"Most Matches Are Decided, Before They Are Played".

thomas daniels

Semi-Pro
The great Arthur Ashe stated at one time.

80% of all tennis matches are decided before they are even played!!

I agree with him too.

But.

"I would go even further and say that the number is more higher than that now, somewhere like 95%!!"

This is why you should be working on your mental game more daily.

You should be winning matches in your mind before you play them.

And if you don't think you can win a match, why even play in it?

Let's talk about the law of consistency here.

This law states that, the more you do something, the more you become it and if thats the case and we know it is...

The more you see yourself winning a match before you play it, the more you will win them in the future.

You must develop a world class attitude towards competition.

Note.

We know this doesn't apply to most members on this site, because they already have a negative attitude and a fixed mindset about what they can do and become.

For you other members though, who want to transform their mental game and reach your full potential, they can do this.

Create a clear mental picture of the player that you want to become, then use the "law of assumption", along with the "law of consistency" and assume you are already that player.

This is very important too.

You must assume the role of being the player that you want to become and you must ignore anybody who tell you anything different.

Notice how many players allow friend, family and coaches to limit what they can do, by accepting the opinion of others.

Never give your power away and never ask for advise from the wrong people!!

After they do that.

(Then they should just play and ACT themselves into that role that they have assumed, because it's just a tennis movie we are talking about here.)

This may take 2 or 3 months, so stick with it, this process works and it works every time.

As a matter of fact.

The only players that it doesn't work for, are those who don't believe it will work for THEM!!

What I like about this transformation process is this... it's simple, it's fast and it works!!!

So there you have my friend, now have at it!!
 
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Geeze I hope not I'm just about to drive for over an hour to play some dubs. Fortunately I have a lot of stubborn and am too stupid to imagine losing
 
Well, there's some truth hiding in there, but you can dial back the cheerleading.

Sure, having a good Mental Game can allow you to play at the top end of your potential, which is great, but it isn't going to help you if your opponent's game is beyond the high end of your potential. Who knows? He might have a good Mental game too, so now what? Somebody's got to lose, you've both got good Mental games, so someone with a good Mental game is going to lose anyway. No suprise, there's no magic, half of everyone who plays, loses, get used to it. If you win most of the time (and you're not a pro), you're not great, you're just playing weak competition.
 
I think he's talking about preparation, which between a average weekend player and a professional athlete, are worlds apart
 
The only time a tennis match is decided before it is played is if the underdog decides he is there to ‘do his best’ and has no chance to actually win the match. If you have a losing streak against a player and lack self-belief before a match that you can win on that day, you will likely lose even if the games and sets are close as you won’t execute well on crucial points. In those cases, you have to ‘fake it till you make it’ by preparing well before the match and giving your mind tangible reasons to believe that it can forget the past and today is ‘a different day’.

If two players who are close in level play a match, whoever is more confident and executes well will win - good visualization ahead of the match, good tactics preparation, good hitting sessions on previous days, having equipment in good shape etc. can all help with feeling confident. If one player is much better, then maybe you can say the outcome is predetermined also, but you don’t know till you show up to play a new player in that case.
 
At pro level, where they all have mastered technique and fitness; yes, the mental game is a huge contributor. In rec tennis, the mental game is important but technique and fitness vary so greatly they play as big or a bigger role than the mental game. Even in ranked league, there is still a huge variance in skill as there's a pretty big range of skills and fitness in say USTA 4.0 leagues or tournaments. If your opponent has more solid strokes and is fit enough to play their game, it's a hard ask to beat them with your mental game. Yes, you can give yourself a better chance of winning by being mentally tough but it can only go so far.
 
If by "mental game" you mean realizing that improvement in tennis requires commitment to
training, getting into shape, working on endurance, seriously practicing, mastering
all the shots, developing weapons and strategies... in this sense the person who is most prepared
to win, has, in effect, already done so.
 
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