We’re in unfamiliar territory here. The world of sports is foreign and frightening to me, and it’s no surprise my two examples reference tennis and golf, the only two fancy lad sports in which I found even a smidgen of ability. I spent a week at soccer camp without touching the ball save putting it back in the mesh bag at the end of the day, and I don’t understand how football is played. That said, here are two sports-based improv analogies.

1.) An improviser should treat their initiation the way a tennis player treats their serve.

This is specifically with regard to premise-based initiations off an opening.

The serve is the one shot, where the player has total control. After the ball leaves their racquet, everything else done is in reaction to your opponent. It’s the only time your racquet will strike the ball completely under your control without having to factor in something that’s happened across the net first. 99.9% of the time during a tennis point you’re responding and reacting, but during that 1%, until the ball leaves your racquet, you alone dictate how the point starts. You set the tone.

That means the serve isn’t wasted. Good tennis players use their serve aggressively. They choose where to place it, and how to spin it, and how much margin for error to leave or not. They don’t just walk up to the baseline and bunt it in. Those few precious seconds of control are a gift not to be wasted. They use it to their absolute maximum advantage.

The same is true for an initiation. Be a control freak about that one line, and then let go after that. You have one line under your control, one split second where you’re not responsible to react to what your scene partner is giving you. Why walk up to the baseline and bunt with a “Hey what’s up” throw away line? Place the initiation. Spin it the way you want. Precisely choose the world you want to play in. Make it count to nail down what you want to play with, because after being a control freak for that one line you have to let go entirely. (And obviously in improv we hope our opponent is there to crush a forehand return, not to blow past them with an ace. )

Also, like a serve, if you try to do too much with it, you’ll probably fault. Being a control freak for that one line doesn’t mean you script out the entire scene. It means you pick a precise spot you want to land the first bounce of the ball. It means you make a precise, clear choice about what world/idea/premise you want to play with at the top of a scene.

No one likes a ball hog, but you’ve also got to have a firm grip on the ball if you’re going to dunk it. Oh shit, I’m straying into basketball. Lets dial this back in…

2.)A premise initiation from an opening is like teeing up on the fairway.

You’re only supposed to tee up the ball on the very first shot of a hole. When you put the ball up on a tee instead of hitting it off the ground, it goes a lot farther.

I have an aunt, who, despite the rules, likes to tee up the ball on subsequent shots on the fairway. She’s not the greatest golfer, but by teeing up on the fairway she’s usually on the green in a shot or two, while her friends need extra shots to cover the distance.

My aunt is playing premise golf. Her friends are playing organic golf.

If getting on the green is the equivalent of finding a game (and then putting equals game moves and sinking the ball is the edit), then teeing up in the middle of the fairway is like a strong premise initiation off an opening.

We watch an opening with 8 pairs of the same eyes, so that in just a few lines we can connect with our partner on far more implied elements of a scene than just stepping out organically. If there’s an identifiable location in a scene painting, or a clear voice from a monologue, then the ensemble can immediately “get on the green” faster. It might take 2-minute of organic yesanding to get to that Michelin star chef having to work in a school cafeteria, but if it’s an idea that emerges from a productive opening, the ensemble can have it in just a few lines, and use the rest of the time trying to sink that putt.

My aunt is cheating. I’m not implying premise initiations are cheating. It’s satisfying to watch golfers line up the strokes to finally make it to the green. Often watching a golfer have to take an extra shot from difficult territory is the most exciting part. At the same time, the goal is to get the ball in that cup, and if you do happen to crush it off the fairway and actually land it on the green…then you wish you can do that every time.

Same with improv. We all would probably prefer to walk out and quickly agree on a focused idea and blow the hell out of it without wasting time in a non-engaging way. For a lot of people, working off of premises is just one of the most effective ways to improve the odds of that consistently happening. At the same time, even if you’re teeing up on the fairway, you’ll still have to know how to hit another shot if it doesn’t land on the green right away…and you can’t tee up in a sand trap, let alone the water. Those basic organic skills are required either way.

Sports!