Kaptain Karl said:
Your comment makes me think you compete differently than you practice. (This happens a lot at the club levels. Heck! It still happens for some Pros.)
I suggest you work on "game-based drills." These are drills where you are still keeping score. There is the element of competition built into them. (If you SEARCH "game-based drills" here you'll find some great drills Mahboob and others have shared.)
If the game-based drills are not adding enough pressure, "raise the ante." Play for lunch ... beers ... who pays for the court time. (But first, just try playing them straight.)
Keep smiling...!
- KK
I've mentioned this in a couple other threads that Karl has taken part in ... and my comments aren't intended to disagree with his ...
I find that there are two types of "successful" players in this world when it comes to dealing with pressure: those who respond well to it, and those who know how to relieve it.
Some people are able to put pressure on themselves to see if they can live up to it. I don't necessarily like this approach for everyone. Putting pressure on yourself in practice can have mixed results for matches, sometimes, suddenly you end up feeling the pressure no matter how much you've trained to experience it. It's a weird thing really.
Personally, I am not a player who likes the prospect of living up to acknowledged pressure - my goal is simply to focus on something that distracts me from any pressure. With my tennis, I'm quite analytical, so I know how to divert my attention from the fact that I'm serving 4-5, "ad out" 2nd serve, and focus on what I'm trying to do with respect to my game plan.
In the above example, as I'm facing a break/set point serving to the ad court, I'll examine how have I gotten my 2nd serve to work for me thusfar- not to hit an ace, but to set up my FH (which is my weapon). I'll re-examine what I am trying to do against this opponent? I'll ask which strategy best applies to this very moment?
I rework the feeling of pressure and turn it into a "how can I figure this out?" mentality... I'll be thinking analytically and strategically ... and sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't ... but I make it a point to never fail to "face up" to the pressure by actually avoiding it and using my head to strategize.
I mean, you hafta accept the risk of losing before you hit the first ball- that's tennis! With that mindset, the pressure seem less suffocating.