What are your rituals?

[HughJars]

My understanding is that the purpose of rituals is to assist in the relaxation process to get in the right frame of mind mentally and emotionally between points/games/changeovers to deal with the next phase of play.

When you're focussing on external rituals (putting your water bottles in the exact position, or aligning all your strings for example), and accompanying this with internal rituals (eg: reciting your default gameplay, counting your breathes) then you're reducing the likelihood of outcome orientated thoughts and emotions entering your head - so you can 'stay in the moment' so to speak -which facilitates otpimised performance.

Interested to hear if people use rituals and if so what they are.

My rituals:

Between points:
- align my racket strings (religously).
- focus on my breathing, especially in pressure situations like break points, set points (3 seconds in, 4 seconds out)
- most importantly recite to myself the plan for the next point. Eg: attempt to return deep crosscourt, chip and charge on the return of serve, serve to the backhand and attack the net on any shortballs.

Changeovers:
- Recite game plan internally, and plan any changes if neccesary.
- Force myself to define my opponent's tendancies, strengths and weaknesses.
- Have a good drink of water
- Towel off

One thing Im also concious is playing the game at my speed. If my opponent is rushing thorugh his serves I'll still go through this process. Same goes if he doesnt stop for a drink at a changeover. I will towel off, have a drink, plan and take my sweet time. DRM (from Winning Ugly).

 

[downdaline]

I always bounce the ball 3 times before serving. Thankfully that's my only ritual.

 

[HughJars]

I'm genuinely surprised no one has any. I'm naturally quite self critical and they've helped me heaps in terms of emotional control.

 

[Ash_Smith]

We encourage all of our athletes to develop routines and rituals to maximise their effectiveness.

Whether they be pre-serve, pre-return, post-point, post game (change-over), post set etc.

Some are activation routines, others are calming routines, some are time management. All are personal to each individual athlete and their own particular mental make-up/mind-set.

 

[arche3]

The only ritual I do every time is if I get a short sitter at the service line and I am running up to hit a finishing ground stroke I ALWAYS exhale slowly as I start my swing and finish the exhale as I finish.

So its: *scramble *sprint *footwork to get into right alignment *deep breath in *slow exhale- hit- *finish exhale of breath. It really works for me.

I never heard of others doing this but it really focuses my mind on crushing that ball and keeps my stroke fast and fluid without strain.

 

[anubis]

Before a match, I:

1. Drink a can of Red Bull
2. Repeat my mantra in my mind over and over again: "Winning is not important. My only goals today are to hit the ball past the service line on every shot, and make no more than 10 unforced errors for the entire match."

If I'm successful with my goals, and I'm still beaten, then my opponent must have been in beast mode.

 

[chrischris]

Get up in the morning , breakie , work , lunch,work, snack,
beat the hell out of the ball+ my opponent, dinner ,a few at the pub ,snuggle with GF ,to bed ,some sleep. Replay .

 

[HughJars]

Wow.

There are plenty of threads around here about the very fine biomechanical aspects of a forehand...but the focus on the mental and emotional side of the game is very much understated, which is a funny thing really when you consider that lack of technical proficiency (still very important) lags way behind incorrect shot selection as the number one cause of unforced errors in a tennis match. And incorrect shot selection can be attributed to not having established and reinforced patterns of play and match strategy.

 

[Ash_Smith]

^^^Because this bit isn't a quick win, actually nor is most of the technical stuff, but for most recreational players making a technical change or having a new swing thought is akin to a quick win, so that's where people gravitate.

At the level I work, the mental aspect is the most important factor is achieving and maintaining peak performance, of that I have no doubt.

 

[Mongolmike]

Honestly cannot think of any rituals I do. I give myself mental technique reminders at certain points ("full shoulder turn on overhead" - "quick steps, quick steps" - "fast relax" etc), or strategy thoughts ("ok, if he serves wide let's go down the line and follow it in, etc.) but I don't have any rituals I can think of.

Maybe the only thing that is even close is the racquet spin at the start of the game. I don't spin my racquet on the ground, I'll spin it in my hand. Sounds weird but I don't like my racquet clattering on the ground.

And generally I am not a nervous person, or in pressure points I'm not really affected too much... so I guess I cope differently without rituals. I don't even bounce the ball the exact same number of times before I serve.

Although I ALWAYS make sure I'm wearing pants... that is just a habit tho, not a ritual.

 

[BHiC]

I don't have too many rituals, but here is a couple that I do.

My towel always need to be lined up in the center of the court. So when I get up from changeovers I walk to the center hash mark on the baseline and then walk straight back to the fence to set my towel down.

