Early US Open Exits – Mental or Physical?

Have you watched the action at the U.S. Open? A lot of surprises this year. We’ve seen some early exits by top seeded players… Are these early exits caused by a poor mental game or physical game?

For example, Ana Ivanovic lost to Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine in the opening round of the US Open. In this case, her first round exit was caused by a poor mental game, as she confessed…

“I think I’ve been thinking about everything too much and trying to address lots of issues with my game,” Ivanovic said.

“My fitness is at one level, mind at another, my game is at another level. I think these all these things have to marry to get into the right direction and have to fit.”

What’s the culprit? Ivanovic has lost trust in her game. She got sidetracked with too many methods or solutions…

“But I think it has also to do with the confidence, because many times when I’m in a position, I just don’t trust myself like I did before,” said Ana.

It’s easy for players to abandon what works for them when they don’t play up to expectations. She, like so many other players I know, got lost by trying to “fix” her game unnecessarily…

Her mind plays tricks. In her own words:

“When I start to not have the results that’s expected, I was going to have, that’s when my mind games play. That’s when I started to think and analyze about everything that’s been happening and trying to, you know, fix something that maybe it wasn’t broken,” said Ivanovic.

“But I tried to go different directions and tried to search for it elsewhere. And that’s when I feel like I went on a little, forcing, trying to change technique and some kind of areas of my game that were not necessary to do so.”

When you don’t play up to your expectations, do you make radical changes in your game? Do you change your technique or change instructors often?

I believe you have to make changes sometimes to improve your game. However, if you constantly search for “the secret” to great tennis, trust and confidence will suffer.

Practice is the time to improve your physical game. At match time, nothing is more important than trusting your practice and being mentally tough.

Why? Your training is complete (for the time being). No time to fix or make changes. You only have one option–you have to make the most of what you have and trust in your game!

If you want to learn all my secrets for boosting your confidence and trust in matches, grab your copy of my new CD program “Tennis Confidence” for HALF-OFF this week only:

Tennis Confidence CD and Workbook Program

Be one of the first 25 people to snag my new CD program, and get a complementary membership to peaksports network. There, you can access over 500 pages of mental training videos, articles, interviews, and tips on the mental game:

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Trust: Mental Toughness for Tennis Players

How much practice time do you think about technique and how to hit good shots? In Tennis Confidence video 1, I discussed the “academy mindset” and how young tennis players get trapped into a training mentality, which can lead to choking in matches. This mindset is OK for some of your practice, but not all of your practice time.

Two mindsets are important to playing to your potential in practice. The first is the training mindset, which you use in practice when trying to improve your game. The second is the performance mindset, which you use for matches when trying to perform your best and you are not worried about “how to” hit a good shot.

This leads me to a recent question that I received in my tennis psychology survey: “Why is it that I hit better when I don’t think about my technique? My shots are worse when I try too hard to think about how to hit.”

The problem starts in practice when you spend too much time in the practice mindset working on your strokes. Some of this is critical to your improvement, but you don’t want to get trapped in this mindset when you play. And that’s the mental game challenge. Can you trust in your skills learned in practice when you go play matches? You have to perform your best in matches, not hit perfect shots.

Let me digress for a moment. As you progress through the stages of learning a motor skill, the skill becomes more refined and more consistent. With overlearning – or a ton of practice – you can perform the skill without much thought. It just happens and you react to what’s happening on the court. At the advanced or expert stage of learning, your skills are well-learned, which allows you to play virtually on autopilot. This level of learning allows you to think more about strategy and targets instead of how to hit a good shot.

With a well-learned forehand, you can make a good stroke without thinking about how to make a good stroke because of your prior practice. But you get in your own way when you try to “coach” yourself through the shot (well-learned skill), thus reverting to an earlier stage of learning. You regress to a learning stage instead of playing shots based on instinct or practice. You get in your own way because you are giving your body too many instructions or “verbal commands” such as how to follow through properly, as Tim Gallewey would argue.

So your tennis psychology tip for today… You have to simplify your thinking on the court when you play. You have to trust what you have practiced. I refer to this as the study and take the test analogy: You study hard (through practice) and then take the closed-book test in matches. You test the effectiveness of your practice in competition – you don’t continue to study in competition.

One option is to perform with simple feelings or images instead of coaching yourself with verbal commands. For example, maybe you focus on tempo or balance only instead of all the “how-to” of stroke technique. Less is often better when it comes to how many thoughts and feelings you play with.

5 Reasons Tennis Players Choke in Matches

What’s the number one mental game skill tennis players want to learn about? According to my tennis psychology survey, you and other tennis players want to learn how to play as well in matches as you do in practice.

I was not surprised… One of my goals as a mental coach is to help you play up to your potential in competition. By potential, I mean perform in matches as well as you do in practice.

If you want to play up to your potential in matches, you first have to uncover what’s holding you back mentally. Unfortunately, the answer is not simple. I know of many reasons players under perform in matches.

