Psychological tips for tennis matches

Adrià Cot

New User
Hi! I'm a 17 years old player from Spain. Here we do not have a rating system like the american NTPR but, being humbe, I'd consider myself as a 5.5. I've trained with some professional coaches (Pere Riba's one and Roberto Bautista's ex physical trainer) and that gave me some experience that, today, I want to share with you. That being said, I just wanted to share with you some that have helped me to improve, not only my level, but essentialy my in-match performance, and ask you to share yours down below. So here we go! (Ps: Since I'm spanish, please do not care a lot if I make many misspellings).

-It's fundamental to have some routines. I bet you all have noticed about Nadal's wierd rituals... And that's only one example of what we can find on the whole ATP and WTA. In that way, the explanation to this is in the fact that doing things instinctively is a hundred times better than thinking of how to do them. To achieve it, the only thing you have to do is finding some routines the repetition of which will finally let you doing them without even thinking and, since they will be directly associated with your match, whatever you do in it would also be subconsciously automatized and you'll be able to keep a good mental order and stability. (Examples: bouncing the ball "X" times before serving, leaving your thing always in a determinated way... Even grunting while playing is a good routine!).

-When you miss (or even if you don't) it's crucial not to say, think or even feel anything. Easy to say but difficult to apply? Maybe, but the tip a coach once told me works incredibly well. That consists in, during the transitions between points, just focusing on your breath and anything else. This may sound strange but, by doing it, what you achieve is basically emptying your mind and avoiding any negative thought or feeling that can make you lose your mental stability.

-Have you ever heard that your eyes are the reflection of your soul? Probably yes. And the reason why is because, if you achieve to look active, agressive and motivated, your "soul" (or your CNS...) will be too. Both facial expression and whatever you have inside responsible of your feelings do always depend from each other. What happens in one of them, has direct reaction in the other. Like when you were young and you pretended to look sad to grab your parents attention, but that finally resulted in a real feeling that initially was completely false (I hope I'm not the only one).

Sooo that's all (enough* hahaha). Hope it's been usefull and remember: Your head is both your best ally and your worst enemy.
 

sureshs

Bionic Poster
That consists in, during the transitions between points, just focusing on your breath and anything else. This may sound strange but, by doing it, what you achieve is basically emptying your mind and avoiding any negative thought or feeling that can make you lose your mental stability.

The connection between breath and thought is said to be fundamental to Pranayama
 
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