John Isner’s Will to Win

History was made at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, when John Isner and Nicolas Mahut battled on the court for a record 11 hours, 5 minutes spread over three days. Both players displayed remarkable mental toughness throughout the match, but Inser took the victory 70-68 in the fifth set. “It was the will to win. Not that I outwilled him; I mean, obviously, he gave it his all,” Isner said.

Reasonably, both men were wiped out when it was all said and done. Isner “was incoherent” for 20 minutes, according to his coach, Craig Boynton. “We played the greatest match ever, in the greatest place to play tennis,” said Mahut. Each player gave it their all leaving everything they had on the court day after day. “It was really painful, but I knew I couldn’t hold anything back,” said Mahut.

To be successful in tennis you must have the mental toughness to overcome adversity, keep your composure, and maintain a high level of performance. “I kept telling myself to stay focused on finishing strong after I missed a shot. I knew I would eventually get my look,” Isner said.  

Isner was able to keep his composure by sticking with his strategy, and not letting mistakes affect his ability to perform at a high level. To do this you need to develop mental strength that compliments your tennis skills, and avoid frustration. Practice and training will help you achieve mental strength, but it is import that you avoid frustration between points. Frustration only works in favor of your opponent.

“It was frustrating at times, but I didn’t let it get to me or throw me off my game,” said Isner. Do not be afraid to make mistakes. Every athlete makes mistakes, but the ability to maintain confidence and focus on the next play separates talented athletes from the elite.  Leave it all on the court! Let your mental strength, abilities, and preparation guide your performance.

How to Perform Well Under Pressure

Most tennis players encounter pressure during matches. What is pressure? Pressure occurs when you feel like you should win, have to play well or worry about the consequences of losing. You can feel increased pressure during critical moments in the match (e.g. third set tiebreaker). You can also feel pressure from parents or coaches who expect you to win matches or play well. When you react negatively to pressure, you can underperform.

Pressure is based on your expectations about how you think you should perform in match. Expectations are set unreasonably high, making it difficult to reach them. Examples of expectations might include playing with the perfect technique or strategy or not having any unforced errors. When you are not performing up to your expectations, you feel added pressure. You can tighten up, play tentatively and try to avoid mistakes.

We received a few questions about playing under pressure:

(1) How to play under pressure?
(2) What am I supposed to do when I become tight in the match?

To play well under pressure, you’ll need to stop focusing on the results of the match. You don’t want to obsess about what might happen. “What if I lose the next point?” “What if I’m down in the 3-4 in the set?” The key is not to get head of yourself or dwell on what might happen and instead focus on execution.

The bottom line is that thinking about results doesn’t help you execute. The minute you notice you’re focusing on results, you’ll want to refocus on what’s important. You’ll want to think about your strategy for the next point, how you will play to your strengths or your target for the upcoming shot. You’ll want to play each point as if nothing happened before, as if it is the start of the match.

Pressure can cause players to tighten up. You don’t want to panic when you feel tight, which can cause you to tighten up even more. Between points you can take some time to relax your muscles or take a deep breath. Relax your racquet in your non-dominant hand or shake your arm to release the tension. Direct your focus to your strategy for the next point. When you divert your focus away from how tight you feel or the results, you will be able to perform better in the moment.

Do You Perform Better Under Pressure?

Pressure can be both an advantage and disadvantage for your game depending on how you interpret the pressure. Some tennis players thrive under pressure, whereas other players fold under pressure. 

Serena Williams thinks pressure is harmful to her game. Williams played her first tournament after a long layoff at the Italian Open this week. She struggled to find her groove, but was able to come out with a win beating Andrea Petkovic 6-2 3-6 6-0.

“I went in there thinking I can win or I can lose. You never know what can happen and I didn’t put too much pressure on myself. I got off to a little bit of a slow start, but it was good and I was able to fight it off,” said Williams.

Self-impossed expectations are often a source of pressure for athletes. You can set the bar so high that it’s very hard to achieve. Expectations are synonymous with pressure because they cause you to focus on the outcomes and lose focus in the moment.

What’s the solution? First, you want to understand what strict expectations you place on your game. Some players expect to have a perfect match, not make any errors, or never double fault, for example. What happens when you don’t perform up to your expectations? A sudden lose of confidence, in many cases.

Once you pinpoint your expectations, you’ll want to discard them. You simply note your have expectations and focus instead on something more helpful to your game. You’ll want to focus on smaller objectives or mini-goals during your match, such as to have quick feet.

The goal is to replace your expectations with smaller goals that help you focus on expecution instead of results. You might concentrate on a strategy or picking a target. Please don’t judge how well you are accomplishing your mini-goals. Your process goals help you focus in the moment, and are not intended to help you judge your performance during the match.