When I serve I always line up, bounce the ball between my legs once (yes, I'm an Isner fan), and then bounce the ball regularly 3 times. Then I go back into my motion.

I also always try to keep the same routine for the match warm up. For a 5 minute warmup I always take 2 rallies from the baseline, 3 at the net, 3 overheads (put the last one away), and then 9 serves. The first 6 serves are flat or 3/4 slice from the Duece side, the next 2 are kick on the ad, and the last one is flat down the T on the ad side.

I also like to keep a journal on changeovers where I write what I'm feeling, what I can pick up about the other guy, and what I am going to do the next two games. Keeps me in the moment.

 

[thehustler]

Before a serve I bounce it on the ground 3 times with my racket; I then bounce the ball 3 times then 2 then 1 in my left hand and then hit the serve. That's it. No need for a ritual for anything else.

 

[WildVolley]

I bounce the ball twice on the ground before I serve.

The eighty bounces or so that Djokovic does are just excessive.

 

[tennis_balla]

I pick my butt, flip my hair back behind my ears, pick my nose, pick my butt, flip my hair back behind my ears, pick my nose, adjust my bandana, pick my butt, flip my hair back behind my ears, pick my nose......and serve.

 

[sureshs]

Then why are you not #1 in the world?

 

[tennis_balla]

I don't play with a Babolat

 

[joaosoaresvieira]

I do like to take my time, bounce the ball before I serve, look at my opponent, maybe clean the line in front of me. I'm a bit hyper most of the time and it relaxes and gets me focused on court.

When I'm playing against someone that rushes between serves I usually take a few steps back and align my strings to get in the zone and force him to wait a little bit, which, I'm guessing, might be a little annoying sometimes! but we're talking 4/5 seconds and the most.

 

[WildVolley]

When I'm playing against someone that rushes between serves I usually take a few steps back and align my strings to get in the zone and force him to wait a little bit, which, I'm guessing, might be a little annoying sometimes! but we're talking 4/5 seconds and the most.

According to the friends at court, what you're doing is actually against the rules, but there's some leeway on how it is interpreted.

If you did that to me I'd just serve an ace while you were aligning your strings, since you're supposed to play to the server's pace.

 

[user92626]

Is 4/5 seconds really a lot that warrants argument?

I play with this one dude who is really rushing to me. He serves one ball. I haven't finished watching where the ball stops rolling. I could barely turn back to face forward and the guy already starts tossing his second serve.

On other hand, I play with my gym type friend. We frequently get into long rallies, 10, 15+ shots and he seems to take nearly a minute to catch his breath before starting a new point. I don't mind. I kinda need that time to recover also.

 

[WildVolley]

Is 4/5 seconds really a lot that warrants argument?

I play with this one dude who is really rushing to me. He serves one ball. I haven't finished watching where the ball stops rolling. I could barely turn back to face forward and the guy already starts tossing his second serve.

On other hand, I play with my gym type friend. We frequently get into long rallies, 10, 15+ shots and he seems to take nearly a minute to catch his breath before starting a new point. I don't mind. I kinda need that time to recover also.

Your second case is different. If a ball is still rolling around or on the playing surface it is perfectly reasonable to delay until you can see that it isn't rolling onto the court surface or move it to someplace safe. Delaying the server just because you'd like to rest isn't considered sporting, though some pros definitely do it to try to game the opponent.

 

[v-verb]

I don't bounce the tennis ball before serving.

I'm amused by the OCD that Nadal displays

 

[HughJars]

I don't have too many rituals, but here is a couple that I do.

My towel always need to be lined up in the center of the court. So when I get up from changeovers I walk to the center hash mark on the baseline and then walk straight back to the fence to set my towel down.

When I serve I always line up, bounce the ball between my legs once (yes, I'm an Isner fan), and then bounce the ball regularly 3 times. Then I go back into my motion.

I also always try to keep the same routine for the match warm up. For a 5 minute warmup I always take 2 rallies from the baseline, 3 at the net, 3 overheads (put the last one away), and then 9 serves. The first 6 serves are flat or 3/4 slice from the Duece side, the next 2 are kick on the ad, and the last one is flat down the T on the ad side.

I also like to keep a journal on changeovers where I write what I'm feeling, what I can pick up about the other guy, and what I am going to do the next two games. Keeps me in the moment.

Isner;s bounce thing s*its me for some reason...:-?

 

[HughJars]

I do like to take my time, bounce the ball before I serve, look at my opponent, maybe clean the line in front of me. I'm a bit hyper most of the time and it relaxes and gets me focused on court.

