In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed American J. J. Wolf at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:
Tennis Acumen: That's well said. Last year, we talked about the fact that some guys absolutely loved to win, so they're just obsessed with it, while some guys try to avoid losing. Is it winning or avoiding a loss that's more important to you?
J. J. Wolf: Oh, it's a hard question. I don't really think about it too much on the court. I'm just real competitive, so obviously I love to win. But, I'm not afraid of losing. Every time you lose a match, it's a chance to look at what you did wrong and what you can improve on. So, I think it's a good thing, really. There's going to be a lot of losing. If you play pro tennis, you get used to it.
Tennis Acumen: Do you "watch film", as they say?
J. J. Wolf: Yeah, I'll watch every match I play after I play it, whether I win or lose.
Tennis Acumen: And what do you gain from that? I'm trying to get inside the mind of a professional tennis player,.
J. J. Wolf: I'm extremely visual, so it's good for me to see what it looks like from the outside. It's really hard to see what your ball even looks like while you're hitting it. I talk to coaches who will tell me: “You don't have to hit the ball so crazy hard.” Maybe I don't think I'm hitting it any harder than the guy I'm playing against. So, then I go and watch the film and I'm saying: “That forehand might have been one hundred and five miles an hour. Why did I hit it that hard?” Because it looks cool, but I probably don't need to do that.
Tennis Acumen: So that's part of your discipline. After a match, you watch a video recording. Do you watch with a coach or just on your own?
J. J. Wolf: That can vary, sometimes with a coach, sometimes without. Sometimes we'll watch separately and then come back together and talk about what we thought.
More of this exclusive interview is available at Tennis Acumen. Go to the interviews category, shown on the upper right hand side of the screen.
Tags: @jjwolf5
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