Your tennis psychology tip is to let go of pressure-packed expectations so you can perform free of pressure. Set smaller goals to help you focused on what’s important to playing one point at a time.

Help Tennis Juniors Cope with Mistakes

Frustrated parents and coaches of young athletes contact us everyday about their kids’ inability to handle mistakes or cope with imperfection in sports. As a matter of fact, 43% of sports parents and coaches we surveyed agreed that kids struggle to let go and stay composed after mistakes.

For this reason, we have an exciting new Workbook and CD program for parents, coaches, and their young athletes--available at the end of the week. However, you can preview our new program, The Composed Sports Kid, by watching the video below. Learn how to help your kids cope better with frustration today!

In this short video,

• Learn the #1 reason kids get frustrated!
• Discover why kids shut down after mistakes!
• Find out the fastest way to help kids cope with mistakes!
• Learn why one simple strategy can help your kids have more fun in sports!

Watch video 1 and video 2 in this series>>

1. How Young Athletes Become Frustrated – A Model for Parents and Coaches

2. Helping Young Athletes Improve Composure in Sports

NEW! MARCH 5, 2010

 

Playing Your Best Tennis Under Pressure

 Welcome to session number fifty two of The Tennis Psychology Podcast. Dr. Patrick Cohn at Sports Psychology for Tennis, is a mental game of tennis expert and helps tournament players, tennis coaches and parents improve confidence, focus, and composure using sports psychology strategies.

In this week’s tennis psychology session, Dr. Cohn teaches you how to play your best when it matters most. Many tennis players tend to under perform in close matches. Listen to this mental game of tennis podcast to learn how to play your best tennis under pressure.

 

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*Download The Tennis Psychology Podcast #52 (right click and “save as” to your computer)

Subscribe to The Tennis Psychology Podcast via iTunes

*Submit your mental game of tennis question to Dr. Cohn at Peak Performance Sports

*Download a free tennis psychology report to improve your mindset between points

Improve Your Mental Toughness for Tennis Quickly with Dr. Cohn’s new Tennis Confidence audio program!

Tennis Podcast: Boost Trust Under Pressure

Welcome to session number thirty three of The Tennis Psychology Podcast. Dr. Patrick Cohn at Sports Psychology for Tennis, is a mental game of tennis expert and helps tournament players, tennis coaches and parents improve confidence, focus, and composure using sports psychology strategies.

In this week’s tennis psychology session, Dr. Cohn teaches you how to trust in your skills when under pressure. Many tennis players tend to tighten up and play tenatively under pressure. Listen to the podcast to learn the mental keys to playing freely under pressure.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

*Download The Tennis Psychology Podcast #33  (right click and “save as” to your computer)

Subscribe to The Tennis Psychology Podcast via iTunes

*Submit your mental game of tennis question to Dr. Cohn at Peak Performance Sports

*Download a free tennis psychology report to improve your mindset between points

Improve Your Mental Toughness for Tennis Quickly with Dr. Cohn’s new Tennis Confidence audio program!

Andy Murray’s Tournament Mindset

Andy Murray’s performance at Wimbledon hasn’t disappointed fans. The Scot came out with both guns blazing to dismantle Stanislas Wawrinka in the 4th round in a thrilling five-setter 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.

Not to mention that a Brit hasn’t won Wimbledon for 73 years since Fed Perry in 1936. Murray isn’t worried about carrying the hopes of a nation on his shoulders. He believes he can win Wimbledon.

“I said at every tournament I play I go in with the mentality that I’m gonna win the tournament. I think if you don’t, then when you get into a winning position, you know, you get nervous or you’re not sort of expecting it. You know, sometimes that can, I don’t know, get to you mentally,” said Murray.

Andy Murray is all about not playing to your comfort zone. When you play to a comfort zone, you expect a certain result. You might expect to lose against a player seeded higher than you.

When you are playing better than expected (such as leading against the player seeded higher than you), you start to tighten up, try to avoid mistakes and sit on your lead. When you do that, chances are, your lead will slip away and you start to lose confidence. Against an experienced player, regaining that momentum may be an uphill battle.

What’s the solution to playing beyond your comfort zone? Andy Murray suggests you believe in your skills.

“I think if you go into every match believing you can win and giving it your best shot, then, you know, you’re not gonna be totally shocked if you get to that position where you’re serving for the match or whatever,” said Murray.

Approach each match without expectations, but with high confidence. It doesn’t matter that your opponent beat you three times before or your opponent’s seeding at the tournament. What matters is the current match, shot and strategy. When you’re in a position to win the match, the key is to play freely and continue to go for your shots.

