You’ll often hear athletes refer to their rituals, superstitions, or lucky charms… But the secret to bringing your BEST SELF to a tennis match is nothing too exciting – it’s ROUTINES.
Great athletes often integrate routines – a sequence of actions consistently followed – to enhance their performance.
There is so much outside of our control – from traffic and parking to the weather and our opponent’s line calls – and routines help us take charge of what we can. Some good advice often shared is ‘control the controllables’ and know that your energy is invested wisely on game day, at each point, and more.
Routines help us stay calm, cool and collected. As we get in our groove, we think, feel and act in control. We also have a good mental foundation to be ready for any dynamic/uncertain moments.
“I can only control my own performance. If I do my best, then I can feel good at the end of the day.” - Michael Phelps.
Many great tennis players are well known for their routines. You may have seen Novak Djokovic have great fun impersonating Rafa Nadal and Maria Sharapova’s consistent on-court antics; their routines and actions between points are now internationally recognized.
Think of all the times during a competition when you’re in charge…
These should be moments you create and not moments that just happen. Times where performance routines can be integrated into your tennis game include game day, pre-match, pre-serve and more. The 90-second change-over this is a make-or-break for many players – and routines help you stay focused and in charge.
Remember, less than 20% of total match time is actually playing time. The rest of that game time should be spent ROUTINELY preparing TO WIN.
In the first chapter of “The Quick Guide to Strong Mental Tennis”, you are asked to develop and describe YOUR ROUTINES at multiple periods before, during and after your tennis play so that you can bring (and keep) your BEST SELF in the match. Those tennis routines will help you feel calm, cool and confident so that you are ready to win. Keep your routines simple and make them a consistent part of your tennis performance development program.
The second chapter of “The Players Guide to Strong Mental Tennis” helps you make smart decisions DURING the game. With 22 rules of high percentage tennis to guide you, you can play smart tennis and make smart choices DURING play. And more on that in our next updates…
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