Showing posts with label tennis mental game. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tennis mental game. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

How Tennis can help you


Growing up watching tennis on TV . I always wanted to play tennis. Bay area has the right weather and all the free public courts , it was so hard not to play.

Its not only the fitness , Tennis can actually help in other aspects as well  , even if you are a amateur player . Here are some of them in my view

Look ahead   -  always look ahead and stay motivated . No matter what your fault is (Missed a easy volley on break point ,Just double faulted ,Missed a easy forehand ) . If you keep thinking about it , your game will just get worst and you will lose poorly . Forget what just happened and look ahead to what can be done ahead . Some coaches even say , having a short term memory will help you a lot

Don't waste an Opportunity  - Tennis is a mental game ,I would roughly translate it to "Not all points are the same " . Also it's a game which you can score more points than your opponent and still lose the match . So when you have an opportunity you have to make the most use of it . Think about the "Percentage plays"  e.g if your opponent is a base liner and misses most points at the net . Try to get him to the net .If your opponent has a weak back hand try to attack that side on the important point .

Start Over - If you lose a set , its not over . Even if you lose the set 6-0, you get a fresh start for a new set .Think about all the things that are not working and  how you can switch things . e.g if you have a poor first serve percentage , you can take something off the serve and get more percentage of serves in .

Preparation - not only for professional tennis but even at amateur level preparation is a key . All  the drills in the court , strength training  , good  warm up will pay off at the end . The more you prepare the sweeter is your victory , even though there are no $ signs :(

Calculated Risk - Risk taking will vary depending on the kind of player . It will almost be essential if you are playing some one better than you . E.g if you play some one who is a great returner . You are winning only 20% of your second serve points . Have to go for more on the 2nd serve , don't think about double faulting as you are wining only 20% any way !

That looked like lot of tennis talk  , but look at just the headings and what you practice every time as you play , something that can help you ... what do you think ?