Fear plays a huge part in today’s tennis game. It’s one of those factors that acts as a big dividing line between the ones with the trophies and the players that just *work hard*.
If you can master it, then you win. But if you can’t, oh well, right? That doesn’t sit well with me, but that’s the way it happens a lot of the time.
So, this week we’re going to work on bridging that gap a little bit. Because frankly, I hate it when I see good players like you putting all their smart and hard work into it, and then let their nerves totally ruin their chances at a great win.
So that said, with this post, we’re going to kick this thing in the butt and get you winning more matches by showing you how, by using your mind, you can transform what many would see as a lost cause into a winning cause over 93% of the time.
One of the points where you’re likely to get the most nervous is when you find yourself up at the net, and your opponent is in a position to hit a great passing shot. Exactly, you might as well quack because, you’re a sitting duck. They’re in the wind up of a thunderous forehand shot but instead of preparing, you’ll tend to erase the possibility of staying in the point. You won’t even give yourself a crack at it. And you’ll be saying…
“Oh no, I don’t want to get blasted! I’ll get embarrassed or worse… injured.” This will be the central theme repeating over and over in your head. Yea, you’ll either get scared and run backwards or give up on the point all together. I’m telling you, even though that “SOUNDS” like the logical thing to do (..run and save your skin), it’s not going to produce the best results for you. Why?
Because, if you want to turn the tides on this thing and have any hopes of getting true satisfaction out of this sport (…winning a championship, beating your in-laws, or just getting major bragging rights with a buddy after work) you can’t give up on any point. If you do, you’ve broken a major strategy law. It’s NOT over until the ball bounces twice, goes in the net, or out of bounds.
That being said, you need to develop the “TMC warrior mindset” that “I CAN and WILL win that point and any other point that comes my way!” And you can. It’s not just some hyped up saying. All you need is to understand the 3 easy elements I’ve listed below. (…I did kind of jump ahead on one a little bit, but I was just so excited)
1. Believe You Can Do It: Don’t be intimidated. Don’t worry about getting hit. If that’s the mindset that you have, the “self-fulfilling prophecy” will flare up, and you’ll probably wake up with a big bruise the next day. It’s true, scientific studies have shown that whatever we apply most of our focus to usually ends up becoming a reality.
Same thing in another example. When you wake up in the morning, if you keep telling yourself that you’re going to have a bad day. You’ll start to notice bad thing after bad thing keeps happening… almost like you’re indirectly forcing it into taking place. Then, you say, “See, I told you I was going to have a bad day” haha. That’s not a surprise
. So to keep that kind of thing from happening on the tennis court, especially when you’re in the sights of your opponent’s bulls-eye, you want to actually adopt the mindset on the complete opposite side of the spectrum.
Toughen up! Visualize yourself doing the right things and believe that you can still win the point. What are those “right things?” Well, stand your ground for one. You want to be ready, get your body in proper GSP (good shot positioning) and let your opponent know that you’re not going anywhere and there is nothing he (…or she) can do about it.
Now, don’t yell at your opponent across net (…with the whole “This is Sparta” tone of voice like you’re in the movie 300) of course haha. You do that by mentally communicating the concept inside. Once that happens, your body will immediately react and produce a much better result for you. But the main thing is, it all starts internally and in your mind!
2. Prepare With Your Backhand Grip: Now, if the ball ends up coming directly into your body, don’t think about which grip style or what shot to respond with. I’m giving you the answer right now, and it will always be this way ok. You want to use your backhand volley to block it back.
Hitting a forehand from that position is NOT easy, and to put it plainly, it looks really weird when it’s attempted. It’s because your body is forced to contort in such a funny way just to have any hopes of making any sort of solid contact with the ball. And as a result, the probability of your ball going over and extending the point, just decreased by more than 65%. So, remember, into the body shots when you’re at the net, GO BACKHAND
3. Steal Your Opponent’s Power (Energy Transference): Become a thief. It’s actually legal in tennis…wink. All you have to do is block the ball back. You don’t have to worry about muscling up and generating your own pace on this because:
A. He (…or she) is already loading up to hit their shot with extra pace. All you have to do is use what they’re giving you against them.
B. You’re going to be hitting a defensive shot not an offensive one. You’re not trying to end the point here. All you want to do is make your opponent hit another shot. So, just go safe and solid. If you attempt to match power for power, it’s very likely you’ll mishit the ball and generate an unforced error. Or you can even be late on the shot. Because if you attempted to put more steam on it, you probably took your racket back, which killed your reaction time.
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