winners and I don’t, I don’t win. So but I think the thing is we don’t. I don’t think pros really understand this, because they play at such a high level, whereas Jen is in the trenches Like she’s playing 3-5 level 4-0, 4-5, and now 5-0. She’s seen it.Gin: 7:25

She’s seen rack tennis. I believe I’ve played 76 for USTA singles matches and I’m 72-4. Wow, so I have tested this theory and it you know it’s pretty effective. Again, there will be people you come up against that may not work and you may have to tweak it. But yeah, I do believe people should really work on their consistency. We’re not. I would highly encourage people to really work on being a little more consistent and hitting balls. They have confidence they can hit in a lot of the time.Erin: 8:07

Yeah, I’m, I’m, I’m still going to be mad that I it’s like, my, it’s a muscle memory of, like it was just so ingrained and I remember bumping from three five or watching, when I was probably a three oh, watching a friend of mine who maybe just got bumped to three five and she was, I’m sorry, just got bumped to four oh from a three five and I remember her walking off the court and she walked past me and she was like every short ball that I gave that woman was a winner, like she, you know, like she felt like that was the difference between three five and four oh singles was that four oh players would put it away if they recognized either a short ball or a ball that they hit like a deep to someone’s backhand. You know that they would come in on and so that’s. It’s been in my mind for so many years. And now, getting to know Jen and hitting with Jen a lot more and watching her progression from those love you know up through the, through the ranks, it’s like, yeah, the pros, whatever the somebody knows the numbers, but it’s something like, you know, maybe a three or five ball rally is typical and that’s because people are going for it.Erin: 9:11

Now, again, that’s a completely different. It’s all called tennis, but what they play and what we play is completely different, and you know. So, like Jen said, if they can’t hit winners or if they can’t cut down on their unforced errors, we aren’t going to be able to do it. So I’m going to try to change. We talked about goals last week on our podcast, carolyn. That’s my new. Goal is consistency. You know, hitting with Jen more.Gin: 9:39

It’s a strategy to try. You know we all get out on the court and try different, you know, and you may have to tweak it. You have to say, oh gosh, I’ve run up against another player who’s doing the same strategy and she’s faster and younger and more athletic than me. Like I gotta, I’m going to have to do something different.Gin: 9:53

So you know this isn’t just a catch all, but I do think that I don’t think people think about it enough. I would like to enter this in as, like, another sort of way to play uh that people work on. You know, work on it in your clinics, you know, maybe go to a clinic and don’t see how hard you can hit it and cause that’s fun. You know we all love to go and cause it doesn’t matter. You know who cares if I hit it out. But like, maybe go and say I want to see how many. You know, maybe I can try to have fewer than five errors all day today. Or, you know, it’s just a different way to think about your game.Erin: 10:23

Have you ever counted your own errors in Like? Have you recognized how few you had, that you were able to count them? I have won a set before I can think of one match ever I have won a set before not losing a single point, and almost won the whole match. That’s a golden. Isn’t that called a golden? It is.Gin: 10:38

Somebody told me that was like a golden match or something. I did lose a couple points. I think maybe we were three games into the second set or something.Erin: 10:47

Have you ever done that?Carolyn: 10:48

Have you ever, carolyn, I had a golden match no, I’ve never even heard of that. That’s how I’ve never even been close to that.Gin: 10:55

Well, that’s because you like to put the ball away.Carolyn: 11:06

You’re a different style of player. Well, I come in. You know what I do. I come into the net Like I’m like, oh, they’re lobbing it, I’ve gotten it to a shot where I can get to a volley and I hit the volley out. Or I mean I may hit some winners and they feel so good, yeah. But it’s few and far between. Like this is kind of a different way to think. And Jen is very athletic, so she can move, she can get to things. She does have that style of play. But to be a little bit more like I need to be consistent versus let me try to put something away, even though I’m getting older and I’m not as athletic as I was and I’m not to the, you know, like I don’t have the skill to do it, I haven’t done it a million times. I think I’m gonna try Jen’s way.Erin: 11:41

I know how it goes Exactly. We’ll have to. We’ll do a follow up podcast and see.Gin: 11:46

Yeah, yeah.Erin: 11:47

I have this one funny story about actually I have a couple funny stories about watching Jen play singles. One is a friend of mine we were out watching. It was it was a summer singles match because I remember it was like after dark and I think we were like having a drink at our club and just watching gin play because we enjoy it. And this poor woman she was playing against. There’s just nothing she could do. And so my friend canna and I were like that what she needs to, that one needs to just get into the net like try to put balls away, because she wasn’t going to outlast her.Carolyn: 12:15

So we kept saying, like why is she doing that?Erin: 12:17

know, hit two balls and come in, like hit one ball and come in, do something different, but then the same thing kind of happened. The other funny story was the same thing sort of happened to Jen in a match where she voice texted us after because she had such a long story about. She actually had to finally change her mentality from being consistent because she came up against another Jen basically. So she would hit 200 and some balls I counted. Do you want me to tell yes, please?Gin: 12:43

