Visualization and self confidence

Visualization is a big part of the tennis mental game. Sports Psychologists are using visualization to train athletes to strengthen their mental tennis game. Visualization means your mental ability to create events or happenings in your mind. In other words, you can visualize yourself attaining your goals to serve excellently in tennis, or improving you skills in tennis games or simply you imagine yourself better than what you are in your present condition for you to be able to build your self confidence or self belief. In the end visualization can help you peak in your tennis games.

Every tennis player should do visualization exercises prior to a tennis match. Spend several minutes prior to a tennis match visualizing that you are going to play the best tennis match you ever played in your life. Imagine yourself playing in the court with excellent first service and second service percentage. You can also visualize that you will be able to use you powerful groundstrokes to make you opponent more vulnerable. Above all, visualize yourself winning the tennis match no matter who is your opponent.

Visualization does not come easily by just imagining things. In doing this you have to use all your senses. The sense of touch that you can feel how you grip your racket and how you toss you ball when you serve. Use your sense of hearing to imagine that you hear all the cheers of your supporters or boos of your opponent’s supporters. And most importantly, you should make use of your sense of feeling, seeing and hearing to hear to the shouts and the cheers, the different colors and the warmth feeling the spectators give you in the court when you hit your winning ball. By doing this training every day, as time goes by you will start to develop your self confidence.

Self-hypnosis

Self hypnosis is another part of the tennis mental game. Today, at full time junior tennis academies, they designate specific parts of the training day just for mental tennis training. One of the methods used to train elite players is self hypnosis and self talk on court.

In playing tennis, what you feel or what your emotions are during the match are big factors that affect your game performance. This means that during tennis matches, your thoughts and your emotions should work hand in hand for you to be at your best. Many professional players use this in their mental tennis training to achieve their goals as you see them talking to themselves on court.

On one hand, what you say when you are on court does affect the way you play your tennis games. This is because normally the words that come out from your mouth are expressions of your real thoughts and your real emotions deep inside your head, and therefore these expressions tend to manifest itself both externally and internally.

One way for players to develop positive self-talk can even be done during practice or during the match itself. To win tennis matches you have to introduce positive self-talk. Tell yourself that you have the skills and techniques to defeat your opponents. Tell yourself not be frustrated or angered when you miss a hit. Tell yourself not to complain a lot when a line man or the referee makes a bad call, because it will just distract your concentration.

And above all talk to yourself to concentrate and focus on your game with the goal of winning it. This technique of a solid tennis mental game is crucial especially when you are down in a match, because it can help you motivate yourself. This is very important in tennis matches considering once you are on court, you work all alone (especially in Grand slam tournaments) from the beginning of the match until a winner is declared. Therefore, your self-motivation by talking to yourself is vital.

Mental Tennis Strength

Mental tennis strength is a crucial attribute to be a winning tennis player. Not only does a player require the skills and technique necessary, but winners must also possess mental tennis ability.

Developing your mental strength is very important in every tennis match. No matter how good you are in every physical attribute in a tennis match, your chances of winning tennis matches are limited if your mental strength is weak. Mental strength means your ability to focus on every single match and every single point without a lapse. Hence every player must train themselves accordingly for the tennis mental game.

How to train yourself to develop the mental tennis strength you need every time you face your opponent?

One way to do it is daily and constant practice, and this is what all professional players do. They still practice playing tennis regularly no matter how good they already are. They practice when there are no upcoming tournaments and they practice more when a tournament is fast approaching.

During practice, maintain your objectives of winning every point to the best of your ability. Don’t take the practice for granted because generally your performance in practice reflects your performance in the actual games.

The second part of the tennis mental game is to include critical games situations in every practice you do. Mental tennis strength is more crucial when you are pressured to win points. Like for example in tiebreakers, a situation when you are down with your service game at 0-40, or you are in a situation that you only need to win two to three points to win a match. These are just examples where the right mental tennis training is crucial for you to stay focus and aim for a point in every hit.

In every tennis game, it is possible that a match can go for a very long time like the longest match in tennis history between Isner and Mahut in 2010 Wimbledon. If both players did not have the proper mental tennis training, neither of them would be able to finish the match. The best way to do this is to keep practicing for long hours until such time that you think your physical body can’t do it anymore but your mind is still willing to persevere.

