Building a Game Plan: Pre-Match Scouting for Amateurs, in 30 Minutes or Less

Professional tennis players have entire teams that scout opponents. Coaches review match video, statisticians compile pattern reports, sports scientists analyze movement and tendencies. By the time a top player walks on court, they have a game plan informed by hours of preparation.

Amateur players have none of this. They walk on court mostly cold, knowing little about the opponent beyond “I’ve heard they have a good forehand.” Most amateurs don’t plan at all — they react. The first set is reconnaissance: figure out what the opponent does well, what they don’t, and start adjusting in the second set. By the time the adjustments are clear, the match might be over.

This article is about how to do meaningful pre-match scouting as an amateur, with limited time, limited information, and limited resources. The answer is not as elaborate as professional scouting — but it is more useful than no scouting at all, and it can be done in about 30 minutes.

What You Actually Need to Know About an Opponent

The information that actually changes how you play falls into a small number of categories:

1. Their primary game style. Aggressive baseliner? Counter-puncher? Serve-and-volleyer? Each style demands different responses from you.

2. Their stronger and weaker wings. Almost every amateur has a clear preference. Is the forehand or backhand the weapon? Which side do they prefer to run around to? Which side do they prefer to defend with?

3. Their serve patterns. Where do they like to serve on first serves? On second serves? Do they have a wide serve, a body serve, a T-serve they favor? Do their second serves have spin (kick) or pace?

4. Their movement profile. Are they faster forward or backward? Better laterally to one side than the other? Do they recover well? Do they get tired in long rallies?

5. Their pressure response. Do they play better or worse at 30-30? Do they choke on second serves at break points? Do they fight on 5-3?

6. Their preferred patterns. What’s their go-to setup? Wide serve to the deuce, then forehand to the open court? Topspin moonball to push you back? Slice approach and net?

This list is what matters. Hair color, racquet brand, what they wore at the last tournament — irrelevant. Stick to the six categories.

Where the Information Comes From

For an amateur, four main sources:

Source 1: Direct observation. If you can see your opponent warm up — even ten minutes — you can extract significant information. Watch their first 20 serves: where do they go? Are they hitting the same target repeatedly? Watch their first 20 returns: deep middle every time, or do they vary? Watch their movement during warm-up rallies: do they prefer open or closed stance? Hit cross-court or down-the-line?

Source 2: Prior matches you’ve played against them. If you’ve played this opponent before, the matches are scouting reports waiting to be read. Recall (or write down) what worked, what didn’t, what surprised you. Patterns from previous matches almost always recur.

Source 3: People who have played them. A club teammate who has played this opponent can tell you in two minutes what would take you a set to figure out. “She has a big forehand but you can run her around because she doesn’t move well backward.” That’s gold. Ask around.

Source 4: Match video, if available. Even one set of recorded video reveals patterns. Watch with a notepad. Look for tendencies, not for what they do well — the strengths you can see in five minutes, the patterns require deliberate observation.

Combine these sources. Most amateurs use none of them. The player who uses two or three before a match has a substantial information advantage.

A 30-Minute Pre-Match Scouting Protocol

If you have 30 minutes before a match, here is how to use them productively.

Minutes 1-5: Reflect on what you know. Write down what you already know about the opponent — from prior matches, conversations, observations. Even rough notes. Most players skip this and forget useful information they already possess.

Minutes 6-15: Watch them warm up (if possible). Look specifically for the six categories above. Note three things: their preferred shot, their weaker side, and any visible pattern in their warm-up sequence.

Minutes 16-20: Talk to someone who has played them. A teammate, a coach, anyone with experience against this opponent. Specific questions: “What did you do that worked? What did they do that gave you trouble?”

Minutes 21-25: Develop a game plan. Based on the information gathered, write 3-5 specific tactical instructions. Examples: “Serve to her backhand on first serves.” “Make him hit running forehands — pull him wide.” “When you’re at the net, expect the lob, not the pass.”

Minutes 26-30: Pre-match warm-up routine. Settle the body, calm the nerves, run through the planned patterns mentally. This is the visualization protocol from a different article in this series.

Total time: 30 minutes. Information advantage: substantial relative to the typical amateur who walks on court cold.

