Whew…

Survived a 3 set match against Tom Bozarth yesterday.  As I mentioned in my post yesterday, Tom is one tough dangerous hombre out there on the singles court, a quality player for sure.

Brian and I handled a top quality doubles team later in the afternoon, Mike Talmadge and Frank Zebot 6-2, 6-3.

Back to my singles match, Tom came out of the blocks hitting on all cylinders, serving & volleying, and returning serve effectively.

Tom broke my serve at 4-5, the first set was easily his, and as we started the 2nd set, I told myself to just try and keep it close, don’t panic, try something different, anything, but find something a little different to do.

So I moved back a couple of feet to return serve which helped me get a little better look at Tom’s serve and my returns started to get down lower to his feet.

I also stayed back more on my 2nd serve rather than serve & volley.

The combo of having faith to not panic and feel as if I had to up my playing level; returning serve a little farther back; and not come in behind every 2nd serve paid off in a victory going 6-2, 6-2 2nd & 3rd sets.

The 3rd was a dog fight despite the score.

I was pleased the most by not panicking after losing that 1st set.  As the #2 seed, it’s easy to think about trying too hard to simply not lose.  Kiss of the death.  This tournament is so loaded with quality players.

Keep your vision inside your court, get to work, don’t let setbacks become an excuse to lose, and as I mentioned to you during last year’s tournament, follow Mission Hills pro Tommy Tucker’s advice to me, “Keep working…”.

Visual contact with the ball.  For me, it’s when.

I told you in yesterday’s post that I want to talk about the obvious importance of watching the ball, but for me, it’s that nano second just before my opponent makes contact with the ball on any shot that I want to make sure I’m not looking at him, but directly at the ball.

I get a much more decisive reaction response to my opponent’s shot if I see the ball just prior to him making contact.

And I’m not saying you want to ever look directly at your opponent and lose visual contact with the ball during the point, we want to try to stay focused on the ball as much as possible.  Some of what we look at after our shot and before our opponent makes contact with their shot is the landscape that includes the ball and the player.

But just before they make contact and as their shot comes to you, your focus has got to be a direct visual lock onto the ball.

If your reaction to your opponent’s shot is decisive, a ton of good things happen.

You visually pick up the ball just a moment sooner, your ability to get consistently good spacing to the path of the incoming ball, to make an instinctive decision as to your shot type and direction, and most importantly, to not question that decision, all of that and more improves.

Here’s what I want you to practice this week…

Just prior to your opponent hitting any shot, make sure your hands on your racket and your facial muscles are relaxed.

That’s right, your facial muscles can cause way too much tension, and what do you think happens when you tense your face?  You got it, your ability to see the ball really goes way down.

Let your face sort of hang, be aware of any tension in your face, and work on a feeling where you feel your facial muscles are loose…

Then move onto working with your hands.  Just prior to your opponent making contact, make sure your hands are soft on your racket.

And once you’ve got this skill practiced, you’ll begin to watch the ball better.

Good reaction time to your opponent’s shots, good spacing to the path of the incoming ball, good shot direction and type, and you’ll become a more consistent shot making machine.

OK, another very tough opponent in today’s singles quarter finals, Doug Ruffin,  a nasty lefty with national titles to his credit.  If my A game isn’t anywhere to be found, it could be a short time out there.

Don’t panic, keep working, hang close…

Brian and I play the Bohannon brothers in the semis this afternoon, Dan & Dave, who have won more doubles titles together as a team and individually than I really want to think about. We shall see…

Have fun out there on the court and be grateful for we get to do with this great sport.

Brent

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My Between Points 4 Part Routine For Playing My Best Tennis

I go through a four part routine between points to help me set up to play the next point as instinctively as possible.

Find out what my four part system is between points and get my answers to the top 50 questions asked by your fellow WebTennis subscribers about specific mental skill situations in matches.

Click here to get more information and claim your copy of my  lesson on  the mental skills required for competitive tennis players.

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This Tip’s Sponsor

Many thanks to this tip’s sponsor, “TheStick”.

I use this fantastic massage roller on my legs, my lower back, my glutes, my hips, and even my arms on a daily basis, usually 3-4 times a day for about 2 minutes.

If you haven’t picked up your own Stick, watch my video recommendation (5:46) over at:

http://webtennis.com/thestick/

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This Tip’s Related Tennis Lessons by Brent

- Mental Skills For Competitive Tennis Players - Click Here

- Singles:  Serve & Volley Strategy Skills – Click here

- Doubles:  ”Why & When To Be Where On The Court” – Click here

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Upcoming Tips

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