Stop choking! Simple Mental Toughness strategies to close out tennis matches
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- čas přidán 8. 09. 2024
- In this video, I’ll show you strategies to increase your mental toughness on the tennis court and close out matches!
You know the feeling - you can't move anymore, your heartbeat is through the roof and you're losing focus when it matters most.
Use these Sport psychology strategies to cope with nerves and win more tennis matches!
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Had that trouble before but now I think I am getting better in this.
First, I try to concentrate on this particular point and winning it. Regardless of the score.
I also have a pre-serve routine before the serve or before reception. I am relaxing the upper body, especially, my arms, which is really easy to do when I hold my racket in both hands. I toss the ball only after that state is achieved.
And finally, I pick up one or two things to concentrate on. If I feel.like I didn't follow the ball, I concentrate on that. If I feel like my footwork is off, then it is a footwork. If the take back is not right, then it is a take back. That distracts me from the score pressure on either side.
yes this happens even though I'm only an amateur and it doesn't effect my livelihood. In practice, I can look at it it like, "oh good, he's coming back to make this more interesting.... and yay, I get to stay on the court playing tennis longer" but if it's a tournament or league match, it felt very different. Like I'm wasting opportunities and flushing money down the drain...
Yes, that is so common. The perspective changes!
When I start to get to get tight, I try to focus on “my process”: 1) take a couple deep breaths 2) quick verbal cues to myself like eye on the ball, early prep etc 3) strategy for next point and 4) grip and release racquet. Also find it really helpful to try to focus on one point at a time by not dwelling on previous point (whether I won or lost it). I’m not always disciplined enough to do it but, when I am, I play more relaxed and have more fun. Thanks for another great lesson👍🎾
Text book response on how to deal with stress
I do this…I control my breathing, Do my rituals but my mind can’t stop telling me I’m going to lose even if I’m a set up. Won the first set 6-1 today and my mind still kept on telling me I’m going to lose in 3 sets and guess what? I lost in 3. Honestly don’t know what to do
Hallo Maike,
bei einem Punktspiel Einzelmatch in der Halle auf Teppich habe ich 5:2 geführt und habe alles getroffen. Mein Gegener hatte große Augen und sagte zu mir beim Seitenwechsel, dass er keine Luft kriegt weil ich ihn so unter Druck gesetzt habe. Dann fing er an hohe Bälle ohne Tempe zu spielen (Mondbälle). Ich kam aus meinem Rhythmus und habe dann viele Bälle ins Aus geschlagen. Er hat den Satz 7:5 dann gewonnen. Beim zweiten Satz führe er 5:2. Ich habe dann gekämpft, bin mehr ans Netz gegangen, spielte kürzere Slicebälle damit er nicht immer Mondbälle spielen Konnte. Ich habe bis zum Tiebreak gekämpft und leider verloren. Ich hatte das Spiel gewinnen können, aber durch die Mondbälle hat er meinen Ryhthmus gebrochen und dann schlichen die Fehler bei mir ein. Tolles Video mit weider tollen Tipps!
Schade, dass Du das Match verloren hast. Muss man dann halt zaehneknirschend anerkennen, dass er ein gutes taktisches Mittel gewaehlt hat.
@@MeikeBabelTennis das stimmt. Ich war aber ehrlich gesagt nicht so traurig das ich verloren habe. Ich habe mein Spiel gespielt. Das war mein erstes Match nach Verletzungspause und ich habe den Ball so toll gefühlt und die Flugbahn kontrollieren können und mich richtig gut bewegt. Dafür habe ich am Wochenende alle 4 Punktspiele gewonnen trotz Satzverlust im ersten Satz 🙂
I have trouble closing out games, not just sets. I’ll be up 40-0 and lose the game. I go completely tight and get nervous trying to finish the game. I’ll be down 40-15, get to deuce and lose the game. It always happens to me. For sure I need to work on my breathing because that’s the first sign for me. I start holding my breath. Then I stop following through on every shot and my serve gets weak. It’s hard to work on this in practice because I’m pretty loose in practice and even warmups prior to starting a match. And I’m just a rec player, no one is watching.
You're human, doesn't matter what level you are. The good news though is that you can work on this!
3:10 So true! Just recently, I was ahead 6-1 in a super tie-break, I stopped playing forehand and backhand topspin and started to slice a lot more. Result: 7-10 loss. I seem to fall in love with my slice, because when it works, it feels good. But when I analyze my games, my slice is more inconsistent than I think it is. So that's my problem: I think I can just blow my opponent away with a squash shot when I am ahead and get careless, choosing a lower percentage shot than the one that got me ahead. Maybe deep down, that's just another version of me trying to somehow escape the pressure of finishing the set. (Also, my opponent becomes a lot more focussed when he is behind.)
Yes, to all of it. You want to get out of the situation and hit "quick fix" shots and your opponent has nothing to lose when he's behind.
This was a very worthwhile watch. My experience is that I don't typically feel nervousness before or during a match because my goal is less about winning and more about assessing how much I've improved. That said, I still suffer from the issue of blowing a significant lead... not because of tightness but lack of or deficiencies in concentration, over aggression relative to my footwork competences, and likely poor tactics. I therefore find this video quite useful, simple, and succinct.
Awesome, glad you liked it
Great lesson, I usually switch to my kick serve on first serve because it's more reliable when things get tight
Yes, that's a good move
Great advice not only for myself but for my high school players. I will definitely pass this on to them. Keep up the good work
Please do! And thank you!
This helped me today! :)
It's funny, when I started playing matches and it was 4-4, I was starting to dread playing more. It seemed a big boulder was pressing down on my mind, similar to what you said. I just wanted it to stop! But I also wouldn't throw a match on purpose, so I started focusing only on the next point. And now, once I manage to go ahead 5-4, I am counting the points down to win the set. That helps!
Yes, control what you have control over. And really that's just the next shot, not even the entire point.
If you are feeling tight, that is obviously not good, and it is not a pleasant feeling. No fun.
But it also means that you care. That is the silver lining.
That is very true!
Excellent lesson! I watched it twice and saved it, I will share to my Facebook page Thanks so much 🙏 I have a question that's off this subject but has recently come up Should both the men and women play with the same balls at the US Open? I don't know enough to have a opinion. Thanks Coach Babel!
Honestly, I didn't even know they play with different balls!!!! What are the reasons given?
@@MeikeBabelTennis The issue was covered by ESPN because of a complaint by Iga Swiatek, I believe the balls provided for the women are lighter in weight, Iga Swiatek said they were unavailable anywhere else for practice, I didn't remember this about the balls until I saw the article, thought maybe they had stopped doing this many years ago
Good content...can you please keep the camera steady?