MENTAL TIPS!! PLEASE HELP!

[Yonexrocks]

i play every day and i do probably 2-3 tournaments a month, im a junior player getting ready to play college. I seem to be a mental migdet. I have all the strokes and everything. if only i was smarter on the court. I also beat myself up to much, i get to down on myself. I NEED TIPS!! Or anythign that u believe will help me! THanks guys!

 

[Ace]

yeah, me too.

When you figure it out...let me know. I play great when I'm not thinking about the score or winning or anything....as soon as I start thinking about it, my game goes to hell. Then I have a million thoughts racing in my head and I can't concentrate. When my mind is totally blank, I play out of my head...its like I'm another person.

 

[Power Game]

BREAK SOME RACQUETS!!!









Just kidding. Realize that at higher levels (as I am sure you know) tennis becomes increasingly mental, like serving bombs when your down breakpoint, or hitting your favorite shot down matchpoint. You will realize that you will do this best when you are not thinking about the result, but rather the point. Learn to lose matches by getting down on yourself. Then in the next match, make it a point to think positively the entire time and observe the results.

Try Inner Tennis and Smart tennis, 2 good books which deal with the mental aspect of tennis

 

[jun]

Before, whenever I got frustrated, I wouldn't do anything about it. I would end up losing a lot of times...

These days, if I get frustrated (mostly because I am playing poorly), then I try to tell myself

"to open up my shoulder and start using my forehand,-not to hit hard or to go for winners, but be aggressive with it".

"to make my opponent hit a good shot to beat me".

"Hit crosscourt".

My forehand is my biggest strength, I am not going to win a match without using it. As long as I go for it at the right time, it's good. If I miss, it was a good miss. I used to just get down on myself, and not do anything about it....I still get down on myself if I am losing, but now I try to do something about it.

 

[joe sch]

Staying focused during and after each point is a challenge. It is easy to become distracted or frustrated because of errors. The trick is just trying to stay calm and focused on the ball during play. Noticing your breathing helps to keep you calm. Try to take deep steady breaths. There are many good ways to stay focused on the ball including trajectory watching, seem watching, bounch spot watching and ball sound concentrating. The better you can focus on these events while trying to stay relaxed, the better your tennis results will be. When you can get to the point of really playing in the zone then ironically most of these events will not even be memorable, you will just be playing the most awesome tennis possible for you.

 

[GrahamIsSuper]

You sound like you have GrahamIsSuper-itis. Thats my main problem now, totally mental, which is why I am currently on a Tennis Hiatus.

Try any of Jim Loehr's tapes. Do a google search and you will find his videos. The one I currently own is called "the 16 second cure" and has helped my game tremendously. It DEFINITELY helps to watch this tape, and helps even more to watch it often and prior to matches.

Stupid Safin Syndrome....I freakin` hate tennis right now but taking this break from it is harder than anything!!!!!!!!!

 

[thehustler]

I do all of that too at times. But one thing that helps me focus is to pay attention to how my opponent is reacting to his bad shots, my lucky shots and so on. If he's getting upset all the time and keeps dumping the ball into the net or long then I just relax and not worry about anything. I know that I'm now in control of the match and I can have my way with him because he's frustrated and cannot concentrate.

There is nothing wrong with getting down on yourself, as long as you don't get too hard on yourself. I've done that and I hurt myself quite a bit. I realized it was ok to make a mistake and when I do I take a mental note on what to work on next time or what to avoid to become a better player.

One thing you should never ever do is think about not doing something. That's just a guarantee that you'll do it. Don't think "I'd better not double fault here" because you will wind up doing that. Once you do what you said you didn't want to do then you're even more screwed. Now everytime you start to think about whatever it'll get in your head about the mistake you made and it'll just eat you up. Best thing to do is go out and play your game and not worry about any mistakes you may make. At the end of a practice or match just remember what you did well and what you'd like to work on the next time. Being too rough on yourself will lead you to the dark side where it's a hard road back. HTH.

 

[Yonexrocks]

thank you guys soo much for the help! this weekend in my tournament i pulled this girl that I have lost too four times in a row in my first round. I have like a mental block against this player. I end up getting frustrated every time i play her. She is a good player but does not do much with the ball besides jus keep it in and move it around, i am more of an agressasive player so i tend to be the one making the mistakes against her. I think that i lose to her because its all mental, any tips? thanks soo much guys, u guys r awesome!

 

[thehustler]

One thing I tell my friends that I play and beat all the time is to not worry about me. Don't think about who it is on the other side of the court. I tell them I only see them as a well scouted opponent and they should see me the same way. You can't worry about who is on the other side of the net. If you start to worry about who your opponent is you can wind up taking yourself right out of your game and wind up handing the match to them.

As for your opponent what do you know about her? Strengths? Weaknesses? Favorite shot? What about you? Same questions. Hopefully this will help you figure out your opponent and the best way to beat her. HTH.

 

[moosryan]

don't get mad, only get happy. being negative is going to motivate your opponent and screw up your strokes. that having been said,. show some emotion on a good shot. a fist pump or a "c'mon!" or a "yeah!" never hurt anyone.