Mental focus for tennis

Today we’ll discuss mental fitness. Many times, especially when you haven’t played much, your strokes will start to break down in a match. This is usually just due to your own doubts about your abilities. You start to second guess your mechanics, shot selection, etc. When you start doubting your shots and missing, use these tips to refocus your mind

listen to the sound of the ball hitting your opponents racket
try to see the seams on the incoming ball
feel the rhythm of the rally (play your favorite song in your head)
between points focus on your breathing, deep inhale, long exhale
develop a routine to focus on between points (straighten your strings, reposition your hat, etc.

All of these actions help to calm you and also distract your conscious mind, the source of performance anxiety.

Developing habits to refocus your mind will help you move past negative thoughts that prevent your shots from flowing smoothly.

A great book on the subject of mental focus in tennis is “The Inner Game of Tennis”, by Timothy Gallwey

August 25, 2018August 4, 2018

Don’t Prejudge Your Opponent

Don’t judge a tennis opponent by his strokes

How many times have you been warming up with a new opponent and decided whether you should beat them by how well they hit the ball? Maybe they have a goofy forehand or a weak, frying pan backhand, and you think, “I should beat this joker easily”. Or maybe they are crushing the ball in warm up and you say to yourself, “This guy is going to wipe the court with me.”

Well I can tell you from experience that most of the time you are going to be wrong. Some of the most frustrating losses I’ve had, have come against players with ugly (to me) strokes, no power, and no visible weapons. Conversely, the big hitters in warm up, many times, can’t keep the ball in the court during the match.

Remember this cardinal rule of tennis…

“the person that hits the ball in the court the most times wins”

It doesn’t say the person that hits the ball the hardest, or with the best looking strokes wins. If you get the ball in the court more times than your opponent, you win, period! It takes some players their whole life to learn this simple truth. Learn it now and you’ll have a happier, more successful tennis game.

Need some tips on how to keep hitting the ball into the court? Check out our previous tennis tips, including last week’s One More Ball.

August 17, 2018August 4, 2018

One More Ball

You don’t always have to win the point, you just have to stay in the point.

A good habit/strategy to win more matches is to adopt the mindset that your opponent is going to have to hit an outright winner to win the point. Resolve to get any ball that you can reach back in play.

Most players, especially at the recreational level, have trouble hitting two great shots in a row. If you get the first one back, many times they will make an error trying to hit a better shot.

To help you with this strategy, think about these pointers:

Don’t try to hit a winner when you are stretched out or on the run
Hit the ball back high, crosscourt and deep, to give yourself time to recover

Watch your opponent’s frustration, and errors, build as you continue to make them play one more ball…

August 11, 2018August 4, 2018

Kick ‘Serve’ Some Butt pt.2

Last week we discussed how the kick serve can help you win more points. This week we look at the mechanics of actually hitting the kick serve. This is a tough serve to master if you’ve never tried it, but well worth the effort in terms of winning results. Here are the general mechanics of the shot.

Your feet should be pointed, roughly, at the net post (the more side ways to the court you can stand, the better)
Use the continental grip (like holding a hammer)
Hit up and forward on the ball (imagine the racket face going from 6 to 12 or 7 to 1 on a clock face)

I know this may be hard to visualize, so here is a good series of videos from YouTube that will help.

August 4, 2018

Kick ‘Serve’ Some Butt

Most of us think that the harder we can serve the better. That’s not usually the case. Of course if you can crush the serve every time, place it where you want, and get it in the box, then read no further. Ok, now that the mere mortals are still reading, lets look at a good serve option, the kick serve.

There are a couple of advantages to the kick serve, especially for doubles.

It allows the server more time to get to the net in a serve and volley situation. Since the ball is traveling slower from server to returner, the server has more time to move forward for a better volley position.
It makes the returner hit from an uncomfortable position (increasing errors or pouch opportunities). The higher bounce of a good kick serve makes the returner more prone to miss-hit the return.

Think about the opportunities that the kick serve can create as mentioned above and next week we will talk about how to hit a kick serve.

Here is some video from YouTube illustrating the flat serve versus the kick serve.

July 26, 2018July 26, 2018

BeatYourTennisNemesis

Everyone has an opponent that, somehow, seems to have your number. Even though you may have fairly even skills, they always come out on top. After a while you dread playing them just because of the self doubt and damage that losing does to your confidence. You know the problem is mental but that just makes it harder to fix. Here are some tips to help.

Narrow your focus. Between points, keep your eyes on your strings, the ball, your feet, anything but him/her. You want to stop thinking about your opponent by focusing on neutral things that won’t trigger negative/distracting thoughts.
Strive to have no emotional reaction to a lost point no matter how bad the error or good their shot.
Lastly, force out any thoughts about the score, who’s winning/going to win, etc. This is very difficult. It’s useful to fill your mind with ways to execute your game plan or rituals/mantras of…watch the ball, stay loose, etc. Remember to keep these thoughts neutral. I have a saying, if your thought has a tone that can be followed with the words “..you idiot!”, then they are not neutral. For example if your tone to yourself conveys, “Watch the ball you idiot!”, then you are adding stress and negativity not calmness and neutrality.

Stay focused and use the tips above to beat your tennis nemesis. You might even realize that the real nemesis is in your own head.

Some great books on mental toughness and strategy for tennis are “The Inner Game of Tennis”, by Timothy Gallwey, and“Winning Ugly” by Brad Gilbert and Steve Jamison.

July 22, 2018

Apply the brake to slide on clay

On clay courts, to stay balanced while you stop and change directions, it helps to know how to slide. If you play mostly on hard surfaces that grip your feet, you may not have learned this clay-court technique. Let’s take a look at it.

On clay you want to slide into your shots using your front foot as a brake pedal. Just before getting to the ball, lean back slightly and plant your front foot flat on the ground, pointed in the direction you are going. As you “push the brake pedal”, that is, transfer your weight from back foot to front foot as you slide, you will gradually come to a stop. Ideally you should come to a stop just as you reach the ball and execute your stroke. This allows you to recover quicker and be ready to move to the next ball.

Many players dislike clay courts because they feel that they can not get their footing or change directions quickly. This is usually because they are sliding after they hit the ball. This puts them out of position and takes valuable time away from their recovery. Remember to slide into the shot, not after.

It takes some practice to develop the timing for this technique so get out on the courts and improve that slide.