Keeping It Cool On Court

 

Tennis is such a mental game, that they often refer to it as the ‘chess’ of sports. I don’t think enough emphasis is put on mental strength for juniors. Not only do juniors put pressure on themselves, but parents can as well. If two players are roughly the same skill level, almost always the player with the better mental strength is going to win. Getting upset on court can negatively impact your play, or even help your opponent, by letting them know they’re probably going to win. But, not getting upset or angry can definitely be easier said than done. So, here are some tips and tricks that help me stay calm on court: 

Don’t Take Things Personally: 

Sometimes, if you’re frustrated in a match, almost everything your opponent does can be frustrating and you can start to overanalyze or overreact to everything that happens. Most things aren’t intentional, and it helps to not take things personally and think of your opponent as just someone who wants to win like you do!  

Think That You Deserve To Be There/Win: 

If you don’t think that you deserve to be playing at a tournament or deserve to win the match, you probably won’t win. If you’re feeling down on yourself, it’s helpful to think about the work you’ve put in and that you deserve to win the match. 

Focus On the Ball More:

If you focus on the ball even more (sometimes even trying to read the writing on it) as it’s coming towards you it can kind of slow things down. This tip can not only help against powerful hitters but also when nerves make everything feel fast. 

Acknowledge Mistakes But Don’t React:

Mistakes are bound to happen for anyone playing tennis, but it’s easy to get frustrated about them. One piece of advice that’s been helpful to me is to just let the mistake happen, acknowledge it with as little emotion as possible, and just move on to the next point. This can prevent you from being upset and making more mistakes because of it.

Correct, But Don’t Overcorrect:

If you notice a certain mistake happening a couple of times, you can try to correct it. But, as a coach once told me, so many things can cause an error in a match! Footwork, timing, reaction speed, and more. Sometimes just being a millisecond off can lead to a miss, especially on a serve. However, the thing it’s least likely to be is your strokes. Changing an element in your swing can just lead to more issues in a match, and overcorrection can lead to more problems or the opposite ones happening.

Breathing Techniques: 

Breathing techniques can be really helpful and they’re one thing I’ve tried to add into my game recently. Novak Djokovic himself uses ‘conscious breathing’, where he really focuses on his breath patterns for anywhere from 2-10 breaths in crucial match moments. One of my favorites is the ‘double inhale’, where you inhale through your nose for about 4 seconds, then immediately inhale again, then exhale slowly through your mouth.

Don’t Change Your Play Style:  

This one can be especially hard if someone is making suspicious line calls. But play your normal style of play and don’t let your opponent influence it too much. If you’re scared someone is going to call your winners out or if you’re too nervous, it can be easy to just hit a weaker or safe shot back, which can lead to them hitting a winner on you.

Visualization: 

During a match, it can be easy to spiral down the worst-case scenario line of thinking. Whether it’s concern about your rating or ranking dropping, to disappointing someone you know, it’s easy to think about what will happen if you lose. One thing I’ve noticed that helps me stop this is thinking, what if things go right? What do I have to gain if I win or what will happen? Thinking of the best possible scenarios can turn things into a more positive train of thought. 

Keep Moving: 

Moving in place or bouncing around in between points can help you stay alert, keep your energy up, and also prevent stiffness from nerves. 

Focus on the Fundamentals or Point Structure: 

This kind of depends on the type of player you are. For some players, focusing on their swing and techniques can be helpful and keep them in the right headspace. Personally, the thing that helps me is to focus on my point structures (what type of shot I want to hit and where). This helps me not overthink my swings too much. But, focusing on something like either of these can help keep you in the right state of mind and keep you from getting distracted. 

Use the Crowd to Your Advantage: 

People cheering for your opponent and sometimes parents, friends, or coaches watching you can make you nervous. But, you can use people cheering against you as motivation and you can use those supporting you for motivation too, by wanting to play well to impress them or make them proud. A great tip I saw about nerves and coaches watching is if you don’t play well or like yourself because of nerves you’re robbing both yourself (possibly an opportunity) and them (for not getting an honest picture of how you play). 

Have a Small Routine/Ritual: 

Small rituals between points can help calm you, especially on serves! For example, I have a ‘lucky’ necklace I wear that I adjust before big points. Some people will twist their racquet, hold their racquet in their non-dominant hand, or bounce the ball a certain number of times before they serve. Also, using a towel between points can help. 

No matter what methods you choose to use, keeping your cool on the court is such an underrated strategy! No matter how much you practice winning points and shots, getting upset can prevent you from being able to hit those in a match. And, when someone is getting angry or upset, you can also use that to your advantage. For example, if someone gets really mad when I hit a certain shot, I usually just keep trying to hit that shot over and over again. Paying attention to your opponent’s reactions can definitely tell you a lot during a match! But, hopefully, some of these tips are helpful and you can use them to stay calm on court. 

Thanks so much for checking out Kaitlyn Redwine Tennis and see you next post! :)

xo- Kaitlyn