Relaxation techniques

Nervousness and anxiety are common emotions that players feel before each game. In addition, many players are very emotional when they score a point or worse when they make an unforced error. Some examples of this are the throwing balls to the spectators, banging of racket to their head or even breaking their racket with their bare hands. Every time players do this, they spend more of their energy in their emotions and most of the time they lose focus of the game. Hence relaxation techniques are very important to minimize these negative emotions before and during the game.

• Audio tapes

  Mind relaxation is very important to develop the tennis mental game, especially before every tennis match. When your mind is relaxed, it means you can concentrate totally on your upcoming match, but if your mind is full of other things other than you match then you have the tendency to lose focus. Many players like to listen to a certain type of music when they are traveling on their way before a big performance. Like for example, Wayne Rooney loves to listen to Susan Boyle’s album when he is on the bus on their way to the stadium where they are going to play. Listen to relaxing music rather than rock music.

• Breathing techniques

  Mental tennis training also involves learning how to control the body. Taking beep breaths is one way to relax your tense mind and muscles. This tennis mental game aspect is very important to do before and during the game. The players should always remember to take deep breaths. Experts suggest to inhale and exhale slowly, which calms the body. Notice some players taking their time before each serve; this is the best time to relax your mind and body by taking a walk to the fence and back to service area. Deep inhale and exhale will also help players to overcome their strong emotions while on court.

• 10 Minute pre-match silent moment

  In this tennis mental game technique, all you need to do is find a quiet place to be alone to contemplate for at least 10 minutes before you go on court. Just sit and relax and close your eyes and clear your mind of any negative thoughts. Then after five minutes of sitting, stand up and do the inhale exhale exercise until you are ready to go out to the court.

Control Body language

Body language or body posture reflects any player’s mental and physical condition, and to be in proper posture will tell your opponent that you are tough and strong enough to defeat him. The most important part of mental tennis training is learning to control body language. However, if you show your opponent that you are not conditioned mentally and physically through you body language, then it will boost your opponent’s confidence to defeat you.

Hence in every game, each player must always condition their mind that no matter what your real condition is you should always project that you are in your best condition. Like for example if your opponent sees that your shoulders are sagging when you are down, it will create more encouragement to your opponent. But if you continue the game with your head up while calming yourself, your opponent would not be able to take advantage of you.

Mistake management skills

Every player makes mistakes, but a great player converts every mistake into an opportunity to improve his game plan. To convert every mistake into an opportunity does not only need physical skills, but the player has to have the cognitive approach to do it. Like for example, if your technique is not working with your opponent’s approach, then you have to be mentally ready to accept it. At the same time, be mentally alert to analyze the situation and come up with the right counter attack.

Post-performance review:

Another tennis mental game strategy that can help players perform better in their matches is to watch their every performance in recorded video. In this way, the player is able to analyze the good and the bad aspects in his or her games.

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While technique, strokes and tennis strategies are an essential part of the game, mental tennis is often the hardest battle inside the human mind. Mental tennis is mostly a battle of our own mind, and players have the choice to condition the mind properly to enhance their technical and physical skills on court when it comes to match play.

Mental Tennis Foundation

In tennis, the players must possess skill, size, strength, agility and speed. All these tennis skills will help the player gain an edge in a tennis match. But if supposing, he is mentally weak, then he may lose against a player who has a stronger mental tennis game. A player, whether on an amateur tennis court, or a professional tennis venue, can develop mental tennis to win games.

It requires the correct mental training to enable our mind’s to respond more favorably to pressure match situations and the host of other inhibitors that inevitably occur during a competitive tennis match. The player that prevails mentally, often has a distinct advantage over his or her opponent even before the real match has begun.

The human mind is a complex organ that was designed to react to different stimuli. Our own thought patterns are feedback that goes inside the brain, which is said to be the most advanced computer ever made.

The challenge is to master the various factors that effect the mind which prevent players from reaching their full potential on the tennis court.

Developing Mental Tennis Toughness

How many times have we seen players with flawless tennis strokes lose the mental tennis game to another player with less than desirable strokes?

