Q&A - Mental Tennis
How to make your mind your best ally...

Read questions and answers related to mental tennis part of the game. The questions were sent by readers as a bonus for buying TennisMindGame.com ebooks, were sent through the email or I answered on various tennis forums.

The spelling and grammar of questions were left in their original form...

The trap of underestimating...

A:
I see two scenarios here:

1. You hit very good shots and your opponent doesn't. Quality of shots does not mean that you automatically know HOW to play tennis. Strategy is usually the strong point of pushers since they don't have the strokes. So maybe you need to sit down and think how you lost the points and change tactics.

2. You underestimated your opponent - learn from this. When you underestimate your opponent you play with less effort and focus than you are capable. And tennis itself becomes very difficult so you make more mistakes. When you see the consequences of your decision to underestimate your opponent you hopefully won't do it next time.

How not to underestimate your opponent?

Learn from your mistakes and hate them. :)

The magic formula is that you decide. But first you must become aware:"Hey, I am underestimating my opponent right now. I lost some great opportunities before by doing this. I will NOT do it anymore.

Ok, let's go. I'll do my best even if I beat this guy 6:0, 6:0."

Then just do it.

Now, why you underestimate... :)

How to keep concentration high during the match?

1) To focus on meeting the contact point correctly, I tend to slow down my swing - particularly the follow-through. This of course means the ball is usually underhit, often going into the net.

I know that this focus on the contact point is very beneficial - players like Federer are particularly good at it. Any idea how to rethink this idea of focus in a way that avoids these problems?

A1:
What bothers me is the word "correctly" in your first sentence. I'm not sure what you mean by that - how much in front or something else - but I believe that when you try to do things correctly you start doing them too consciously. And that's what is slowing you down.

Perhaps you are aiming consciously to meet the ball at some defined point in front of you and since the ball is going fast it's hard to really find that.

You need to let your subconscious find that correct point of contact. Just hit balls (don't play for points) and check how COMFORTABLE each shot is.

Also check if you FEEL GOOD POWER - GOOD ENERGY TRANSFER to the ball.

When you realize that, that's where the correct point of contact is. All you have to do consciously is to track the ball - see it clearly. Don't aim for it - that just happens.

For experiment try this - next time you drive your car - aim to drive 3 feet from the pavement. See how that feels.

And then realize how easy it is to just drive without paying attention to that distance. You need to implement this idea to tennis and hitting the ball.

Q2:
By staying focused for an extended time on the contact point I tend to lose track of where I was aiming the shot, which seems to generate more errors.

A2:
I understand what you mean and it's not simple to do. You need to practice how your focus goes from wide when the ball is going away from you:

- you see where it goes

- you see your opponent

- you judge how he will probably hit it

- you may already decide where to move or what to do next

So there are many "processes" going at the same time and this is called wide focus.

But when the ball is going towards you, you need to quickly decide (it happens automatically if you have a strategy - an intent) and then focus only on seeing the ball clearly. The rest is already "ready" to go when you hit it - where, how will you hit.

This is narrow focus - just the ball.

And so when you play you continuously switch from wide to narrow focus and to make this efficient and fluid you need to practice that.

Q3:
Also, in doubles I also find I'm losing track of where the net player is (after all, if I'm watching the ball I'm not watching him), which also results in some bad shot choices.

A3:
My advice for doubles is this: 1. If you are not an expert tennis player - that means level 4.5 NTRP and higher and have been playing for at least 10 years at least three times a week - DO NOT look where your opponent at the net is.

Why? Because there are only two options:

- either he is where he is supposed to be - so you know where the space is and decide beforehand where to play

- or he is guessing where you'll play and he'll try to intercept the ball.

In this case if you try to outplay him you need to guess what he is guessing to be smarter. :) You have no idea what he'll do and he doesn't have the idea what you'll do so you are both guessing.

That's not how good percentage tennis is played.