What the Game Plan Should Actually Contain

A useful game plan has the following features:

Feature 1: Specific. Not “play aggressively” but “serve wide on the deuce court whenever possible, then attack the forehand into the open court.” Vague plans don’t survive contact with the opponent.

Feature 2: 3-5 main instructions. More than that is unrememberable in a match. Less than that misses too much. The middle range is where useful plans live.

Feature 3: Includes an adjustment trigger. “If she starts reading my wide serve, mix in body and T more often.” A static plan that doesn’t adapt is fragile.

Feature 4: Has a goal beyond just “win.” “Win 60% of points where I attack with the third shot.” Specific targets make the plan testable.

Feature 5: Acknowledges your weaknesses too. “My backhand is going to be tested today. Be patient with it — slice when defensive, don’t try winners off the backhand.” The plan is for you, not against the opponent.

The plan is a working document. It guides your decisions during the first set. After the first set, you revise it based on what you’ve learned. After the second set, you revise again. The plan is a hypothesis, refined by data.

Common Game-Plan Errors

Three common mistakes amateur players make when planning.

Error 1: Planning to beat the opponent’s weakness, not to deploy your strengths. “I’ll attack her backhand all match.” Good idea, but it only works if your shot to her backhand is also a good shot for you. If your cross-court forehand to her backhand is your weakest shot, the plan backfires.

Error 2: Over-rigid plans. “Serve wide every time.” Lasts about 4 service games before the opponent reads it and the plan stops working. Plans should be flexible.

Error 3: Confusing the plan for the match. The plan is a starting point. The match itself reveals new information. Players who stick to a plan rigidly, regardless of what’s happening, lose to opponents who adapt. The plan is a hypothesis, not a script.

What Game Plans Don’t Replace

A few clarifications:

Plans don’t replace technique. A great game plan with poor strokes won’t beat a player with great strokes and no plan. You need both. The plan is a multiplier on the technique, not a substitute.

Plans don’t replace fitness. A four-hour match decided in the fifth set requires conditioning the plan cannot provide. The plan helps you win efficient points, but you still have to play them.

Plans don’t replace experience. A first-year tournament player with a perfect plan still has limited capacity to execute it under pressure. Plans get better with experience because the player’s ability to follow them improves.

The Tournament Variant

For tournaments where you might face the same opponent multiple times in a series, scouting compounds. After your first match against an opponent, write down what you learned. Use it in the next match. By the third meeting, you have a substantial database.

This is what professional tennis players have always done at the tour level. Federer kept notes on opponents going back decades. Nadal’s team maintains files. The information becomes a tactical asset that grows over time.

For amateurs, even informal note-keeping after matches produces value. A simple text note: “Beat Sara, used kick second serve to her backhand effectively.” Six months later when you play Sara again, the note is gold.

One Thing to Do on Court Tomorrow

For your next match — or for an opponent you’ve played before — sit down for 15 minutes and write a 5-instruction game plan. Specific, actionable, includes one adjustment trigger.

Bring it on court. Refer to it between games if needed. After the match, review what you wrote and what actually happened. Note which instructions were useful, which were wrong, which you forgot to apply.

Most players, doing this for the first time, find that the planning itself improves their tennis even more than the specific instructions. The act of thinking tactically about the opponent before the match changes how attentive you are during it. The plan is a tool for focus as much as for tactics.

The match is going to happen regardless of whether you prepared. The question is whether you walk on court with an information advantage or without one. The 30 minutes you spend planning give you that advantage. Most amateurs skip it. The ones who don’t have a measurable edge.

About the author: Emre Köse is a tennis coach at Beykoz Tenis Kulübü in Istanbul, with 12+ years on court. He holds a BSc in Coaching Education from Marmara University, Faculty of Sport Sciences.

Related in this series: Tennis as game theory · Adjusting mid-match · Reading patterns

Selected reading:

• O’Donoghue, P., & Ingram, B. (2001). A notational analysis of elite tennis strategy. Journal of Sports Sciences.
• Klaassen, F. J. G. M., & Magnus, J. R. (2014). Analyzing Wimbledon: The Power of Statistics. Oxford University Press.
• Crespo, M., & Higueras, J. (2006). Coaching elite tennis. ITF Coaching and Sport Science Review.