The Real Culprit to Tension in Tennis

Do your strokes feel controlled or tight in competition compared to practice? If so, I have an important tip for you today…

I wanted to follow up with you on my last post by highlighting a recent question I received from a tennis player:

Question:

“I don’t understand how I can hit backhands in practice easily and when I go to play a match, I can’t hit one backhand. I freeze and the tension won’t let me hit the backhand.”

Here’s my answer:

If your strokes feel tight in matches compared to practice, that’s a sign your mind is getting in the way and not allowing you to let go…

You must find the real culprit to the tension. You probably think tension is the real problem.

But having worked with high-level athletes for over 20 years, I know better. The “tension” you feel does not happen all on its own. Something else is at the root of the problem, which most players and coaches don’t see on the surface.

Here’s what I mean: Most likely, when you play in matches, the outcome is more important to you (for many reasons I won’t go into here). For most players, they want to play well or win so badly and they can’t handle failure.

This mindset causes you to worry about failing or not playing to your capabilities, a root cause of fear of failure.

Now take note, here is the real culprit to the tension – the fear of making errors cause you to lose trust in your strokes. The lack of trust causes the tension, but this started with the fear of messing up or wanting to play well so badly.

OK, the short version… “I want this badly” > “Don’t screw up” > avoidance mindset > lack of trust > tension > “my backhand feels tight and controlled.”

So, you have to get to the root cause of the tension instead of band aiding “tension” with relaxation training. Most people don’t get this and look for quick fixes to rid themselves of tension.

What’s the solution? The only way you are going to play freely and trust your strokes is to rid yourself of the fear or pressure-packed expectations you have about match results….

You’ll learn how to do this (and a lot of other cool stuff) in my new program, “Tennis Confidence: Mental Toughness for Tournament Players.”

I want you to stop thinking of using band aids to address the problem. A complete overhaul and tune up of your mental game is on the way….

My new program is going to change the way you think – literally – about your game!

Doors will open Thursday at 9:00 AM eastern time. And I’ve got a special surprise for you and my other followers.

Your Tennis Confidence Coach,

Dr. Patrick J. Cohn

p.s. Preview Tennis Confidence: Mental Toughness for Tournament Players

Mind Game for Beating Weaker Players

Does your player get tight, tense, or worry about playing someone who she is supposed to beat? Many tennis kids I’ve talked to feel more pressure to win when they are supposed to win, others expect them to win, or when playing a lower ranked player. Why? You would assume your tennis player would have more confidence knowing they can beat an opponent that might not be as good?

Here’s a recent question from my tennis psychology survey about this very issue:

“My daughter feels more pressure and plays scared when she thinks she should or is supposed to beat players not as good as her. How can she play her best when she feels she should win the match?”

This mental game of tennis challenge comes down to the player’s expectations about what should or should not happen in a match. She focuses too much on outcomes and worries about what other will say or think if she loses a match she is supposed to win. Often it’s the player’s assumptions about what others expect from her that are the problem.

What’s the mindset to overcome this mental game challenge for kids in junior tennis? First, I would want her to stop paying attention or giving energy to her opponents’ ranking or seeding. Approach every match to perform your best each point and every shot without dwelling on winning.

Second, I would want your daughter to stop focusing on the outcome of the match. This is the main source of stress for her – thinking too much about the outcome and what ifs…. “What if I lose and embarrass myself?” “What will my coach think if I lose to this player in the first round?” You get the idea… Stop projecting the match outcome and focus on your strategy for the first game. Don’t get a head of yourself.

Third, I want her to have confidence that the better player will win. If you think you are the better player, take confidence with you into the match without the expectations of who SHOULD win or not win. Confidence without expectation is the ideal mindset for success. Pure confidence in your skills says you are prepared and ready to play your best. Confidence makes no assumptions about who should win the match. It only prepares you to play your best on every point.

Tennis Podcast: Play Freely Under Pressure

Welcome to session number eighteen of The Tennis Psychology Podcast. Dr. Patrick Cohn at Sports Psychology for Tennis, is a mental game of tennis expert and helps tournament players, tennis coaches and parents improve confidence, focus, and composure using sports psychology strategies.

In this week’s tennis psychology session, you’ll learn how to play freely under pressure. Many tennis players freeze up under pressure. Dr. Cohn teaches you the top mental strategies to keep your confidence under pressure.

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*Download The Tennis Psychology Podcast #18  (right click and “save as” to your computer)

Subscribe to The Tennis Psychology Podcast via iTunes

*Submit your mental game of tennis question to Dr. Cohn at Peak Performance Sports

*Download a free tennis psychology report to improve your mindset between points

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