Tennis Psychology-

The foundation of winning tennis

By Tomaz Mencinger  

If you want to play a mentally tough tennis game, then tennis psychology gives you the best foundation. Learn which areas of sports psychology that are the most important for your tennis success.

The field of tennis psychology is not just common advice or tactical and mental tips. It is based on general and sports psychology and then applied to tennis specifically.

There are many common elements in the psychology of tennis, which can be found in other sports too. An athlete that wants to perform at his peak needs to learn:

• How to refocus

Many players start the match with good concentration but they drop their level of concentration because of disturbing outside events, pressure situations, emotional reactions to various events and so on. A player needs to learn how to quickly and effectively refocus to be able to play their best tennis.

• How to control their arousal – to manage their intensity and body energy 

A player's arousal can be too high or too low and in both cases they are not able to play their best tennis. Arousal affects body and mind abilities – a player may have too much muscle tension and therefore decisions are usually not tactically intelligent.

Learning to find the “ideal state” is the key in controlling one's arousal and one of the most important aspects of tennis psychology.

• What elements of the tennis game can a player control?  

A player may get upset (and it happens often) about an event that they cannot control or even influence. For example – the noise of the planes flying over the court, windy conditions, court conditions, an opponent’s luck and so on.

By being focused on these events a player wastes their energy that could be used on elements that they can control – like attitude and effort or how he intends to play etc.

• How to control thinking

Negative thinking affects players much more than they are aware of. It affects body abilities in two ways – being aware of them (feeling tension) and being unaware (the pendulum experiment); moreover it evokes negative feelings – emotions that cloud the player's judgment and affect the body’s abilities.

By being more and more aware of what a player is thinking they can then work to change their thoughts to be more positive and have solution based thinking. To have awareness of our thoughts is quite a challenge in the psychological approach to tennis.

• How to use imagery

Imagery or visualization is extremely useful in almost all aspects of the tennis game. A player can improve technique, strategy, physical abilities and mental preparation for certain events. Another use of imagery is when a player misses a shot and then quickly sees in their minds eye how to hit the ball correctly.

Using imagery is an incredibly efficient technique, not only in the psychology of tennis but in everyday life too.

• How to build confidence

Confidence is one of those elements where tennis psychology can help really quickly and with very simple tools. A player who is not confident will be hesitant in their decisions and will be afraid to take risks and their shots will usually miss by just a little. Doubt can be seen in reality as small misses that happen regularly.

When a player builds confidence they are able to play at their best and don’t lose hope when a big challenge appears.

• How to find and get rid of limiting beliefs

Limiting beliefs are one of the most restricting and troublesome aspects of human's psyche. They are mostly deep in the subconsciousness and are sometimes hard to find. A limiting belief for example is when a player believes that they are not good in tie-breaks and will then self-sabotage in those crucial moments to prove themselves right.

Having no limiting beliefs means that the player is in total acceptance of everything that happens. Outside events are just events with no meaning. The player accepts them and deals with them.

• How to empty the mind – Inner Game principles to enter the zone

There are three main principles of the Inner Game – quietening the mind, non-judgment and trusting the body. The player must first learn to apply them in training. Once the player has learnt to identify and experience these effects in training they will then know what to look for in a match situation. The player is then in the inner game – the way to perform at their peak.

These are the fundamentals of tennis psychology and by understanding these principles and applying them daily a player develops mental toughness. Self-confidence is also a very   positive side effect of learning how to apply these tools. The player now knows that they have ways of dealing with their own mind and that most of their opponents do not.  The player is now aware that they have the edge in the most stressful situation in any match and that gives an inner strength and belief that they can persevere through the toughest matches. 

Tomaz Mencinger is a sports consultant and tennis coach. He teaches tennis players how to apply tennis psychology to make your mind your best ally. www.tennismindgame.com/tennis-psychology.html  

The Tennis Coach wishes to thank Tomaz for his valued contribution.