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Winning Tennis Mental Attitude, Dealing With Fear Of Losing And More...Q: Our USTA league has recently replaced third sets with a Coman 10-point tie-break. I play singles for our team, and my record in these tie-breaks is now 0-4. I have also noticed that I have lost the first set but then come back to win the second set rather convincingly, only to loose the tie-break. What do you recommend as the appropriate mental attitude to have heading into the 10 point tie-break, and do you have specific strategies for serve placement, whether to serve and volley, etc? A1: I see from your questions that you are serious about your tennis and that you are already aware of many things. First of all, 0:4 doesn't mean anything. The past has no connection to the future events except when we make that connection - in our head. So that 0:4 doesn't affect your future... Second, what happens to everyone not aware of it is a letdown. Please see this excellent article from Kathy Krajco on Letdowns first and then come back to read my advice... Once you are aware that there will be a natural letdown, you need to consciously raise your activation level. Read more in this activation article. That way you will negate the effects of a letdown. Once you are in a proper activation state there are two approaches regarding a deciding tie-break: - think of your most successful strategies in this match and STICK to them. No experiments, no surprises, no fancy shots. Just play the game that has the highest probability that you win a point. - more advanced approach is to still have some secret weapons that you haven't used in this match - perhaps serving in the body and coming to the net or playing a wrong foot drop shot... But you must be skilled enough to make these shots. You can also try and figure out how your opponent will react to this tiebreaker. Maybe they are very tentative and they'll make many unforced errors so you can play a percentage game. But maybe you need to pressure them with attacking and it's then that they can't handle the pressure and they make mistakes. Q2: Do you have any strategies for playing without fear of losing and keeping the attitude of having fun and just trying to play your best in pressure situations? I frequently play "out of my head" in the beginning of matches, but when I begin to win or the score is close, I start to overthink and get tight and stop hitting freely. A2: Hmm, this can be deeper. First take a few silent minutes and try and figure out what are you afraid of. What's so bad about losing? Write those things on a paper and then investigate those beliefs. Is that really so bad and painful? And if not, can you handle that? And just read your last sentence again and again until you are completely SURE that your overthinking and getting tight hurts your results. When you are totally sure that this is true, then whenever this happens in a match and you become aware of that, you'll just let go since you KNOW that it hurts you. Q3: I have issues with my serve disappearing in pressure situations also. Do you have any suggestions for recognizing when I am getting tight and being able to stop and reverse the physical effects of being nervous. I have recently realized that I actually try to ignore the fact that I am nervous and just try to get the point over with to avoid that nervousness. A3: How to become more aware? Start checking yourself in changeovers and between the points. Are you tight? How do you feel? Do that in practice every few minutes (even though you won't get tight in practice, but just to get used to checking your state...). Then just lower your activation level. It's much easier to get rid of tension through the body than through the mind. Also try and have a serve specific ritual which relaxes you - like shake your arm, exhale, focus on how you want the ball to fly and then serve. Q4: Do you have any specific strategies for playing mixed doubles with a partner who is "too nice" to hit full out against a woman. My husband is very kind person who plays agressively in most situations, but we have found that he has a hard time hitting agressively against women who simply block back his pace or serve a slower serve that he sees when playing against men. We don't like to play mixed as simply "hit to the woman" but prefer to just play good doubles, no matter who is across the net. A4: I am not sure I understand your question. If the question is: how to play mixed doubles and not exploit the "hit to the woman" tactic, then just play the tactical game. So don't play against THEM, but play the GAME of doubles. Volley deep on the first ball, poach, attack the player at the net on short balls and so on. I think you and your husband need to get really clear on what tactical approach you want to take in that match and stick with it. Maybe you can work on: 1. can you both get to the net Check Operation Doubles for more great doubles advice! Q5: I'm an agressive all-court singles player who loves to come to the net when possible. I'm currently rated 3.5, take 2 private lessons a week and have done so for 5 years. I still struggle against the "blocker" who uses my own pace against me, and hit shots that even they don't seem to know where they are going. Any strategies for beating the dink? A5: Yes, I know what you are up against. ;) There is a whole chapter in the Tennis Strategy Encyclopedia at the end about how to beat the pusher. Study and apply those tips first and then ask me a more specific question if you have one.
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