Consentration and handling preassure tips

[nadalito92]

As the title says, im looking for some teeps to keep my head in the game, and to handle preasure, when im playing for fun i play really good, but at a tournament i play against a guy i beat 6-2 and i end up loosing, theres a tournament coming soon, i really want to win or at least get trough the 1st round, ppl here is just so nice i luv this forum, all the ppl friendly and they all help eachother, i know somebody will help me ^^

And thanks by the way =D

[Bagumbawalla]

People have been asking this question a lot, lately. Once you get to a certain point, the game becomes very mental.

So as not to repeat all the good advice you can find elsewhere, let's consider playing in the "zone".

When you are playing in the zone, as they say, your mind is clear of every extraneous thought and completely focused on the ball and what it takes to bend to your will.

You know how in a big pressure-filled match, you anxiously wait for the serve-- it comes over fast but is just an inch out-- you effortlessly drill it back for what would have been a perfect return. The second serve comes a lot slower, right in your comfort range-- PRESURE-- you flub it into the net.

So, the real secret is to play each point just for the pleasure of hitting the ball as well as you can-- without a thousand thoughts in the way. What do the Jedi knights say?-- something like, "fear is the mind killer". Corney, but true.

Good luck

B

[sapient007]

play more games. unless you have ice running through your veins like the fedster, your best bet is to keep on putting yourself in that mental state.

[Boris]

Funny, I was about to start a similar thread myself I'll post in this one instead; hope this can be of some help.

I have a rather good mental game, but occasionally, when I am ahead in the score like breakpoint or serving out the set/match, I am a bit afraid of losing.
Today I have found something that keeps me focused during points, and is useful especially for the big ones. It's very simple and I'd never heard of it before, I hope it can be useful to others as well.

It's very easy. Today I happened to have a vibration dampener of "Miller" brand on my racquet. Before every return of serve and before every serve I hit, I decided to say "Miller", not very loud, but loud enough for me to hear my own voice. Don't ask me why, I am even a bit shy, and usually go through my match in complete silence (with the occasional *very* loud curse when I miss an easy one). Anyway, I have found this wakes me up 100% before the point starts. You can say "Go!", "C'mon", "Vamos", whatever you want, the point is to hear your own voice (don't want other people to hear you though . I swear, in the beginning I was feeling so stupid to do it, but it really helped. I guess the rationale of this is that sometimes I tend to detach from reality by overthinking or something, and this acts as an alarm ring.

And to the OP, don't be afraid of losing. I remember what one poster once wrote in another thread: losing is OK so long as you go for your shots. You win, you lose, it's a game. You try to win by giving it 100%, if you lose you try to understand why (if you can take some positives from it, if your strategy was wrong, ...), then you drink a beer over it, relax, and tomorrow is a brand new day.

Just my .02