It's also very difficult to change your intention at the last moment because your whole body is being programmed to hit for example down the line and then at the last moment you decide for cross court. That's a new program and there isn't time to adapt.

If you are a very experienced player and have been playing a lot of doubles you will outplay your opponents instinctively. Your subconscious will notice the net player and you'll pass him and then you'll wonder how that happened.

Watch professional doubles and you'll see:

1. That the returner RARELY outplays the net player - because he HAS TO WATCH the ball to hit a good shot

2. That sometimes the returner outplays the net player BUT it happens so fast that you realize it is an instinct

3. That sometimes the returner consciously tries to outplay the net player who moved too early and he MISSES

How to stay motivated playing the same opponent again and again?

A:
I understand what you mean because at my home town where I played most of my tennis I had only two players that would really challenge and with one of them wecould only get together maybe twice a year because of his job.

So…

I asked myself this same question (many times) and here is what I suggest that you ask yourself:

First: are you a master of all situations that present themselves when you play with that certain player? Defense, offense, playing at the net, serve and volley, backhand slice, drop shot, hitting winners from midcourt, ...

And if (probably) you are not master at some of those, then you can really appreciate the opportunity to play and practice with this player. Remember, you are not playing with him, you are playing with the ball that needs to be hit in a certain area in a certain way so that you can win the point. Are you a master of that situation and consequently technique or can you still improve?

Do not look at your opponent – look at the situations and solve them in the most efficient way. And if you have already mastered the easy ways of dealing with them, work on more risky, unexpected and technically more difficult ones which you will need when you get to the next level.

For example – if you can outplay your opponent by playing to his backhand, can you win the match by playing mostly to his forehand? You can imagine that your opponent has a fantastic backhand and that his forehand is his weaker shot – which is good too. How will you win?

And if you happen to forget all this, you have a quick tip in the Mental Manual for Tennis Winners which you'll read just before the match with an opponent, that you think is not as good as you. It can be a very dangerous trap to relax too much.

You've probably experienced that before when you lost or played badly against someone who you should beat easily.

Don't let that happen again.

Time management, social interactions and how to remember all the tips...

I decided to purchase your e-book to improve my mental game since I really felt like it was letting me down.

Firstly I'll let you know that I play the singles comp at my local Academy so I am not playing like professional tennis but still pretty competitive.

Anyway the competition involves an hour of singles play and the player with the most games at the end of the hour wins so in some ways it is different to actual tennis in that there is a time limit.

I would say that tennis wise I am at the same level as all the other players. Only thing is that mentally I have always crumbled in bigger situations very rarely have I come up with the goods on the bigger occasion.

On Saturday I played my match, hadn't hit a ball for four weeks but I managed to take a 10-6 lead with around 20min to go but at this stage (and looking for my first win in this terms comp) I became racked with nerves and desperately wanting to win and not lose such a big lead, of course the opposite happened and I managed to lose the last 5 games and the match 11-10 as you can imagine I was really disappointed and thinking how can I get over this! So I did a search and found your website and e-book so I thought I would give it a go. I read through it and tried to absorb the information for my next match which was last night and guess what? I won!!!

I wouldn't say I was in my favoured arousal state as I was fighting off thinking about the previous match but I managed to take an 8-3 lead by sticking with the game plan and the >>here and now<<. I did get a little tight when I lost two games for 8-5 I was thinking about the previous match which is understandable (acceptance) but managed to win as the hour was up.

I was really proud of myself! There is a lot to take in and remember but I did my best to implement all the stratagies and I think if I keep on working at it I will develop a sound mental game which I think has prevented me from playing my best tennis when it counts!

So thank you very much for your help :) :)

Here's three questions:

1. We play for 1hour and person with most games wins. I often get nervous when leading and knowing there is still say 20min to play and to maintain that lead, several times I have led only to lose in the last 10 minutes!!

How can I deal with this?