The likely reason was that the player with flawless tennis strokes lost the mental tennis game to their opponent, often with less than perfect stroke production.

Thus the reason for developing mental tennis toughness is a crucial component is becoming a winner on the tennis court. Brilliant tennis technique, strategy and peak tennis fitness are only half of the equation needed to be a successful tennis player. The other part is execution under pressure, and this comes down to mental tennis toughness.

At the professional level, players like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova are seen to have unbreakable mental tennis toughness. In situations where they are down in a match, or having a bad day, they are sometimes able to pull through the match with a win. They have simply learned to turn a losing situation into a positive outcome.

Surely, mental tennis is at work here throughout their matches. If at one second, one of these pro players gave up the battle inside their mind, the match would have been lost the moment their opponent came up ahead in the set.

Adapting to Adversity

Tennis is a game of adversity, every part of the game involves difficult challenges every step of the way. During a competitive tennis match, adversity is an unavoidable condition. The adversity can come from the opponent, the spectators, the weather, and even your mind.

The pros have learned to deal with adversity by developing a stronger mental tennis foundation. In every great endeavor in life, adversity finds it way into the situation. Adversity is a test of a player’s mental tennis toughness, so a player must choose to strengthen their mind to deal with uncomfortable situations.

Stepping out of your comfort zone

Mental tennis training for that matter is a question if whether a player is willing to step out of his or her comfort zone. In every tennis match, the player that dictates the shot selection usually controls the match and ultimately becomes the winner.

A part of stepping out of your comfort zone applies to tennis training, the intensity of your practice and the boundaries that you are willing to surpass in your goals.

Mental Tennis Training

Mental tennis is a second battle within the mind that must be properly trained and conditioned.

It starts with examining the factors of the match and by observing one’s own thought patterns. A basic rule in psychology is our thought patterns and what we see of ourselves tends to become our reality.

So, if players are negative going into a match, they have likely already lost the mental tennis battle even before the initial warm up.

The key is to develop positive thought patterns and eliminate the negativity inside the mind. All of that clutter and chatter that disrupts our momentum and deters our physical body from executing shots correctly during a match.

There are many different tips like the physical, technical, tactical and mental skills. In order to develop mental tennis toughness, players must learn the correct winning mentality, how to control their emotions and how to approach the game with a positive attitude and focus on the task at hand.

Mental Tennis Approach

Usually among mental tennis solutions will be to help the player make small adjustments in his or her approach to the stroke, game, tactical play or anything else, that eventually results in a different outcome. Mental tennis can be applied to technique, tactics, and tennis fitness and of course, the mental part of a player.

The player has to explore the various categories and discover how a calculated mental tennis approach can greatly influence his or her approach towards the stroke, the perception of the situation as well as the mental approach to the game.

The player who is an outstanding athlete may reach the acme of professional tennis perfection not by shortcuts but by just employing a daily regimen of mental preparation. It will prepare them for a close tennis matches, it will enhance his tennis strokes and it will give him an edge over his superior opponents with his power of mind. Moreover Psychological tips are also found to be an indispensable in their rise to fame. Mental tennis tips are therefore seen to be a crucial in a player’s development in the game.

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What are the characteristics of a winning tennis player and how can tennis players at all levels learn from our professional tennis champions?

The game of tennis is as much mental as it is physical. Some would argue that the former actually takes precedence over the latter. In the higher levels of the sport, this is certainly true. When you have reached a competitive level, you are measuring yourself up against other players who have similarly done what you have done.

They’ve also trained and practiced all their strokes and they’ve worked on their physical fitness. Now, out on the court, it must be decided who is the better player. Sometimes, there is a clear physical edge. But more frequently, the edge is mental. Why else would it be so common for a 40 year old weekend player to beat a teenager who hits harder and runs faster? It is because a lot of times, the older guy is more experienced, disciplined, calm and focused.

Focus and Concentration in the Mental Game of Tennis

Focus and concentration are two terms that are often used interchangeably when talking about the mental game of tennis. Developing your ability to focus requires great self-discipline, which is evident in one’s general approach to the game. From discipline, a player cultivates awareness about what’s important and what’s not.

