Winning a tennis match against an opponent of similar level oftens comes down to which players can manage their emotions and state of mind at the key moments of the match.
it is helpful to recognize that your state of mind exists on a continuum with calmness on one end of the spectrum and intensity on the other.
The proper state of mind for any given moment is not an absolute. A tennis player needs to know themselves and understand the progression of a particular match to manage their state of mind and find the right balance in each moment.
A helpful technique is to establish mental cues to assist you in finding a particular state of mind. These techniques are particularly helpful when you notice yourself becoming disregulated. This can often take the form of being angry or frustrated by yourself. It can also mean you are “checked out” and have lost your focus on a match.
As with all mental training routines, they take practice! The more you can work on invoking your visual cues during practice matches, the easier it will be to bring them up during an important match.
An effective cue should have these charateristics:
- it is personal to you.
- It is tied to an experience you have had in life.
- It is related to a life experience other than playing a tennis match.
- The experience is strong enough that you can recall the related sensations of touch, smell, sound, feel, and even taste.
Preparing Your Cues
I suggest preparing a Calmness cue and an Intensity cue. You might find some other feelings you would like to invoke or a different way to represent them for yourself.
Here is an example: Recall a personal experience from your past that was soothing and calming. It can be anything. It can be a simple moment: a walk in the park, a ride on a ferris wheel. Whatever feels real to you.
For myself, I use these cues:
- Calmness: Lying in a field on a warm summer day, with my wonderful dog, Penny, by my side.
2. Intensity: Standing at the starting line of a road race as an 11 year old boy.
To prepare your cues for “primetime”:
Find a quiet place where you can sit for several minutes and reflect. Either have a pen/paper available, a computer, or tablet/phone. Repeat the process below for each cue you would like to create.
Close your eyes and transport yourself back in time to the moment you were experiencing the “target” feeling. Breath slowly, in and out, as you transport yourself into this scene from your life.
Once you are fully back in this moment, start to scan your body, from head to toe, and just notice what you are feeling. There are no right or wrong feelings, just notice the sensations in your body.
Next, explore each of your senses and bring back your full experience. For example: the feeling of the air on your face, The sounds of people, cars, animals, or music. The sights, colors, and images you see. The smell, or even tastes, of the environment you are in.
Take a few minutes to write down your experience. Keep it very short and simple. Start with a phrase that you will use to invoke these feelngs. For me it is “Dog in the Field” and “5k Race Day”. Write down the key images, sensations, and feelings that bring you back to these small and powerful moments in your life.
Summoning Your Cues
So now that you have created these cues, we want to put them to use.
Schedule a practice match and set as one of your intentions that you will call up these cues in the moments when you identify an unhelpful shift in your mindset.
Let’s say, for example, You are serving at 5-4 in the first set and you have just double-faulted at 40-15. You have another set point now at 40-30, but doubts and nervousness are creeping into your psyche. Here is what you can do:
- Begin your between-points routine.
- As you scan you body, notice the effect of your current emotional state. You recognize it is a little off from where you want it to be.
- Say your activating phrase: “Dog in the Field” or “FiveK Race Day” or “Easter Pie Baking” or anything that you have determined is real for you!
- Give yourself an few moments to breath in the experience that you have created and written about.
- 5. Return to feeling your feet on the ground, the racket in your hand, and your confident in the moment.
This entire process can take 5 seconds. And it will have a profound effect on what you will bring to the next point of the match.