Most, if not all, tennis players are too conscious with the mental strain that come along with every close tennis competition they have. More often than not, mind power is highly evident at each game level. No wonder, quite a number of tennis players spend considerable hours weekly just to perform different drills on mental toughness in tennis in order to keep themselves mentally superior.
What to Keep in Mind During the Game
“Only the ball” is definitely the most outstanding mental patch-up tool that heals, at the minimum, the biggest pitfalls that most tennis players commit. Whether one is angry, upset, or merely nervous, repeating this simple phrase can already be helpful to block out all negative thought patterns a player has over the game, and finally bring his focus back to where it truly belongs, the tennis ball.
Aside from that, the “ball” and “hit-bounce-hit” are significant phrases that can also aid players in keeping their minds from wandering off at the time the opponent serves. The hardest time to keep your mind focused is usually when your opponent has the ball and when your mind gets tempted to get the chance for that little time off. You can get rid of distraction by saying to yourself a long and drawn-out, “baaalll” as you watch the ball tossed by the other player out of his or her hand. As your challenger hits the serve, answer with “hit”, say “bounce”, and finally utter another “hit” as you make your return swing.
Another technique used for mental toughness in tennis is telling yourself, “OK, I won’t do that again” as soon as you miss a shot because of you becoming too analytical during the game; thereby making you lose the natural flow of your strokes. Taking time to, at least, figure out what you have done wrong will do no harm. In fact, a slice of optimism will never hurt when you try to correct your moves.
Learning versatility is one more key to do well in the tennis court. Sticking into one playing style even if you know it is not working will cause a deficiency in your mental safety controllers. In fact, tennis players commonly lose the game because a part of them learns to secretly give up when they run out of options. Remember, you will never think of giving up if you still have something else to take a crack at. With this, you are likely to expose a weakness in a perceived unbeatable opponent. Besides, variety makes every game even more creative and exciting.
Finally, mental toughness in tennis also requires being able to appear alert, confident, energetic, and yes, happy all throughout the match. Looking so will definitely help the tennis player in actually becoming so to a considerable extent; keeping him from giving any hint of encouragement to his challenger. If one’s opponent seems to be prone to choking, that intimidating appearance of ready confidence despite seemingly close defeat might be just enough to keep doubt in the challenger’s mind.