The top reasons you might underperform in matches include:

• Ineffective practice or not practicing in a manner that helps you play
• Getting trapped in the mechanics of the game and thus practice stroke when you play
• Playing for the wrong reasons such as not wanting to embarrass yourself
• Fear of failure or tightening up and not playing freely
• Worry about letting others down if you don’t play up to their expectations (parents take note here)
•  And many other reasons.

I thought this was a great topic for my new tennis confidence video show I’ll be starting very soon….

In the videos, I’ll discuss several reasons why tennis players can’t play as well in matches as they do in practice. And I’ll give you solid mental strategies for overcoming these mental blocks.

One more topic: Do you want the fast track to improving your mental game?

If you prefer one-on-one coaching with a mental game expert, I can help. I realize most people can’t afford to work with me one-on-one.

If you want the personal attention of working with me without the big cost, I thought of one solution….

Would you like to participate in small group mental coaching sessions (two on one or three on one)? This way, you can still get the personal attention, but at a fraction of the cost of one-on-one coaching.

Just an idea. If you are interested in small group coaching, please shoot me an email and tell me you want more details.

And don’t worry, you can participate in mental coaching for tennis from anywhere in the world as long as you can access a conference line.

If you want more information about group mental coaching, just return this email and let me know your thoughts.

Your Mental Game of Tennis Expert,

Dr. Patrick J. Cohn

Tennis Psychology and Your Focus in Matches

Do you have trouble transferring what you learned from one sport to another? One golfer wanted to know how to transfer what he learned about the mental game of golf to tennis. As long as you understand the mental game demands in tennis, the concepts are very similar…

Here’s the new tennis psychology question:

“I came from a golfing background where I felt I had a decent mental game with a preshot routine and focused on the target. I have trouble translating that to tennis. In other words, where should my focus be in a particular situation?”

The concepts I teach in the mental game of golf are very similar to tennis psychology concepts. If you played well focusing on the target in golf, you are most likely a visual learner and performer, which is very common. If you are a visual performer in golf, you like to see images in your mind, such as shots and targets) to help trigger your swing.

You can still use routines between points. In fact, I encourage players to use a routine prior to each point and to help process the last point. I won’t talk about the details of a good pre-serve routine in this article, but I do want to help you with your tennis psychology question….

Your challenge with focus in matches may have to do with focusing on too many details of your technique and not enough on targets, especially if you are taking a lot of instruction in tennis. Most academy players work a ton on their forehand and backhand and very little on playing the game.

I see this with my daughter in tennis. Her coaches’ mentality is you have to learn how to hit the shots properly before you can learn how to play and hit targets, which I don’t buy into. I believe this causes players to focus too much on how to hit shots perfectly and not enough on targets and strategy, which you must also master to play well in matches.

Let me first say that your focus for practice should be different from your focus in matches. In practice, you want to focus on improving your shots and game. In matches, you should focus on strategy and hitting to targets. For example, if you have an open court down the line (during a match), should you focus on how to make a good stroke down the line or focus on hitting a spot down the line?

The answer to this question depends on who you ask…. Tennis coaches might argue you have to focus on the mechanics of a good stroke. My philosophy is that you have to focus on the target and trust in your skills (developed in practice) to hit a good shot.

As for your focus, the less you have to think about the better. You want to have a clear, calm mind, which allows you to react on the court, a similar concept I teach in golf too. If you over think your game or strokes, you don’t have time to react and focus on strategy!

Federer’s Mental Toughness and Maturity

I find that younger players with less tournament experience struggle with their emotional control more so that veteran players on Tour. With maturity and greater mental toughness comes increased emotional and mental control on the court.

Even Roger Federer early in his career would lose his composure on the court. But he’s learned to stay calm on the outside and inside as his mental toughness has matured with his experience and wins. He can see it in his opponents, which might turn into his advantage:

“I don’t get the anxiety during a match so much anymore. You know, to throw racquets, to toss balls out of the court, scream and stuff. I almost laugh [on the inside] about it a little bit today when an opponent does it. But that’s something for me that’s not a problem any more.”
~ Roger Federer

However, he does demand more of himself in practice and his frustration comes out. He lets it show in practice. You might argue that it helps him get up for practice and make changes. He does not like to show his anger in tournaments for more than one reason. He wants the respect of his fans and does not want to embarrass himself:

“But in practice that comes out much more often, you know, the frustration, let’s say, disappointment, and the anger and stuff. But, I don’t know, it’s just something that’s gone away over time. And I think, on the match court, it’s just a respect for the fans sitting there and not embarrassing myself, you know, in front of millions on the TV, as well.”
~ Roger Federer

He’s also concerned about kids who watch him play. He wants to set a good example for young kids in tennis even though he enjoyed – on some level – watching McEnroe throw racquets and get upset at officials:

“And maybe kids watching, as well. I want them to have a proper example. Even though I enjoyed watching Goran, McEnroe, these guys throwing racquets. I thought it was funny. But at the same time, I don’t think a tennis player needs to act this way. I think there are different ways, I hope, that kids get inspired other than throwing racquets.”
~Roger Federer

One thing I find interesting about Federer’s mental game based on the quotes above is how much he thinks about embarrassing himself and the image he portrays to kids about his behavior on the court. If concern about what others think about your behavior on the court helps you stay composed, this can be a positive. However, based on what I know about tennis psychology, athletes that worry about what others think have fear of failure and tighten up. But it must work for Federer.