2. Although competitive there is social interaction in-between points and games. How do I keep my focus?

3. How do I remember all the main mental tips in your e-book in a match? I found myself at times trying to remember to much what to do and it got a little overwhelming, what do you think is the best way to remember without getting confused? So I have a clear head on the court but still know what to do?

Ok thanks again and look forward to your responses :)

A:
Hi,

And thanks for the purchase. ;)

I glad that the ebook helped you win!

Hopefully you'll win so many matches that one day you'll realize that you don't want to win anymore. :)

Ok, let's get to your questions:

1. What happens for you in the last 10 minutes is that you start focusing on things that you DON'T want to happen. Since our subconscious brain does not understand the word no (or don't), you actually think about losing.

And then your body and your decisions reflect that. Yes, it's that powerful.

Plan A: Think about what you want - to increase your lead, to play quality game, to keep fighting, to stay positive, ...

PLAN B: Study this page:

What can you control?

And do the exercises. You'll be surprised to see that there is almost no control in the match.

What you want to do is to control the score. Maybe you have the lead and now you don't want to lose it. This cannot be 100% done.

There are no players on planet Earth that have NEVER lost a lead. It's impossible. So don't try to do that. (to clarify - don't try not to lose the lead - focus instead on what you want to happen or just be "here and now" and play every point to your best ability)

Instead play good tennis, control your attitude and be courageous. That's what will bring you the win.

2. I understand. I was in that situation too. You need to decide what you want - do you want to win the match or do you want to get approval from your opponent by nicely talking to him/her.

If you want to win - then politely tell the other person, that talking to them makes you lose focus. Simple, isn't it? You are just telling the truth.

Oh, and I have to warn you: if you start winning more and more matches, more and more people (that you win against) will not like you. In my experience only about 10-15% of the people you beat actually like you and respect you.

If you can't handle that than you just be a winner. There will be too many conflicting thoughts in your mind. That translates to unforced errors in tennis.

3. The manual is best used if it is printed. I will probably put some instructions for printing it in the download area.

You then check it before the match - when you may be anxious and you can find the solution in it. You can use it during the change over when you are maybe a set down. You just quickly find that page, read the tips and get in the right mindset.

But most of the times you just need to play many matches, read the manual after the match - find the specific situation - and you'll start remembering more and more ideas.

If you can use it during the match - all the better.

One more tip - when you read the tips for a certain situation - VISUALIZE that situation and then read the tips and then VISUALIZE how that would help you. How would you play differently? What would be your attitude, body language?

How to beat a pusher - the mental part

A:
If try to get through this messy :) email we see two questions:

1. How do I beat a pusher (he plays a lot of angles)

2. I freeze when I play against him – I lost to him before

2. I freeze…

We can also say that you are affected by pre-match anxiety and this really affects your tennis performance. You can’t move well; your movements are slowed down, you don’t think creatively and fast enough, …

You need to get out of this state and try to find your ideal state where you play your best tennis. You do this by controlling your arousal / activation level. When you feel anxiety before the match, you need to calm down. Deep slow breathing works best and you don’t have to practice any special technique of breathing. Just breathw slowly and relax your muscles.

The next step when you are starting to warm up on court is to raise your arousal to higher level (intensity). You need to become more aggressive and focused on your goal.

How do you do that?

By making few jumps, breathing faster, encouraging yourself with positive self talk, moving with positive body language – head up, energetic walk, …

Doing this will override your anxiety and freezing and activate you for the efforts ahead.

You will find more ways of controlling your arousal in the Mental Manual for Tennis Winners. You will also learn how to deal with 29 critical situations in a match and some of these will inevitably happen when playing a pusher.

And one of the greatest strengths of pushers is their mental toughness. Can you be smarter and tougher than they are?

How to get mentally tough?

Problem?

Mental issues. Not mentally tough at all.

Can you give me any advice on how to get mentally tough?