So I, she’s right, I was like reluctant to tell this, but um, you know, I did. I ran up against somebody who kind of played my game better than I did and um, and she, we, we were having just incredibly long rallies. It was summer, it was very hot, she was younger than me and I was counting rallies and I mean they were many, were over a hundred balls, but the one that I counted one that was 278 balls and I lost the point and I, and I really was in that match trying to move her. You know, I was, I felt like I was changing it up, you know, and but she just was getting everything back in her ball. Anyway, it was, she was better that day than me at my game and and so I did Erin’s right.Gin: 13:20

That’s the only time in my, you know, uh, tennis career so far that I have been like to heck with this. I’m not doing this anymore, I’m not. You know, I thought to myself this is adult record, I’m not having fun and I’m going to, just I’m going to end this match one way or the other. So I did start hitting as hard as I’m talking, you know, one might be a winner and then one would go two courts over. I mean, you know it was, it was I was, but I was like I’m sticking with this strategy and I want a game like that, but then I did not end up winning that match, but um yeah, so I did run into that, you’re right, but that was one out of, like you know, 70 or 80 singles matches ever.Erin: 13:54

But it just made me laugh because she sent this long voice, you know, recording to us and she was like y’all, I mean, I had 278 balls and then I just decided I had to change everything. I was just hitting winners, I was hitting as hard as I like. It just made me laugh Cause it’s like well, that’s kind of our everyday match.Carolyn: 14:10

And that was like once in a lifetime for Jim so yeah.Gin: 14:26

Oh, that’s great. That was not my favorite match. She did a great job. She was a great player that day. Yeah, yeah, how long that match take, how long. The first set was a very long set because we were both doing that strategy, but no once I mean I switched to that maybe a couple games into the second set and then it was over very fast, um, so I mean the first set was at well over an hour. Was it a set?Erin: 14:36

tiebreaker. What were your scores? Do you remember? I don’t remember. Uh, for close first set.Gin: 14:37

I don’t remember if it went to tiebreaker. What were your scores? Do you remember? I don’t remember Close for set. I don’t remember if it went to a tiebreaker, if it was just 6-4 or 7-5 or something like that, and then the second set wouldn’t, because once I started doing that, I think I won one game and then no more.Erin: 14:50

What did she say to you after? Was there any awkward? I?Gin: 14:53

think she said you could have done that much earlier and saved us some time. You know, but nicely.Carolyn: 14:57

Yeah, yeah, as a joke.Gin: 14:59

We had very good rapport and yeah, she was kind of kidding Like why didn’t you do that and save us, you know, some energy and heat and everything else?Erin: 15:08

Yeah, Could you imagine I told Jen this I don’t know how many points there would be in whatever. Uh, I I’m sure I could do the math quickly, but I won’t. But like, whatever a golden set or a golden match would be, however many points that is, but I don’t think I’ve hit 200. And what did you say? 78. 78 balls in an entire match. And she was talking about one point. One point, yeah.Carolyn: 15:27

One point that’s so crazy. That’s so crazy. Yeah, that’s amazing.Erin: 15:32

Would you ever do that, Carolyn?Carolyn: 15:41

You just rush into the net. I don’t think I could Like I’m not at that level to you know. Well, most people aren’t. That’s what. That’s what it’s. I don’t think I could do, to be honest, more than 10.Erin: 15:47

Oh, I’ve seen you hit. Could I do more than 10? Yeah, you can.Carolyn: 15:49

Even if it’s hit directly to me. Yeah, you can. Could I do 20? Yes.Erin: 15:54

Maybe not right now, but this spring you’re going to, you can hit 20.Carolyn: 15:57

What do you think, yours, my shot tolerance.Erin: 16:00

Yeah, if I was pretending like I was just hitting against a friend and that I was not hitting a winner, I think I could definitely do 10.Gin: 16:09

Oh, we just did 100.Erin: 16:10

We just did yeah, oh, 100. Okay, wow. But see, here’s the difference between Jen and I too. I wouldn’t do 100 in one point, because I know that I still have like 70 more points to play out, or whatever.Carolyn: 16:22

the you know, yeah, I don’t have the stamina for it either. So there’s, you have to do what Jen did, which is stamina nutrition, everything involved to do it.Erin: 16:31

That’s crazy, I know, but that’s good. That’s really good single strategy and it’s good. It’s yeah, carol and I are both going to play a lot of singles, so we’re gonna try to implement some of this a lot of it.Carolyn: 16:42

Yeah, yeah, we’ll let you know how the gin strategy goes, yeah maybe some of the listeners will try it and let us know. I know, but they better not try it against us.Gin: 16:49

Right.Carolyn: 16:50

Yeah, don’t do it, against that we can’t have two people doing that.Gin: 16:53

That’s true. Yeah, it’s just for us Nevermind, don’t, don’t put this out?Carolyn: 16:56

Yeah, this is not going out. Thanks again to Jen for coming on the podcast. If anyone listening tries Jen’s single strategy and it works, please let us know. You can message us on our website, which is SecondServePodcastcom. Thanks so much for listening and hope to see you next time.