Tennis Mental Tips - Improve your mental game

To keep this lens always up-to-date (which is, ultimately, the goal of every good lensmaster), I search the web every day for news or eBooks about the mental side of tennis. Now don't get me wrong, I absolutely love "Insider Tennis Strategies" and I think it says almost everything... but you never know.
Ok, straight to the point. A good friend told me about this "Top Secrets For You" website. I went oh the page and I saw they were advertising an eBook called "How To Play Tennis". A quick glance at the sales letter made me think that it was nothing more than a blatant ripoff of my beloved "Insider Tennis Strategies", but I decided to check it out anyway. Was I right? Well... so and so.
You see, most of the tips you find in "How To Play Tennis" are also in ITS. But it was an enjoyable read nevertheless, probably because it's far more simple. In fact, I personally think that ITS is meant for people who already play tennis and who want to skyrocket their game. people who are just beginning to play may find some passages quite difficult. Well, tennis beginners, rejoice: HTPT solves the problem. Even a child could understand it.
So: if you're already a tournament player and you want to dramatically improve your mental game (and your scores) then go and buy "Insider Tennis Strategies" (there's a link above this post); but if you're a newcomer, I suggest you go for How to play tennis, which, by the way, at the moment sells athalf price.
Enjoy!

Hi everybody! It's been a long time since my last post. Maybe someone of you even called the police :D I was just having some rest before I get back on the court (do you remember one of my previous articles? Sometimes you need to stop!). Anyway, let's get to the point.
If you are one of my loyal readers (I hope so) you already know that I like pre-visualization. It's not because I'm cool and this is the modern tennis mental training style: it's because it works. It took me an E-book to understand it, but "better late than never", right?
Back to us... a small test. You're playing an important point. Let's say you are 3-all, 40-all in the final set. It happens more often than you think ;D What do you think in the middle of the rally?
a) I should move him all around the court and wait for an easy ball to attack;
b) I must play safe and hope he misses an easy shot;
c) If I win this point I go ADV-40, so then I'll just need to win th next point and I'll go 4-3, and usually whoever wins the 7th game wins the match so on the next round I'll face that overly cocky guy and I'll beat him...
What was your answer? Well, whatever it was... you're wrong. You should not think during a point!!! Think before the point starts, and do it the right way, else you're flying blind and you'll probably lose the point. The answer A is the best one, but I repeat, think before, not during the point. When the rally begins, you should go "blank" and play on autopilot. This will also keep you focused on the few things that really matter (the ball, your opponent, the court - no, your mother/partner/best friend in the third row is not important, not now). Of course, the most focused you are, the most mentally tough you become. And as you know tennis is all about mental game, so the tougher you are, the more matches you win. Yes, it's that simple!
By the way, if your answer was C, then you have a big issue: it's called "paralysis by analysis". Check out my previous article titled "The 5 biggest problems" for a quick overview, anyway I'll talk about that more extensively next time.
That's all for today. I hope you'll still be with me next time!

If you're one of those players who frequently have temper tantrums during their matches, coping with racket rage is the first step towards improving your mental game and ultimately winning more matches.
I remember a match I played around a year ago. It was the second qualifying round of a local tournament. I played against a man in his early 50s (he could have been my father), not very skilled indeed. Well, my match lasted eight games: I had to retire because I broke both rackets. I remember Goran Ivanisevic once had to retire because he broke all his rackets, but what the hell, he was a pro, he didn't pay for them.
After that accident, I stopped playing for more than a month. I also asked my mother to hide the tennis bag from me, because I didn't want to see it. While the episode was really embarrassing, it helped me realize something very important: smashing rackets actually made me lose many matches.
When your racket flies on (or maybe over) the fence, you've lost the match, unless your opponent is a complete moron. Plain and simple. Your concentration follows your racket and goes wandering all over the court. How can you think about what to do, when you have to waste energies to get back your racket after an unforced error? How can you control the match if you can't even control yourself?
Always remember that, unless you're a pro, tennis is just a game. Enjoy your match and you'll soon become the mentally toughest player in the club. If you win, be proud of it, but if you lose, just smile: your opponent played better than you this time, but next time you'll crash him.
By the way, a month ago I played with that man again. I won 6-2 6-2. Do I have to say more?

