Surviving from a very bad day

[HappyLefty]

:confused:
Last weekend I played a tournament and my game was one of the worst I played. I was out out focus, not concentrated, very distracted, etc etc etc.
The level of my opponent is inferior of mine. Of course, I loss (3/6, 0/6).

I feel frustated when you practice very hard and perfom in that way.
Is there any ritual, tip, or routine to get your best in a match?

[LuckyR]

:confused:
Last weekend I played a tournament and my game was one of the worst I played. I was out out focus, not concentrated, very distracted, etc etc etc.
The level of my opponent is inferior of mine. Of course, I loss (3/6, 0/6).

I feel frustated when you practice very hard and perfom in that way.
Is there any ritual, tip, or routine to get your best in a match?

If this is a trend or happens frequently you will need to get Match Tough. On the other hand everyone, even Pros, have an off tournament, so maybe it's nothing to worry about.

[Japanese Maple]

What is your pre-match routine the day you play. To get ready for a tournament match physically and mentally I always do the following: 1) Eat well and stay hydrated 2) light cardio and stretch for 15 minutes, 3) warm-up with someone for 20-30 minutes to get timing, 4) practice serve 15-20 mins. While stretching think about your opponent and how you plan on winning points. Also, if you can't hit with someone at least practice your serve and hit groundstrokes by dropping balls in front of you-you would be amazed how helpful this is to get a rythym and timing. Seldom will you play your best tennis if you just show up without doing the above. Believe me I have tried and it doesn't work. It doesn't matter how much you practiced the day or week before, you have to have a warm-up routine the day of the match to play your best. It takes more effort and time but you will put yourself in the best possible position to reach your true potential.

[JavierLW]

:confused:
Last weekend I played a tournament and my game was one of the worst I played. I was out out focus, not concentrated, very distracted, etc etc etc.
The level of my opponent is inferior of mine. Of course, I loss (3/6, 0/6).

I feel frustated when you practice very hard and perfom in that way.
Is there any ritual, tip, or routine to get your best in a match?

This happens to a lot of people.

It depends on you felt during the match. For most people it's because they are out there putting too much pressure on themselves when the match actually counts.

Rather than focusing on every point and what is going on in the match (in terms of strategy and what's happening on the court) they are out there thinking about how they are not winning, their opponent is weak, etc....

I see this as two problems (which may be the same):

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1) When they practice they play awesome but they dont in the match.

I think this is attributed to what I said above. They are treating the match diffrently than how they would treat just their normal game.

Like some people suggest, you can go out there and warm up for an hour, that might help. But I think in some cases it hurts you as well, because it's causing you to act in a way that is not natural for you.

When some people play outside of a tournament, they just show up and play and sometimes they play great. But when it's a match that counts, they get their early, they warm up until they are dead for an hour (and sometimes it's not a good warmup becuase they are just pounding balls), and they bring enough extra junk that they need the new Andy Roddick Babolat 50 racquet bag to carry it all in.

I have a guy on my USTA League team. He wins about 97% of all his matches, and all he does before a match, is he shows up about 30 minutes early. He makes sure he gets an extra 15 minutes warmup in with someone who can just keep the ball in play to make sure he has his eye hand coordination down and he's used to the courts, and then he sits down and reads the paper and relaxes.

It's my experience that people who win almost all the time are not worrying too much about winning. They just show up and play.

2) When some people practice, they feel that "it's just practice" so they goof around. Especially practice matches. They are very friendly, relaxed, they try things that they wouldnt try in a normal match and if they lose they just attribute it to "it's just practice".

Then when they get in a real match, they cant do that so again, they are in a whole diffrent environment that they are not used to.

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So again, I think you have to really have the same mentality in practice as a real match, but that mentality should be in either case that you really care if you win or not, but you do that by staying calm, and just focusing on every point out there and not worrying about whether you are winning/losing, whatever (while the match is going on). If you really think you are better than the other guy and you do that, then you will win. If you dont, then you are not better than him. (especially today)

[JavierLW]

What is your pre-match routine the day you play. To get ready for a tournament match physically and mentally I always do the following: 1) Eat well and stay hydrated 2) light cardio and stretch for 15 minutes, 3) warm-up with someone for 20-30 minutes to get timing, 4) practice serve 15-20 mins. While stretching think about your opponent and how you plan on winning points. Also, if you can't hit with someone at least practice your serve and hit groundstrokes by dropping balls in front of you-you would be amazed how helpful this is to get a rythym and timing. Seldom will you play your best tennis if you just show up without doing the above. Believe me I have tried and it doesn't work. It doesn't matter how much you practiced the day or week before, you have to have a warm-up routine the day of the match to play your best. It takes more effort and time but you will put yourself in the best possible position to reach your true potential.

I guess to add my take on this as well.

I think these things are important, but you will do better if you can incorporate much of this in your usual tennis activitys as well.

Practicing this long before a match is probally overkill though depending on what level you are at. That's like over a set worth of hitting the ball, and well over a set worth of serving.

If you have to stop and sit around and then start a match you are not going to be in very good shape. (unless you are in your teens or early 20's and in fantastic shape)

Plus it matter who you hit with. If it's someone just spraying the ball all over the place and making you sprint for it, that's not really helping too much. It's better just to have some nice steady shots back and forth to get your hand eye coordination going. It's not really "practice", because you definately dont want to be thinking about your strokes out there at this point, you're just looking for some level of comfort so you can use it in the match.

Same with the serve, if you can serve a few just to warm up your arm and have a good feel for it, you definately dont need to do it for 15-20 minutes, there is no reason too.

[Japanese Maple]

I guess to add my take on this as well.

I think these things are important, but you will do better if you can incorporate much of this in your usual tennis activitys as well.

Practicing this long before a match is probally overkill though depending on what level you are at. That's like over a set worth of hitting the ball, and well over a set worth of serving.

If you have to stop and sit around and then start a match you are not going to be in very good shape. (unless you are in your teens or early 20's and in fantastic shape)

Plus it matter who you hit with. If it's someone just spraying the ball all over the place and making you sprint for it, that's not really helping too much. It's better just to have some nice steady shots back and forth to get your hand eye coordination going. It's not really "practice", because you definately dont want to be thinking about your strokes out there at this point, you're just looking for some level of comfort so you can use it in the match.

Same with the serve, if you can serve a few just to warm up your arm and have a good feel for it, you definately dont need to do it for 15-20 minutes, there is no reason too.

The steps I outlined are what work for me to help me play my best before a tournament. The serve is the most important stroke and a few brief warm-ups are definitely not enough if you are a 4.5 or above player to get your motion and timing coordinated. When I start my match I want to be totally confident in my serve-timing,wrist snap,placement,ect. Also, my 20-30 minute warm-up entails hitting fh,bh,volleys,overheads,serves, and playing points. Nothing is worse than not being prepared to play your best the day of a match and it doesn't matter how much you played or how well the day before. You need your timing, feel, and hand eye for that day. Look at what the pros do before a match and mirror them on a smaller scale.

[HappyLefty]

Wowww, really helpful advices.
The most important aspects I can get from your comments are:

1. Don´t overthinking about the match. Have the same mentality in a practice session and in a match.
2. Have a routine prior the match (warm up your body, your mind and your attitude) that let you be prepared to the match and reinforce your self-confidence.

My next step is to place in practice your tips and see which applies better for me.

BTW, I´m a 4.0 player (self-assesment)

[metamike]

...Anything you believe will help you will help you. If you're having trouble concentrating that means you don't want to play, and there's no ritual to make you like tennis more :)