I really appreciate the time so many of you took to write about the longest match in your tennis history.
Our impromptu contest (based on the incredible history making Isner- Mahut 70-68 5th set result at Wimbledon recently) produced so many great tales of long drawn out battles.
I really didn’t have any specific criteria for choosing a winner. After the entry deadline, Mai and I headed up into the Sierras for a few days of R & R in our little motor home, and I got some nice quite time to read each story a couple of times.
There seemed to be one common theme throughout.
Mental toughness.
And that makes sense when you’re having to endure a long tennis match that just doesn’t seem to have the ability to end.
Mental toughness is a really worn out cliche, BUT, it’s a great skill to have in quick, average, and long matches.
And that skill for me is not about the tennis playing, it’s about all of that time we spend in matches not actually playing the points.
Players with good mental toughness skills do a superior job of managing what they think and how they physically act between points.
I’m still amazed at how well both Isner and Mahut managed their time between points during their epic match, especially during their 5th set.
The rules allowed them 20-25 seconds between points, and I’m willing to bet that the average length of a point during that 5th set wasn’t any longer than 2 shots, and a 2 shot point for them is probably 3 seconds in duration.
If the guys are getting 25 seconds between points, the math is pretty simple.
88% of the match was spent between points.
For me. when I play at my best, I manage that 88% really consistently. Not lots of emotion, not lots of negative self talk, and not lots of artificially positive “come on”.
So, with that said, I’m going with Beth’s story about her longest match.
I’m not saying the other stories weren’t as compelling, I could have just about selected any one of them, but I had to pick one, and Beth’s story stuck out for me.
If you haven’t read it yet, here’s the link to Beth’s longest match in her tennis history.
So Beth, congrats, you’re going to be receiving an “All Lessons Package” in the mail this week!
And as an unannounced bonus, I’m going to pass along a copy of my Mental Skills For Competitive Tennis Players lesson to all of the other contest’s entrants as a way of saying thanks for taking the time to write and tell us about the longest tennis match in your history.
Don’t have a between points routine that is helping bring out your best tennis? Here’s what’s helped me win a national singles championship – click here.
Brent
P.S. – I’m always interested in your feedback.
What’s your #1 question about bringing out your best tennis during competitive league or tournament matches?
Let me/us know below in the Comments box. Thanks…
Are You A Competitive League Or Tournament Player?
How To Win More Points, Games, Sets, & Matches
I more or less accidentally discovered a way to get focused (again).
My wife and I were playing mixed doubles and the first set went badly. Whatever we could do wrong, we did. Our opponents were not much better then we. They made most of the points and won the first set.
While resting for the beginning of the second, I closed my eyes, breathed in and very slowly out. Said to myself, CALM and imagined before my eyes a picture symbolizing calmness, peace and quit. I kept doing this during the intervals and became calm, knew what to play and we won the second and third set.
I do this ever since, and it helps.
Nico
Good stuff Nico.
Part of being mentally tough out there when things aren’t going your way is to not panic and start making excuses.
Those excuses are an insurance policy for worst case, you lose the match, and how are you going to explain to others (and yourself) why you lost.
Tennis matches are typically played in patches of good and not so good.
For me, the less I dwell on the negative, the sooner the not so good patches go away and the longer the good patches extend.
Brent – Tennis Mental Skills Lesson
I always focus on the next point, whether I’m winning or losing. I want every point, but when it’s over, I’m thinking about the next one: watch the ball, move your feet, move forward, etc., etc.
If I find myself playing “loose” points, it’s because I didn’t do the above.
I agree completely with your premise, Brent. It’s a mental game. I’ve been beaten by guys with strokes way below mine because they were mentally tougher (OK, maybe a little younger, too).
Mental toughness is such a practiced skill. So many players understand the importance of developing mental skills to their tennis game, but just never really practice it, especially off court.
Take a minute off court, visualize a specific match situation, and practice what routine you want to go through between points.
Brent – Tennis Mental Skills Lesson
Brent:
As soon as the point is over, I look at the strings of my tennis racquet, quieting my mind as much as possible, showing no emotions, snapping the little rubber band on my left wrist to bring my mind back if it has wandered off, taking three or four deep breaths, decide what I want to do at the beginning of the next point, give myself a little pep talk (next point), you can do this. It is a mental game!
Russ
Hi Russ,
Those a great routine you’ve got. Keep it simple and stick to it no matter what just happened in the prior point.
Brent – Tennis Mental Skills Lesson
If we want to talk about mental toughness here’s a tip from a hacker:
When I’m just not in the groove and weaker opponents are getting the best of me… I imagine each stroke is my opponent’s attempt to kill my dog. And that is NOT going to happen. Talk about getting focused! The battle back isn’t pretty but it works.
We are definitely taking this visualization thing to a new level…
Brent
Tennis is a very mental game.
I was once playing against a guy in championship that I could have beat easily, the proof is that I won the first set 6-2. However, in the second set, I thought that all was won and I became extremely slack. The result is that he won the second and third set. I was disgusted…
After winning the first set, and then hoping your opponent is going to give you the rest of the match, is the kiss of the death…
We’ve all been there and done that. Hopefully, we also learn.
Brent – Mental Skills Lesson
After 20 years of battling the HIV virus, I decided to return to competition last year. It has been a roller-coaster ride until recently when I rediscovered The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey. Difficult to explain the topsy-turvey liifestyle I’ve led and today finding good health and being able to return to the tennis court, my number one passion (outside of music of course!) This book I would recomend to everyone (tennis players and non-tennis players). Why? though it was originally edited to sell 20, 000 copies to tennis players only, well, it sold millions and in every field of life, whether it be science, music, sports, business etc, etc. The reason is, is that the author was looking at the ways that we learn and thus perform…Learn about the self 1 in your head (the teller – somewhat like the parent child relationship) who converses with the self 2 (the natural quiet side of those two conversing and which instantly learns without verbal language)…. What I learned was that my self 2 was actually hindering my natural abilities to just “let go” and play… while still being aware I can now play tournaments like I do practice matches…..
****What I learned was that my self “1″ (and not self 2) was actually hindering my natural abilities to just “let go” and play… while still being aware I can now play tournaments like I do practice matches…..
Hi Brent,
Having written to you a while ago about my 6 hour tennis match I was excited to be receiving your mental skills lesson. As yet I haven’t received it. Maybe you could forward it to me? Thanking you in anticipation,
Lynn