Before a match, a player should be aware of a lot of things including first and foremost, himself. This self-awareness is based upon the knowledge of his or her ability and skill level, strengths and weaknesses, physical condition and how he or she is feeling at that point in time. Specific things like little injuries, fatigue and illnesses are taken into account and assessed properly.

Mental Game of Tennis Starting With The Off Court Preparation

Obviously, one should not even go out and play if these are too bad or can potentially worsen. If you are able to play despite feeling a little less than 100%, then you should assess what steps you can take in order to increase your chance of winning. For example, if you are feeling a little fatigued then you should pay more attention to what you eat before playing, making sure that you consume the right energy-providing food. Then, once you get to the court, you should warm up properly so you can get into more of a groove when the actual match starts.

Mental Game of Tennis: The Planning Element

You can also plan to play more aggressively in order to keep the points shorter. You should also be prepared with what you bring on court. If you have blisters on your hands, bring band aids. If you are feeling a little sore here and there, bring the appropriate support strap. The food and drinks you bring should also be of the right kind. If the weather is really hot, for instance, bring more water and sports drinks than usual. You should have also hydrated yourself properly before the match.

The mental game of tennis is also evident when you consider your pre-match planning and strategizing. Within this, you take stock of your strokes and compare it to your opponent’s. You shouldfigure out what you do well and what you don’t side by side with those of your opponent’s.

When you have considered this, you should try to devise a strategy to maximize your strengths and minimize exposure of your weaknesses while trying to do the opposite with your opponent’s strengths and weaknesses.

Mental Game of Tennis: Setting a Strategy for Playing Your Opponent

Corollary to this, the strategy that you work out should put you in a position on the court where you are in control of the rallies. For example, if both you and your opponent have strong forehands but mediocre backhands, then you can choose to play chiefly to your opponent’s backhand and run around your own backhand whenever possible.

Your opponent will try to do the same, so the match will come down to execution. If you have developed your mental game, you will stand a better chance of executing this strategy better as the match unfolds, especially when the so-called ‘important’ stages of the match comes.

Executing a strategy successfully hinges on your ability to play tactical shots. These are shots that win the point outright, set you up to finish the point or draw an error because it is the type of shot that your opponent hates. Going back to the example above, let’s say that aside from both of you having forehands stronger than backhands, you also are more comfortable hitting flat and slice shots while your opponent is more of a topspin player.

Improving Your Mental Game of Tennis Through Decision Making

Topspin increases the margin of error so you don’t want to be involved in long rallies because chances are, he will outlast you in those types of points. So you should be aggressive, take the ball on the rise and hit it flat and hard to his backhand as much as possible.

When you are given the ball on your own backhand, slice it back but be sure to keep it low. Let’s also say hypothetically that your opponent likes to stay at the baseline and can run side to side all day while you are slightly better at coming to the net.

You cannot just come to the net on any ball because he is fast and his topspin will make the ball dip down low as you try to close in, giving you a difficult volley. So what you should do is to hit short and low slices that force him off the baseline and try to hit shots moving diagonally. If you find that he is uncomfortable doing this, you can take advantage by coming to the net to knock away easy volleys or watch his attempted passing shots go awry. Notice how much the mental game of tennis dictates the physical and technical aspects.

Using Smart Tennis Tactics in The Mental Game of Tennis

If awareness is vital to preparing properly for a match, it is equally crucial once the match starts and as it progresses. Let’s go back once again to the hypothetical match up mentioned above. If your opponent is somehow hitting his backhand well that day, you have to find a way to break it down. As the weaker side, it is still the side you should prefer to attack. However, you should change your way of attacking it.

If he is getting into a groove hitting back your hard, flat shots, you can change it up by hitting high topspin shots to that side. Do not hit exclusively with topspin because, remember, that is what he prefers. You are only doing this to give him a different look from time to time. You can also try hitting wide to the forehand first before hitting an angle to the side T forcing him to hit backhands on the run.

This will put pressure on that wing and increase the likelihood that it will break down eventually. This ability to solve problems and adapt an alternative strategy requires mental flexibility which is just as important as physical flexibility.

Developing Mental Toughness for Tennis

For most people, the mental game of tennis is mainly about a player’s mental toughness. This certainly is one of the most admirable qualities that all the great champions have. Some have this innately more than others. But it can also be learned, practiced and improved. Ideally, learning about this should start at the beginning of a player’s development.

