10 Mental Mistakes Tennis Players Make
- Getting involved in the hype or fan mentality by looking up statistics of yourself and other tennis players. Once the season ends, then you can decipher the statistics. But during the season, you should always just focus on improving your skills and yourself.
- Associating with negative people will slow you down and taint your progress during the season. Keep your distance from them as much as you can. Avoid listening to people that encourage “excuse making”. They will make excuses for themselves and even for you, such as “that girl/guy was hooking you so bad! You would have won if she/he hadn’t cheated” or, “we’ve had a really tough week in school, how does coach expect us to play well in the match today?”
- Making any particular match or tournament “special.” All matches and practices are important, but nothing is ever more special than others. Making a particular match or tournament special adds pressure. Treating everything the same helps you stay consistent.
If you have ever felt particularly tight in a match and can’t seem to shake it, most likely you went in with a mentality believing that tournament was more important than others. The key is to recognize this BEFORE you enter the match, so that you can change your mentality. Most likely your nerves or intensity level is too high, and you need to bring yourself back down.
- Believing ANY opponent you face is unbeatable. Nobody is unbeatable and there are countless examples of when the underdog succeeds – David and Goliath, The Movie “Miracle”, etc. If they can do it, you can do it too.
We always expect to see the greats in the finals of the grand slams, but sometimes our top like Rafael Nadal or Serena Williams lose in the earlier rounds!
- Getting hung up on the past or worrying about the future. Focus on the present and being your best in the moment.
In a match, it is very easy to allow emotions from previous points affect future points. Perhaps you just competed hard in a long rally, and lost the point. The emotional frustration of losing that point is often far higher than if your opponent forced an error, however the two points count the same even though you exhibited far more effort in the long point. It is important in these moments to refocus yourself and get back to your baseline emotional state before the next point.
- Under any circumstances using the word CAN’T. Don’t ever say that word!
Upon first trying a new skill, it is easy to throw up your hands and say you “can’t” do it. Remove this word from your tennis vocabulary! Always break down what you “can’t” do into much smaller easier tasks. For example, if you are changing from a one-handed backhand to a two-handed backhand, be sure to break it down: start with shadow swings, progress to hand toss, racket-fed, and finally try a rally gradually moving back from the service line.
- Dwelling on a setback or loss. The best way to get over a loss is to learn from it. Since the mistake already happened, use it to your advantage and grow from it.
Keep a journal or log of your matches. Write down 3 things you did well, and 3 things you could improve on. This strategy will keep you from black and white thinking like matches were either all good, or all bad.
- Focusing exclusively on winning or titles. Improving yourself is what’s important! Also note when you reach new milestones or personal achievements – they are important too!
Maintain a “growth mindset” with your tennis game. Work on becoming the best tennis player you can be.
- Competing not to lose. Not losing shouldn’t be your goal – always play to win and achieve your goals.
Playing “not to lose” is a sure fire way to come off the court disappointed, even if you win. Have you ever met a tennis player that pressed and came off the court with a smile on their face?
- Using extreme self-talk that puts extra pressure on you. Avoid words like “must,” “should,” or “need to.” Instead, say “I want” and “I choose” because they frame things in a more positive light. In fact anything that feels like you are adding pressure to yourself is likely to negatively affect your performance!