Roger Federer, courtesy of Wikipedia.

Tonight I’ll confess to having watched some television (while diligently working on a crucial project, of course–hardly noticed the TV for at least some of the time). The Wimbledon semifinals tennis match between two charming tennis players, Roger Federer and Kevin Anderson, has been outstanding. I am a long-time Federer fan (from Switzerland, my beloved mission country!), but it’s hard not to also cheer for Anderson, a fellow excessively tall person (oops, that’s a microagression: I mean “altitudinally different”). Both are great athletes and great sports.

Like many people, I have a great deal of unearned self-confidence and consider myself to be a good tennis player, good enough to beat either of these men on any given day. Here I define “given day” to mean “day when my opponent is severely injured or in prison.” But I’m an even better tennis coach. Through years of careful analysis of tennis, I have developed some sure-fire secrets of tennis success that I am sure would do much to improve the play even of these champions.

I’m revealing these secrets at no cost as a gift to my readers. First I’ll review some basic  secrets, and then comes the real power secret.

Basic secrets you may already know:

#1: When receiving a serve, stand where the ball is going to come. Aces tend to do where you are not. You should have been over there, waiting for it. Come on!

#2. Hit the ball over the net and inside the lines. So simple, but so many points are lost by not following this overlooked secret.

#3. When serving, hit the ball to where your opponent isn’t standing or likely to reach. Amazing how often this basic secret is overlooked. 

But these secrets are for winning individual points. The power secret that you are about to learn is not about running around all day trying to win a point here or a point there. It’s about focusing on the one thing that really matters: not losing the match.

Here’s the critical insight: in the end, winning a match comes down to the final point, the match point. If you never lose a match point, you will never lose a match. That’s the key! That’s the secret! Secret, you ask? Yes! In fact, it’s obvious that even Federer himself doesn’t fully understand this secret and it’s proper application, which you are about to learn.

In this match I’m watching tonight, like almost all matches I’ve seen, players wear themselves out running back and forth across the court to hit the ball in order to win individual points. Points that don’t really matter in the end because they are not the match point! Remember, the winner of the match is the one who wins what? That’s right: the match point! Now here is the practical guidance you need for success, Coach Lindsay’s Secret Power Tip:

When playing tennis, always check: Is this the match point? If not, let it go. Relax. Save your energy. Don’t chase the ball like crazy for a point that doesn’t matter. Save all your energy for the one point that does matter: the match point, and just make sure you win it. As long as you win the match point, you will never lose. It’s that simple!

Don’t sweat the small stuff, don’t worry about anything except what really matters: avoiding the ultimate disaster when it’s immediately before you. Until then, let it go and enjoy!

Coach Lindsay’s Power Secret has not yet affected competitive tennis (understandable–it was unknown to the world until today), but the same principle seems to be at work in many other parts of the economy in the US and other nations:

• Do we have hyperinflation? Are hungry mobs rampaging in the streets? No? No worry, let’s print more money to stimulate the economy. 
• Have they turned off my utilities or shut off my phone service? No? Then relax and use that credit card to spend a little more money that I don’t have. 
• Am I starving? No? This might be a good time to take a break year before looking for a job. 
• Are the checks we issue to teachers, firemen, and other government employees bouncing, and are angry mobs of unpaid workers burning down our government office buildings demanding their pension money? No? Let’s increase our debt even more to keep our state or city government functioning. (No, I’m not singling out Illinois or New Jersey here.)
• Have all the people with the capital and sills needed to create jobs left our state already? No? Then let’s crank up taxes on them even more. 
• Has the economy ground to a halt? No? Oh, yes? Um, fix the stats to say it’s healthy, and then let’s divert more of our nation’s capital on unnecessary war in nations that aren’t attacking us.
• Have I lost my job? No? Then no need to develop new skills. Good time to turn on the TV or open up YouTube and watch something fun. Maybe even a little tennis. (Oops!)

So you can play tennis and economics and life the old school way, working hard and being wise and frugal and nervous about the future every step of the way, or you can relax and stay focused on what matters: avoiding disaster by not worrying about it until you really, really need to worry, which is usually a distant tomorrow, right?

You know Coach Lindsay’s Power Secret now. Enjoy!