In actuality, mental toughness encompasses self-discipline and awareness and therefore extends from the pre-match preparation to the post match analysis. But in terms of tennis as competition per se, mental toughness is about how a player is able to concentrate throughout a match so that he or she plays at the highest possible level especially during the important stages.

Mental Game of Tennis: Blocking Out Distractions

To truly be effective mentally, a player has to know what to focus on and what to ignore. This selective attention is crucial because there are a lot of distractions on the court. The crowd, the adjacent courts and the conditions like the wind, sun (or lights if at night time), heat, rain, humidity and altitude all play a part in the way a match is played. If someone in the crowd shouts during a point or if a ball from the adjacent court rolls over to your court, you have to be able to deal with the distraction of having to play a let.

Dealing with Uncontrollable Factors

At the same time, these things are out of anyone’s control so a player must try not to let these things bother him. Dealing with the conditions is also a major part of the mental game of tennis. No one has control over nature so one must just be able to adapt to the conditions properly. For example, if you are serving into the sun, then it is important for you to get your first serve in because your opponent might be thinking that this is his opportunity to break.

The most mentally tough players all have rituals that help them forget about the last point and get back in focus for the next point. Forgetting about the last point is imperative especially after you have committed an error or a tactical misjudgement that leads to an easy winner for your opponent.

Mental Game of Tennis through Rituals

Common rituals include straightening the strings, taking practice swings, jogging in place and bouncing the ball a certain number of times before serving. What you do in between points is also useful for controlling the pace of a match.

If you are playing well, you might want to speed things up a bit to keep yourself going while if you are starting to lose a bit of your form, you should slow things down to calm down. But don’t take too much time because it becomes unfair to your opponent.

Conversely, trying to quick serve an opponent also doesn’t keep with the spirit of sportsmanship and fair play. The changes in the length of time between points should be as small as possible. Try to keep your time in between points at a consistent and reasonable length.

Mental Game of Tennis: Accepting Your Mistakes

Learning to control your emotions and keep a positive attitude is another essential skill in the mental game of tennis. Unforced errors are part of the game and this must be accepted by all players. This is something that can be learned at an early stage of a player’s development. The sport of tennis is not the easiest thing to learn. Inevitably, there will be more errors in the beginning.

It is at this time that a player should be taught to accept these mistakes and simply try to learn from them. If he or she displays any petulant behavior toward committing mistakes, this behavior should be corrected as soon as possible. Keeping calm and being patient with one’s progress will better equip a player to keep thinking positively and concentrate better in competitive situations.

Mental Game of Tennis: Developing a Positive Attitude

The last and probably most important aspect of the mental game of tennis is the development of a player’s attitude towards winning and losing. As a competitive sport, it is always required that a player try his or her very best in order to win. But doing so should always keep with the spirit of fair play.

It is one thing to make an honest mistake with a line call and quite another if you actively cheat an opponent. Above all, there should be respect for your opponent, and indeed even the officials.

Without respect, it will be very difficult to deal with losing and winning will not feel as fulfilling as it should.

Understanding That Losing and Winning is Part of Life and the Mental Game

In tennis, at the end of the day, you are only either a winner or a loser. It would be perfect if we could all just be winners all the time but that is impossible. Losing is as much a part of the game as winning. But in the mental game of tennis, you can find comfort in the fact that whatever happens, you can learn a lot from every match.

It helps to remember the famous line from Rudyard Kipling’s poem “If” inscribed above the entrance to Wimbledon’s Centre Court: “If you can meet with triumph and disaster/And treat those two impostors just the same.” Apparently, as long as you learn and improve from every match, you’re going to be a winner every time!

Learn to Hit a Forehand Like Roger Federer

If you want to jumpstart your forehand and play like the PROS, check out my 70+ page Tennis Ebook that will immediately show you how you can take your forehand to the next level.

The Modern Forehand Domination Ebook is guaranteed to improve your tennis technique, and increase power, topspin and accuracy of your tennis forehand!

Modern Tennis Forehand Ebook
Learn How to Hit a Forehand Like Federer, Nadal and Djokovic

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