Four lessons you can learn from Maria Sharapova

This week, Maria Sharapova, Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan will be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island. Look for special features throughout the lead-up on TENNIS.com:

🎾 Tuesday: Maria Sharapova's Hall of Fame induction is tennis royalty well-earned
🎾 Tuesday: 119 doubles titles, 16 Slams, Hall of Fame: How tennis’ legendary twins, Bob and Mike Bryan, did it all
🎾 Wednesday: Maria Sharapova was all business, no matter the medium
🎾 Wednesday: Bob and Mike Bryan made music on and off the tennis court
🎾 Thursday: Four lessons you can learn from Maria Sharapova
🎾 Thursday: Six lessons you can learn from Bob and Mike Bryan

The deep, hard and predominantly flat groundstrokes that helped Maria Sharapova earned five Grand Slam singles titles are not easy to emulate. To gain control over such an arsenal takes significant focus and devotion, a commitment of thousands of hours a recreational player likely does not have the time, skill, or desire to accomplish.

But there is certainly much else one can learn from this incoming Hall of Famer. Here are a few principles from the Sharapova journey you can incorporate into your own tennis quest:

1. Know Your Assets

Sharapova had tremendous awareness of what made her thrive as a player. Lacking the court coverage skills of Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters, or the versatility of Justine Henin and Martina Hingis, Sharapova’s strength was her ability to dictate play from the baseline.

“She had to be inside the court, and drive the ball hard from the position,” says Craig Kardon, former coach for such WTA players as CoCo Vandeweghe, Mary Pierce and Martina Navratilova. “She had to make a strong connection with every shot she hit.”

👉 Read More: Maria Sharapova’s election to the Hall of Fame may be polarizing, but it’s deserved

“When your game is to hit big like Maria, you know you’ll be more consistent by being aggressive,” says Lynne Rolley, a former head of coaching for the USTA, who worked closely with one of Sharapova’s chief rivals, Lindsay Davenport. “You don’t hit the ball well by backing off and being cautious.”

Based on Sharapova’s model, should a recreational player hit the ball harder when under pressure? If, as Sharapova did constantly while working with Robert Lansdorp, you can drive 20 hard cross-court balls in a row while on the run, that indeed might be your go-to play. But for others, an insightful tennis identity might well entail an awareness of your penchant for consistency, the ability to volley proficiently, exceptional court coverage skills, or an aptitude for deploying various spins.

Maria was always very practical. She knew exactly what she needed to do to make sure her game was as sharp as possible. Robert Lansdorp

2. Bring It All, Every Time

In line with Sharapova’s first-strike style, her time on the court was defined by urgency. Sharapova approached a practice court with the hawk-like focus of someone about to take the bar exam. As she entered it, little was frivolous as Sharapova swiftly turned the task of honing her powerful groundstrokes. Call it an exemplary demonstration of the saying “perfect practice makes perfect.”

“Don’t falter in your preparation,” says Rolley. “Pay attention to your rituals, your basic drilling. All of that is so important. You watch Maria, and you see how she’s watching the ball all the way.”

“Maria was always very practical,” says Kardon. “She knew exactly what she needed to do to make sure her game was as sharp as possible.”

All of that preparation came in play once Sharapova competed. Those groundstrokes were the expression of her devotion.

“She’ll just smother you and run you off the court,” says Lansdorp.

Of all the lessons that can be learned from Sharapova, this one might well be the easiest to master. No question, winning is hard. But competing is easy: just try.

3. Find Nuanced Improvement Areas

A torn rotator cuff suffered in 2009 severely reduced the power of Sharapova’s serve. Soon after, she had to reinvent herself—slightly.

“My shoulder was not like it was when I was 17, but it was as good as it was going to get,” Sharapova wrote in her book, Unstoppable. “I’d found a new way to play. It relied less on the serve than on the return. It was still about hard, flat strokes, still about power, but now with a bit of variation thrown in.”

“It comes down to the desire to win,” said Rolley. “What will help you win? What’s going to make a difference?”

The point here is less to think about major changes, but instead recognize what may have changed as you’ve aged and, at the same time, seek ways to make incremental adjustments.

“You have to find little advantages and small ways to get a jump,” wrote Sharapova. “Read the serve, move early, adjust your game around your abilities.”

4. Trust in Your Homework

Even in the wake of injuries that required physical and tactical adjustments in the way she started points, Sharapova remained clear about what she needed to do to end them.

“She’d put in the time and knew what she needed to do,” says Rolley. “It’s a matter of trust. Maria’s Plan B was to hit the ball harder, by moving her feet and being aggressive. You don’t hit the ball well by backing off and being cautious.”

As Sharapova did her entire career, give thought to how you go about the business of winning points—and keep that in mind as the match wears on. If footspeed and consistency is your biggest weapon, don’t suddenly try to end rallies sooner. If your forehand is the cornerstone of your game, trust that it will be there for you at crunch time. If being at the net is where you mostly win points, look to get your way in there again and again.