Mind
Training for Tennis Tip 3
http://www.tennispsychology.com
You
Are Always Talking To Yourself On Court
What
thoughts and emotions go through your mind during a match? Actually, thousands
of thoughts and plenty of emotions - and these have a huge effect upon your match
results on court.
Not
only that, but even words you say during a match can have a major effect
upon your results!
Humans
think approximately 60,000 thoughts a day, and on court is no different
- you talk to yourself constantly on court.
It
is the quality of these thoughts which is important however
- as it is now well-known that negative thoughts lead to
classic problems such as fear, extreme nervousness, intimidation,
lack of belief, worrying about 'uncontrollables' (ie. things out
of our control), uncharacteristic errors, anger, frustration ...and
so on.
This
is not surprising when you disvover that all of your tennis experience
(ie. every stroke you have made in your lifetime) is recorded in the archives
of your memory bank, and this entire 'computer file of your tennis experience'
lies within your subconscious mind, right now.
Your
subconscious happens to be the control-center of all movement (which makes it
pretty important to your level of tournament play), and it functions just
like a computer. In fact, computers were originally modelled upon the subconscious,
and this mental computer is being constantly programmed by the thoughts, words,
statements and emotions you use regularly on (and off) the court.
What
this all means is this: Think negative thoughts during a match, and you will (generally)
get a negative result. No question.
Likewise,
program your mind positively with powerful words, images and emotions
(and get rid of any mental roadblocks which may have been holding
you back), and you will get vastly improved results.
Garbage
in, garbage out, as they say. This is all now common everyday knowledge,
tested many times in university experiments - so this is no longer
theory, it is simple truth!
Simply
by changing the thoughts you think during a match may help you to transform
your results in future tournaments.
So
how can you do this? One of the best ways to overcome negative thoughts directly
before and during a match is to use a mantra.
This
is an ancient and world-renowned technique, where you simply repeat (in your mind)
a few positive, powerful words - over and over again between points. This does
two things; it focuses the mind onto the positive, and it prevents your mind from
focusing up negative thoughts.
An
example of this would be where you repeat a mantra such as 'power and control'
several times in between points during your match, which keeps your mind focused
and thinking positively - regardless of the point.
Then
the point begins and your mind instantly goes blank again (as this is the mental
state which puts you in 'the zone') - but when the point finishes, you go back
into your mantra again until the next point begins.
This
also helps ensure your emotions remain under control - which is
essential, as frustration is one of the main reasons why
players often lose the second set 6-1 after they have lost the first
set 7-6!
If you keep yourself mentally under control, you can wear down
your opponent relentlessly, even if you lose the first set. How
often do you see a score like 6-7 6-4 6-1 - pretty common!
The
greatest boxer of all-time, Muhammad Ali, used "I am the greatest" as
his mantra to great effect - he became the greatest boxer who ever lived.
You
can just as easily make up your own mantra using your own
words, but ensure you keep them short, positive (ie. no words
such as 'lose'), and present-tense (eg. 'powerful and steady',
not 'I will be powerful and steady').
This
is very important for them to work properly (for reasons I do not
have time to go into here).
So
try a mantra in between points and see if it makes a difference to your results
- my guess is that it will create massive improvements in your results.
