I posted an entry on the value of developing a between points routine in your tennis match which can be viewed here.
I want to make sure you get a chance to also read my reply to Joel…
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Thanks for your great feedback Joel.
I like it…
“When you’ve got the lead, make them bleed, but if you’re going down, slow it down…”
The other ritual that has hurt and also helped me before a match is visualization.
I’ve got to admit that from time to time I can see myself (visualize prior to the match) either losing to someone or playing poorly.
And that’s not a great recipe for being able to play at the best of your abilities on any given day.
On the flip side, before a match, even just driving to the match, I’ve also visualized myself playing well in general, seen specific point situations, and visualized myself shaking hands with my opponent at the end of the match as the winner.
And the consequence of this very positive visual is I know I play better.
Obviously it’s not a guaranteed lock that positive visualization is goijng to win you each and every match, but the key is that you are setting yourself up mentally in the best possible way to “play well”…
And that’s really what winning is all about, giving yourself a chance to play well.
We’ve all won matches where our perception was that we didn’t actually “play well”, but mentally we hung in there and found a way to win that last point.
“Playing well” doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re hitting the ball super well shot after shot.
It’s a combination of phyiscal and mental, and sometimes the mental “playing well” part of it all can overcome a mediocre physical performance on that particular match day.
It doesn’t matter. And that’s just reality in competitive tennis.
You frequently hear the touring pros comment after a match that they didn’t feel that they hit the ball all that great during their match, BUT, they were pleased with the way that they didn’t panic, how they continued to “compete”, just hung in there even though they weren’t executing their normal shots, and they understand the cold reality that finding the so called “mental zone” doesn’t always mean they’re going to hit great shot after great shot…
And as mateur players, we put WAY too much pressure on oursleves to hit the ball perfectly each and every time.
We evaluate so much of our tennis by how well we’re physically executing our shots without realizing that on any given day we’re not going to hit the ball as well as yesterday or the day before but better than last Tuesday which we perceived as a disaster depsite the fact that we won the match and blah,blah, blah…
In the long run, good mental skills will win you more matches than depending on your ability to hit great shot after great shot.
Why…? Because you can control your mental output much better than your physical output.
And when you control your mental output with things like visualization and the between points rituals we’re discussing, your strokes will become more consistent and less flash in the pan where you hit one great shot and then two shanks…
So, what’s the next step?
Let’s practice 2 things starting today.
Push away from your computer right now, shut your eyes, and visualize this match situation…
You’re serving at 40-30 and its 5-3 in the first set.
[ We don't need to remind ourselves of what we've done in the past in this situation where we've gagged like a monster with 2 double faults and a missed an easy sitter to get broken, fumed both outside and inside which has totally put the pressure on you to somehow salvage this set after being in sucvh control until that set point we had just a few minutes ago, lost the first set 7-5, and then gone into a mental funk and started listing all of the reasons (uh, can you say excuses?) why we're never going to figure out how to close out a set, not to mention an entire match... ]
Like I said, you’re serving at 40-30, 5-3 in the first, and you see yourself calming take your time picking up the ball in the corner and deliberately, but not rushing, walk up to the baseline to get ready to serve.
And as you take your serve’s ready position prior to starting your service motion, you pick out a specific target where you want to serve and you visualize yourself (see yourself) serving the ball to that exact spot.
You take 3 controlled breaths, bounce the ball three times, and then play your serve to yes, that exact target.
Your opponent has guessed that’s where you’re going to serve and just crushes their return slightly to your right. You calmly visually lock on the path of their incoming return of serve, take two steps over to where you sense a “waiting” feeling because you know you don’t have to rush your swing.
You wait for just the right moment, you commit to a rhythm swing (that’s right, you don’t feel any need to “fight” the power of your opponent’s shot) which will direct your shot cross court away from your opponent, you keep your eyes down through the contact point because you don’t feel a need to “peek” to see if your shot is going to its intended target. You have faith that your swing will simply send the ball on its way cross court.
And as you eventually look up fully anticipating you’ll be playing another shot, you see your shot scorching past your opponent’s outstretched reach.
Your point, first set is yours, you calmly walk to the bench for the between sets break without exulting or looking around to see if anyone saw you close out that first set, and it’s just another beautiful day on the tennis court that you’re lucky enough to a part of…
Guess what, you can make that visual happen every day of your life. You can make any positive or negative visual happen each and every day. I’d hope you’ll choose to visualize the positive and not the negative. And you can do this whenever and wherever.
Does this guarantee victory each and every time? Of course not, but I’d rather be thinking positive than negative as I go out to play a match.
And you can also practice the between points routine we’ve discussed off the court whenever and wherever.
Like your strokes, the mental skills of tennis takes lots of practice. Too many players think there’s some magic pill or light switch you just turn on and now all of a sudden you
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How To Win More Points, Games, Sets, & Matches