A:
It is impossible to answer "how to get mentally tough" in one reply.

It's a journey.

One of the most important foundations of being mentally tough is to actually help yourself. Most people get down on themselves and criticize themselves. And it DOESN'T work.

I repeat - it DOESN'T work.

You need to encourage yourself, stay positive, fight for every point, BE COURAGEOUS.

When you get to the next level - acceptance, you don't need all that anymore.

And whether you've done any mental training before or you are a total beginner you can find answers to your mental toughness problems in the Mental Manual for Tennis Winners.

Oh, and if you know everything about tennis strategy and how to outplay any opponent then skip the Tennis Strategy Encyclopedia and enjoy your mastery of tennis game. :)

"I always choke on second serves in a match..."

I can hit them in practice with no problem but in a match I really tighten-up and miss. I have lost countless matches because of my serve. Any specific suggestions on what I can do. Thanks.

A:
Now to your question: first, I understand what you are going through because removing this block was my first success in my journey through the mental tennis game.

I see two approaches here:

1. Just going through it with your decisions (courage)

2. Finding the cause - which is usually a hidden belief - former painful memory that is about to happen - or unrealistic view on the game (and yourself)

Let's see each one:

1. For the first approach you'll need to be more aware.

Because just before the serve, you become fearful that you'll miss it.

This fear affects your body and mind in way that disrupts the fine coordination of your movement and usually results in a miss.

So what you need to do is to stand back and realize that this approach is not working. You may say; of course it's not working.

But why don't you change it then?

That's what I mean being more aware. You know NOW when you read this or when you wrote to me that this approach is not working BUT in the moment that you are about to serve, you STILL do it.

So what is the other option?

Serve with courage and decisiveness.

Now, you will miss too. But a lot fewer times than with the fear approach.

With the courage approach you'll miss because we are not perfect and cannot hit every serve in. I call that statistics. Every time I miss my second serve it's statistics. Federer and Nadal miss too, why shouldn't I? ;)

But in order to override your automatic fearful response you'll need to be aware in that moment and do the OPPOSITE of what your mind is telling you.

You see - our mind is not realistic. We don't see the whole story (unless we train ourselves to do that), we just see, that thepossibility of emotional pain (missing the second serve) is close and we start shaking and becoming fearful.

The whole story means - that if you hit with a fearful approach you'll miss 50% of your second serves (I'm guessing), but with a courageous approach you'll miss only 20% of your second serves.

So then you decide against your fear and serve with courage and decisiveness.

But can you accept that you'll miss an occasional second serve or do you think it is possible to hit every second serve in?

2. This where your beliefs about the tennis game and yourself come into play.

Perhaps you think that it is your fault when you make a double fault. (false)

This would mean that one could have such a second serve, that if he did everything correctly, the serve would go in. If you believe this, than ask yourself is that factually true?

Can anyone on this planet serve a second serve and never miss?

Or - can anyone do EVERYTHING correctly EVERY TIME he serves? Obviously - it's impossible.

So if you give yourself permission to miss and understand that this is a part of the game, you'll be fine.

You will still make double faults but a lot less times.

I encourage you to carefully observe professional matches and look for DOUBLE FAULTS. See how many they make, how many times they miss in critical situations, how they choke too, and how sometimes they only push the serve in (especially women) because they have the "tennis arm".

This will help you become more realistic in your expectations of your second serve.

I hope I've answered your question and I hope you can get through this.

I did - I decided that I'll serve with courage since I lost sets and matches because of my second serve.

Then I had to fight with my mind for a while. Every time I was about to serve a second serve, my fear appeared. I fought with it and said - NO,I will serve with courage.

Sometimes I won the battle and sometimes I didn't.

But eventually I won so many battles with my fear that IT STOPPED appearing.

I had (and still have) an empty mind before the serve.

There are no thoughts, no fears, no expectations, nothing. I just serve with the approach that statistically produces most good second serves.

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