When I'm playing against someone that rushes between serves I usually take a few steps back and align my strings to get in the zone and force him to wait a little bit, which, I'm guessing, might be a little annoying sometimes! but we're talking 4/5 seconds and the most.

So aligning your strings gets you in the zone - surely this is accompanied by some thought process too?

 

[HughJars]

I don't bounce the tennis ball before serving.

I'm amused by the OCD that Nadal displays

Its actually not OCD. He does it deliberately. Externally what you see is butt picking, water bottles lining up. What you dont see is the internal rituals - the internal monologue focussing on the game plan, on the point at hand. Keeping emotion out of the mind. The fact that he can pick his butt in front of tens of millions of people and not give a damn shows just how good he is at dismissing the outcome orientated thoughts (eg: what people think of him) and focussing on what's important, which are the process oritentated thoughts about winning the next point instead. The definition of mental toughness?

Many get irritated by this or even site this as gamesmanship, but at the end of the day he's the best player in the world and they're not...

 

[dunnfishing]

Before a match, I:

1. Drink a can of Red Bull
2. Repeat my mantra in my mind over and over again: "Winning is not important. My only goals today are to hit the ball past the service line on every shot, and make no more than 10 unforced errors for the entire match."

If I'm successful with my goals, and I'm still beaten, then my opponent must have been in beast mode.

I agree that winning is not important. And I agree that reminding oneself of this helps prevent self-defeating performance and thoughts of consequences while playing. BUT... A player absolutely should care about winning, shouldn't they? Because otherwise, what's the point? I'm always curious how people reconcile this apparent contradiction.

 

[Topspin Shot]

I agree that winning is not important. And I agree that reminding oneself of this helps prevent self-defeating performance and thoughts of consequences while playing. BUT... A player absolutely should care about winning, shouldn't they? Because otherwise, what's the point? I'm always curious how people reconcile this apparent contradiction.

When my practice partner and I are keeping score, I try to win. When I want to work on something technical or tactical, we play points but usually don't keep score. I normally do a 1/3 ratio of drilling to playing without keeping score to playing sets or tiebreaks. This discounts competition, when the results count.

 

[NLBwell]

I don't have any. Maybe I should get some and see if it helps my game. Seems like an awful lot of mental effort to remind yourself to concentrate on doing something extraneous to tennis while in the middle of a tennis match. Do you guys feel worried if you forget to do your ritual? Do you depend on it? What if someone messes up your ritual, do you get angry?

 

[PhrygianDominant]

^^^Because this bit isn't a quick win, actually nor is most of the technical stuff, but for most recreational players making a technical change or having a new swing thought is akin to a quick win, so that's where people gravitate.

At the level I work, the mental aspect is the most important factor is achieving and maintaining peak performance, of that I have no doubt.

That's what the coaches at my club say too.

 

[PhrygianDominant]

I always thought tennis players were mental midgets compared to the classical musicians I was inspired by. In Tennis you get a break between points, even if it's only 15 seconds, but that is a HUGE amount of time to gather yourself and get a fresh start. Try playing a 15 minute solo piece, where you have something you should be actively doing for the entire duration. It is really difficult to recover from a mistake while still performing.

I am not sure that's the case that they are mentally weak because it's not an easy comparison, but compared to my background tennis players are spoiled for "me time" in performance mode where they can calm themselves down, perk themselves up, put something behind them, or celebrate a success. Other disciplines have to do this in the background while stilll executing there complicated skills because there is no time for it.

 

[sovertennis]

Do a little bounce-shuffle before receiving or serving, bounce the ball once before serving, sacrifice a virgin, remind myself to split step during the rally, turn my back to the court and straighten my strings when the point ends.

 

[TennisCJC]

Do a little bounce-shuffle before receiving or serving, bounce the ball once before serving, sacrifice a virgin, remind myself to split step during the rally, turn my back to the court and straighten my strings when the point ends.

Seems like a waste of a virgin and there was only one left anyhow.

 

[Turbo-87]

I don't have any in match rituals per se, but I do have some things that have to be present from an equipment standpoint. This goes back to my baseball days, but I always have to have one wristband on my left forearm. I have ALWAYS done this and I feel weird being on a baseball field or tennis court lacking that detail. I can't explain it other than it puts me into sports mode.

 

[Ash_Smith]

According to the friends at court, what you're doing is actually against the rules, but there's some leeway on how it is interpreted.