Do you know what's the main difference between tennis pros and you? For them, stepping on the court is a job; for you, it's just a game, or at least so it should be. While you should always play to win (playing "safe" is not playing "smart", do you remember that article? It's still here in case you missed it), remember that nobody will judge you on the base of your outcome only (if someone does, let him talk: he obviously understood everything about life and tennis) and, most of all, remember that nobody is forcing you into playing tennis!
If you start feeling less pleasure, or if your lack of motivation reaches dangerous levels, you should stop playing. Yes, you heard it right. I'm not saying you should never play tennis again: just rest a while and think about it. Maybe it was just overtraining or poor coaching. Remember that tennis is all about mental game, and you'll never win more matches if playing becomes a burden.

I'll repeat that in every post: tennis is (most of) all about mental game! You can be the fittest player or the hardest hitter (and maybe both!), but if you can't play smart you'll never win many matches.
Here are the five biggest problems many tennis players experience on court:

1) ANGER - Let's face the truth: if your racket flies over the fence every time you make an unforced error, you're condemning yourself to frequent losses. A temper tantrum takes away your concentration, is a waste of energy and doesn't let you think clearly. If you want to dominate your opponent and win more matches, you have to learn to control your anger.

2) PARALYSIS BY ANALYSIS - You're 30-all, 4-all in the third set and you start to think "OK, now if I win the point I go 40-30, so I should play aggressively and try a short, cross-court forehand followed by a down-the-line attack" right before you hit the ball. Well, probably you'll send it on the back fence. While thinking between points or during changeovers is a good idea, during the point you should try to play on autopilot.

3) LACK OF CONFIDENCE - If you don't believe you can win, you'll never win, plain and simple. The advantage is that confidence is a controllable factor. Take your destiny in your hands and you'll win more matches, granted!

4) FEAR OF LOSING - Yes, I know: it's not funny when you always lose. But it doesn't change your life, unless you're a pro. A very good player once said "What's the worst thing that can happen on a court? I'll lose a match of tennis?" Focus on performance, not on outcome... your mental game will be dramatically improved.

5) CHOKING - Everybody chokes, from your doubles partner to the pros. So, if it happens, remember that you're in good company. The only thing you can do is trying to make it happen less often. It takes a lot of work, but it's possible.

Remember that you can find all this and much more on INSIDER TENNIS STRATEGIES

See you!

When you're 30-all, 4-all in the third set, your first thought is probably "don't lose this point". Well, I can guarantee you this attitude will actually make you LOSE more matches! This happens because you will start to play safe (at least according to your mind), which is quite different from playing smart (the mindset that will help you win more matches!). In brief, playing safe means that you'll hit slower balls, probably central shots too, waiting for and unforced error that is unlikely to arrive on such a ball (unless your opponent doesn't like slow and high balls... but in that case, as you'll see, you're playing smart!). Playing smart, on the contrary, means having your opponent hit where he's less confident, and waiting for a good occasion to play your most reliable stroke and win the point. The pace won't be reduced, but your shots will be higher, as this greatly reduces unforced error (that you have to avoid). Always remember that, unless your opponent is a tactical genius (or unless he reads these articles!), he will play safe on an important point. Show him that you have no fear: maybe you'll lose the point, but you'll build up your confidence, and eventually win the match! It's mental game, bros!

Oh, I forgot... did you know that, each day, 50% of tennis players lose their matches? Don't take it too seriously ;D
Just kidding, obviously. But if you really want to be one of the other 50% you definitely have TWO things to do:
1) keep reading these articles;
2) have a look at Insider Tennis Strategies

See you next time!

It's really frustrating to see that you lose to players you should easily beat. I know, because it happened quite often to me. The truth is: it happened because they played "smarter". They simply had better strategies.
Well, then I found a strange E-Book. It was written by a man who isn't even a tennis coach! He's a doctor who loves tennis, and his name is Glenn Shiner. He was sick of losing to weakest players, just like me and you, and he spent many years in trying to improve his mental game and his tennis strategies. As he himself says, "They (other players) ignore the tactical side of the game. This is the biggest mistake you can possibly make". And he succeeded. The wonderful thing is that he doesn't want to keep it all for himself: he packed all his precious info in the 99-page E-Book INSIDER TENNIS STRATEGIES.
I bought it. And guess what... I started to win more matches. Now I have more than one strategy and I know when and how I should change it. Seriously, there are so many winning mental game tips and tricks in this book, and some of them are so genially simple you'll end up thinking "Why didn't I realize it by myself before?"
And it's not over! With the book, you also get two bonuses: "A MASTER'S GUIDE TO PLAY CLAY COURT TENNIS" and a 3-page SCOUTING FORM that you can print out and take to the club when you scout your next opponent.
The price is, at the moment, ridicolously low: just $17. How much does a one-on-one lesson with your coach cost?

Buy INSIDER TENNIS STRATEGIES now!