what to do when...

[doriancito]

i wa splaying yesterday a tournament and i was very very prepared....al my coaches said so and i felt like it too. and then i knew my rival was very eady to beat. So i went to the court with my rythm and played with 80% of my render. I found out my rival's rythm was half my rythm so i lowered it and won the first set 4 to 0 and i lost the second one 3 to 4 then the 3rd set i was winning 3 to 2 30-15 and i had to much pressure over me and i was very nervous and i didnt know what to do. and the guy made the match go to a tie break and i lost 7 to 5 so i was wondering if anyoneknow any techniques to release the pressure in a match and nerves. Thanks in advanced

 

[armand]

some thoughts in my head when things are bearing down: "This is my time to show who I am; Everyone's watching and they are being entertained so let's give this show a great end; This isn't Wimbledon nor the French nor even Qatar. This is a small tourney that hardly anyone cares for and no one will remember. What am I folding for?; I'm gonna run down all his shots no matter what; I love this game, these are the moments I wait for and dream about. This is what counts"
yes some of these contradict so it matters what mood I'm in. I obviously don't think these things all at the same time.

 

[kevhen]

Did you prepare by playing close matches under pressure against opponents you weren't used to? Or did you just work on hitting strokes in low pressure non-match situations against familiar partners?

 

[krnboijunsung]

So many topics asking how to improve mental toughness. The only best way is to just keep playing more games, play under certain situations as in "If I lose to my friend today, I'll have to buy him lunch tomorrow". Put yourself under pressure, and after awhile it'll become consisitent and you'll get used to it.

 

[SageOfDeath]

I would agree with krnboijunsung's advice, but unless you are loaded, maybe bet a dollar. Haha. Play lots of matches do put pressure on you will make you ready for tournaments. Or you can play tournaments, join the USTA and play some tournaments in your area.

 

[crazylevity]

Don't even think about it. Play each point as if your life depends on it.

Marat Safin, in the AO 2004 final, was so focussed he forgot the score and nearly served from the wrong side...

 

[tennis-n-sc]

A term I hear thrown around a lot is "match tough". And, of course, the only way to get it is playing matches, as you have all said. This is where the "match tough" players that don't have strokes as refined as others beat the more polished players. They have been in virtually every situation imaginable and gained valuable experience. You can't get this as much from a pro or coach giving lessons nearly as much as from a tough opponent across the net. Of course, the best of all worlds is to have the great strokes and be "match tough". But I think you gotta play the matches when they mean something, ie, leagues, tournaments, etc., and a lot of them.

 

[Exile]

"I'm going to lose anyway, I'm going to go for it."

 

[jimiforpres]

I used to have this problem. What you should do is play a lot of tiebreakers because there is more pressure to win certain points than in a set. Eventually this will solve your problem because you will learn to ignore the pressure.

 

[krnboijunsung]

Another thing, this may not help you. But when my friends rally, practice hitting, they let the ball come to them, whether it takes one bounce, two bounces, three bounces. This is laziness. I do it, too. But then when game time comes, they are not used to hitting balls after one bounce, and everything changes after that.

Alot of kids, practice groundstrokes only, and get cocky after a pretty good round of hitting. But once the game comes, it's a different story.

I'm just telling you this, just in case, when you're practicing groundstrokes, and if you let the ball come to you, it doesn't help.

 

[AngeloDS]

I usually try to play points in my head before I serve, I take about a good 5-10 seconds to strategize in before each game.

(0 (love) -0 (love))
Serve out wide, go to the net and cut off the angle and power volley to the opposite corner.

I don't serve wide enough and fail miserably.

(0 (love) - 0 (15))
Same strategy

I fail to get to the net faster.

(0 (love) - 0 (30))
Same strategy

I win the point

You find out what you did wrong, and try to fix it. Sometimes they're unfixable and you need to ditch the strategy and come up with a new one.

The thing is not focusing on outcomes. Be mechanics oriented. Think about what you did wrong, and how you can fix it. It's always helped me and kept my mind off the score.

I always say to myself, "you hit it too hard... you didn't hit hard enough... you brushed up too much... you didn't get in position better..." I say to myself what I did wrong.