Practice to Play: Tennis Mind Misfiring?

The number one reason tennis players seek mental game training is because they can’t perform as well in matches as they do in practice. Their mind game is getting the way of their tennis performance on the court. In most cases, if you can’t take your practice game to matches, you lack trust or confidence in your skills. For example, I received the following question in my tennis psychology survey:

“How can I help to trust my shots under pressure and why do I play so well in practice and not as well in matches?”

During mind training for tennis, I teach my students about two mindsets you must possess to be successful in tennis or any sport. The first is the training or practice mindset. Top tennis players understand the value of training. They strive to get better and to improve. They have a tremendous amount of motivation and work ethic, which help them to practice hard so they can master their skills.

However, the trusting or performance mindset is more important for success in tennis matches. Trust is your ability to let your skills “happen” instinctively by relying on your practice instead of consciously directing your movements. The performance mindset is the ability to rely on your practice, perform freely, and allow your skills to flow without excess thought.

The bottom line… If you focus too much of your time in a training mindset or are stuck in the practice mentality, this will show up in a lack of trust on the court during matches. You will limit your ability to play like you do in practice because of too much analysis, trying too hard to be perfect, and a loss of freedom.

What’s ads to the problem is tennis players feel more pressure to succeed in tournaments. They want to win badly or don’t want to embarrass themselves by under performing or getting beat to a lesser player.

Here are three tennis psychology tips to help you perform better in matches:

1. Stop coaching yourself to perfection on the court. You can try to be perfect in practice, but you must accept that you cannot be perfect in matches. It’s irrational to think you can be perfect with your game and not hit any bad shot. You can strive for perfection in your practice, but you have to accept errors as a natural part of tennis, and part of being human.

2. Give yourself permission to make errors when playing matches. I don’t want you to expect that you will make errors, but you certainly must accept them when you commit errors. Give yourself the luxury of making 3-4 errors for each match so you can play on in a functional mindset and win ugly.

3. Allow yourself to play efficiently instead of perfectly. This means that you have to abandon the “correct” way to perform in some cases. Use whatever works to help you get the job done in competition. For example, instead of needing to execute a perfect backhand down-the-line winner, be happy with a high percentage shot that maybe was not “textbook” execution.

Do you have a question for me on sports psychology and tennis? Please take my tennis psychology survey.

Commiting to Your Mental Game of Tennis

I recently had a tennis player sign up for one of my sports psychology programs, but who has trouble following through with it. He does this with every part of his tennis game. He also has trouble working on his weaknesses. Here is the post he made recently in my tennis psychology survey:

“How do I commit myself to work on the things I need to improve on? I know I should work on my mental game more, but I don’t. I know I should go out and serve a basket of serves a day, but I don’t. For some reason I’ll put in 4-5 hours of practice a day plus conditioning on top of that, but I don’t have the motivation to work on my areas of the game that I’m struggling with the most.”

He went on to talk about his commitment to his mental game for tennis:

“I love the sport to death. If I just had the commitment to the things I really need to work on, I feel my game will go up several spots. Here is an example. I signed up for this program with you…trying to stay committed with it. It worked out for the first few weeks. And then it stopped. I have no idea why. I feel I guess I just don’t need to work on it anymore, but that’s not true. I’ve done my share of research through other programs like yours and I chose yours out of six others… I love the way you speak and the way you deliver your material for me to comprehend. For some reason, out of the blue… I just stopped!”

Here is my response to this player:

Most players have a difficult time working on their weaknesses in practice because they are not as fun to practice – that’s why they are weaknesses! Many players love to pracitce their strenghts. To me, you don’t have a solid practice plan for tennis. Your practice should not be random. You should look at your match statistics and develop a practice plan based on your strengths and weaknesses.

I also sense you are searching for the secret to great tennis. I do believe you should be searching. It’s similar to jumping from instructor to instructor looking for the magic potion to help you become successful. In sports psychology for tennis, we talk about sticking with what works and keep going back to the well. Don’t go searching for the magic pill to make you a complete player.

As for neglecting your mental game of tennis or lack of commitment to it after starting a program, this is very common in my work. I think you started to improve you mind game for tennis, and then forgot to do what helped you improve your mind game. You abandoned what mental edge you had because you felt like you were “fixed.” This term does not apply in my work as a tennis psychology expert. You are never fixed and have a perfect mind game. You have to stay on top of it constantly – making adjustments with each match you play and every mental game error you make.

So you are doing many of the right things to help you become successful in tennis, but there’s no follow-through. You abandon what works or has worked and jump to something else. My suggestion is to develop a practice plan to help you succeed - mentally and physically – long term and then be patient. Set goals based on what you want to improve. Commit to your practice goals. Rely on experts and your stats to tell you what to work on with your physical and mental game of tennis. Stick with your program and make small modifications based on your match performance.

Do you have a question for me on sports psychology and tennis? Please take my tennis psychology survey.