Mind
Training for Tennis - Tip 14
The
Secret To Mental Strength In Matches
http://www.tennispsychology.com
The
mental strength you display when you are trailing your opponent,
or even when you are in a winning position, will determine your
final result almost every time.
Being mentally strong is an almost mystical ability, where a player
is able to successfully pull through all the pressures of a match
to come out on top, virtually every time.
The
opposite of mental strength is fear. For instance, some
players immediately hit the 'panic button' as soon as they get into
the slightest bit of trouble early in a match.
This
can be a situatuion such as being down a break of serve in the first
set, and deciding to competely change their tactics altogether,
instead of continuing to play their own natural game, before
maybe incorporating a few tactical changes later to see how they
work. This happens because of fear.
Other
players find that when they are leading a match, they suddenly begin
to freeze up right at the crucial moment, when they are
serving for the match.
They
begin trying to "protect their lead" instead of playing
the aggressive tennis that got them into the winning position.
(As they say, "never change a winning game").
In
both cases, the secret is to remain mentally strong and not allow
fear to dictate your thinking - but this is easier said than done.
So what is the real secret to mental strength?
The
answer is easy. To become mentally strong, simply keep your
mind in the present moment, 100% of the time - and
never focus on the past, or on the future.
Fear
usually comes from allowing our minds to develop a "fear
of what might happen" outlook - instead of focusing
on playing one point at a time, and keeping our thoughts 100% in
the now.
Former
world no.1 tennis player in the 1970's Arthur Ashe, who was one
of the mentally-strongest tennis players of all time, once said
that tennis is a sport where "we do not have the luxury of
thinking cumulatively" - or in other words, if we think about
more than one point at a time during a match, we are going to lose.
So
the secret to keeping your mind strong and preventing mental lapses
is to practice this mental skill relentlessly in all your matches
and practice, until you finally master it.
But
know this - it is NOT easy. If it was, everyone could do it.
It is actually a very powerful mental discipline,
which takes quite some time to master - because the very last
thing your conscious mind wants to do is focus upon the present
moment.
Your
conscious mind loves nothing more than to focus upon all the negatives
- such as the points that we have lost, and also fearing whatever
might happen in the future.
And
so you must relentlessly bring your focus back onto the present
point - again, and again, and again - until it finally becomes disciplined
enough to do this automatically.
It
sounds easy, but it will be one of the toughest things you have
ever tried to master. You will need to practice this as much
as your have practicing your groundstrokes, before the results will
begin to come through.
But
once you do, you will never have any major mental lapses during
your matches ever again - and you will become very, very
hard to beat. So go to it - and let me know how you
go!