If you did that to me I'd just serve an ace while you were aligning your strings, since you're supposed to play to the server's pace.

Except for the fact that you are not to serve until the returner is ready!

 

[Ash_Smith]

I don't have any. Maybe I should get some and see if it helps my game. Seems like an awful lot of mental effort to remind yourself to concentrate on doing something extraneous to tennis while in the middle of a tennis match. Do you guys feel worried if you forget to do your ritual? Do you depend on it? What if someone messes up your ritual, do you get angry?

I wonder if you have any subconscious routines or rituals?

We did some work on routines with our programme athletes and showed them video of them selves, a couple noticed they had some rituals they didn't realise they were doing post point and pre serve.

 

[Ash_Smith]

That's what the coaches at my club say too.

Then they are also very wise men/women!

 

[Ash_Smith]

I don't have any in match rituals per se, but I do have some things that have to be present from an equipment standpoint. This goes back to my baseball days, but I always have to have one wristband on my left forearm. I have ALWAYS done this and I feel weird being on a baseball field or tennis court lacking that detail. I can't explain it other than it puts me into sports mode.

This probably relates to a psychological technique known as "anchoring"' where a particular state of feeling can be linked to a specific contact with a part of the body. I would suppose that your wrist band psychologically takes you back mentally to a good time in your sports career - that is namely your baseball.

 

[NLBwell]

I wonder if you have any subconscious routines or rituals?

We did some work on routines with our programme athletes and showed them video of them selves, a couple noticed they had some rituals they didn't realise they were doing post point and pre serve.

That's very possible. It would be interesting to see if I could pick up any on video.

 

[PanicRev]

I take my time to push the extra ball into the corner of the fence. This is a calming ritual and confidence ritual.

When I get tight or mentally drift, I bounce or hop like I'm skipping rope. This releases tension and/or gets me woken up & focused.

Before I serve I remind myself that I never lose my serve. As I begin my service motion I turn off my mind.

I don't care much about the score and often forget the score. I play each point as if it were important -- because it is.

 

[The Isomotion31]

1. have to listen to P.Diddy "Victory" before every match.
2. Fill my Nalgene Bottle with ice-water and I do not drink out of it until the first changeover.
3. Back in high school days I would lay out my uniform on the floor of my room the night before and leave it there overnight.
4. Jump rope before every match.
5. Always eat grapes before every match.

For service the throat of my racket has to be in the crook of my wrist and I sway my arms 3 times. no more. no less. (same thing when I shoot free throws in hoops. Only 3 dribbles.)

 

[dr325i]

I bounce the ball twice on the ground before I serve.

The eighty bounces or so that Djokovic does are just excessive.

can you post a link to where he bounced 80 times, please

 

[corbind]

This is a neat thread. Hmmm, I'll have to watch a video to see any idiosyncrasies. I know before serving I adjust my shirt so it's not tight around my shoulders. I think ARod does something similar but he has a reason.

 

[MmacAttackK]

I noticed Isner does a between the legs, some bounces and then serves. I just do a bounce to the racket back to my hand then serve. I sometimes mumble to myself that 'I can do this'.

 

[movdqa]

I do the triple-bounce. Bounce, Bounce, short pause, Bounce, go into motion on the serve. Some pro did this on television back in the 70s or 80s and I just copied it and it settles me into a rhythm. If my serve isn't going well, then my overall game suffers, even if I'm playing mostly a baseline game which is most of the time.

On the return, I like to get into a particular stance and then set my forehand grip and get it just right. If the server rushes me, then it can throw me off. The vast majority of servers don't rush me but it can be a problem if they do. I need to get better at holding my hand up when this happens.

I always bring two liters of water to a match or practice session. I like to half-fill the bottle with water, put it in the freezer early in the morning and then fill the other half with water just before I leave for the match. If it is warm or hot or humid, then I will add a packet of Emergen-C to one of the bottles. The bottles are different colors so I know which bottle has the electrolytes.

One thing on the three bounces - if I'm on a clay court where the ball shoots all over the place, then my rhythm can be off by quite a bit and my serve can suffer. In those cases, I usually hit more kickers and slice serves.

> I know before serving I adjust my shirt so it's not tight around my shoulders.

I wear size L or large Ms for tennis. For running, I wear running shirts which are usually athletic cut - which don't work for tennis. I like a shirt that is neither too big where I have to lift the shoulders because they droop, nor too small where they impede your motion, especially the serve. The Nike Dri-Fit Tess run large and I use their Ms for tennis but I can't use the Nike or New Balance running shirts for tennis. It would be hard to serve comfortably in them.