One of my subscribers, Frank, asked me that question and it’s a common problem, but simple to change, and yet, since it’s rarely practiced, players continue to play better in practice than in their league or tournament matches.
Here’s what I wrote to Frank:
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Hi Frank and good to hear from you.
It’s a tough intangible that we all struggle with from time to time.
And trying to turn that intangible into a tangible of how to “feel” like you do in practice when you’re playing a match, especially when it gets down to a critical point at the end of a set or the match, is not an easy place to find for most of us.
I used to be the same. It drove me nuts. I could win a tournament match 6-1, 6-1 and my legs would be cramping up all the way home because I was so incredibly tense during the match.
I finally figured out something after observing the better players. There was a real pattern there that I’d missed because I’d been so focused on what I and everyone else was doing during the point.
What finally worked for me is to go through a very specific routine between points.
That routine helps prepare me to play the next point with less fear but with more positive passion.
The routine does a few things for me.
- It helps me not go up emotionally after winning an exciting or critical point, and on the other side, it helps me not go down emotionally after losing either an exciting or critical point.
I want to stay on an even keel after every point no matter what the outcome of that point is. Doesn’t mean I have to be a mindless robot, but even though I can smile or frown after a point, I still want to immediatly get into my routine.
- I feel as if every point will be played without fear or a need to have to win this point feeling.
The 4 Part Between Points Routine. Here’s what I do.
1. Immediately after a point ends, I say the word “yes”, not sarcastically if I lose the point, and not like a punk if I win the point, but just a calm positive word that I hear first. It helps dissipate whatever emotion I may have based on the outcome of the last point.
2. I take 3-4 deep controlled breaths and simply hear whatever “song” is playing through my mind that day. (I’m particulary partial to a lot of Van Morrison and El DeBarge stuff). I replay the exact same “hook” to whatever song I’ve selected for that day after every point during those 3-4 breaths.
3. I first consider and then positively visualize any specific strategy I may want to try to start (not end) this upcoming point. And the positive visualization of the start of the point, not how you want to end the point, is vital.
Such as, serve out wide this time, serve to the body, etc., or if I get a certain serev hit to me I’ll try this or that. But I won’t go through a bunch of what ifs, just one and know that there’s a good chance things may go differently which is OK.
4. And finally, I give myself a peaceful little “OK, here we go” which commits me to playing the point as well as I can.
The Benefits: And the outcome of this short 20-25 second routine is I tend to play each and every point the same in terms of not worrying about the outcome of this next point.
Worrying about the outcome of this next point leads to the “what ifs” in terms of this point, this game, this set, this match, my social status at the club, my spouse going “you lost to who? Oh my God”, that pain in the butt guy who would absolutely love to see me lose to this opponent, and so on and so on…
The other thing I am willing to bet happens in practice that doesn’t happen in a match (and I wish I could somehow test and measure this theory) is that on each and every shot you play you naturally keep your eyes down through contact longer in practice than you do in a match.
Meaning, you don’t “peek” to see your shot and it’s result as early in practice as when you do in a match because it just doesn’t have the same outcome importance.
On the same line of thinking, I am also willing to bet that you apply just a little more “squeeze”, pressure, on your grip in a match as opposed to a practice situation. That extra grip tension equates to less racket speed which gives you less power and less spin.
How to Practice: So, with all that said, the $64,000 question is how do you practice that more effortless feel you actually experience in practice so it becomes natural when you play a match? And I’m hoping the answer turns into the $64,000,000 (that’s right, million) answer!
Like anything else in this world, you have to practice it over and over and over and over and never ever think that you’ve finally got it like it’s riding a bike.
It’s not. It requires that Zen like practice of thinking it’s going to be an endless journey. And I do believe that if you don’t force the need to play a match the way you do in practice that you’ll actually get to where you want to be as a match player MUST faster.
Here’s how to practice playing a match as you do in practice.
First of all, go through those 4 steps I mentioned above and rehearse them a number of times off of the court. Get comfortable with the routine, with the timing of each step, and make sure you’re able to accomplish all 4 steps within 20 seconds.
You can do this rehearsal anywhere. However, do it enough of off the court that when you do go out on the court for a practicse session that you’re ready to try it in practice.
Play some points, some sets, and focus only on this between points routine. Don’t work on your strokes or anything else. Save that stuff for a different practice session.
Any it would be normal for you may find that for awhile it feels so unnatural that you actually end up playing at a little lower level until you become more and more comfortable with your new strategy between points.
This is definitely not like a light switch where you can just turn this stuff on and off. It take diligent practice just like any other part of your tennis game.
A lot of this is just plain old simple desensitizing. Meaning, that if you do this routine enough, it’ll become part of you and you won’t feel tight or worried when you play a league or tournament match.
This works for both singles and doubles. You and your partner should chat bewteen points, but you can still get into some alone time between points in doubles and at least go through an abbreviated version of what you can do in a singles match.
Hope this helps. Let me know…
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