Nadal Mental Toughness: Know Who You Are

I love the psychology of tennis during big tournaments. The momentum shifts of a final match, such as Federer and Nadal in the 2009 Australian Open, are so fun to watch. Most tennis fans see the shots and strategy, but don’t pick up the psychology of the match – at least as much as I do.

As a tennis psychology expert, I could see Federer tighten up in the fifth set and make more mental errors causing more physical errors. Federer had 14 unforced errors in the set to Nadal’s two unforced errors. Did Federer feel the pressure to win and thus tighten up or did he mysteriously lose his ground strokes in the final set? Yes, the psychology of tennis usually determines the winner of the match.

Nadal didn’t have to say a lot after the final match, but I was able to catch a couple tennis psychology gems from his post-match interview…

He was asked if winning the match made him a better person, a crazy question, but a good answer from Nadal. I loved this quote from Nadal about not changing as a person:

“I just won an important title for my career. But I’m no better five hours before than now, no? When you win an important match. But you have to know before the match who you are and after the match you have to know who you are, too. You are the same, no?”
~Rafael Nadal

You have to know who you are. Great stuff from Nadal! What does he mean? From a psychology of tennis perspective, this concept may have helped Nadal win the tournament. I’ll tell you why. Many athletes define themselves through their achievement or lack of success. They allow their performance to dictate how they feel about themselves as a person. This is a problem for me in my work with athletes.

Maybe Federer put too much pressure on himself to win because he wanted to regain the #1 spot in the world? Maybe he wanted it so badly so he could feel better about himself whereas Nadal didn’t care how it affected him as the person? This is common in my work, but I can only speculate.

Your tennis psychology tip for today: Know who you are on the inside – the person – before you play. That way, your success or failure in the match will not change how you feel about yourself as a person and you can leave the court happy with yourself no matter what.

Your comments are welcome. Please post them below.

Tennis Kids Just Want to Have Fun

OK, my daughter – age 10 – and I were practicing this week to prepare for a local USTA tournament. I got frustrated one day with her lack of motivation and inability to focus during practice. My philosophy: do it right or don’t do it at all. But I forget: young kids have difficult time focusing in practice when they don’t have enough fun or feel challenged. You know, Dad can be boring!

I can tell right from the start of practice that she was not going to focus or try - as if she did not want to be at practice. She wanted to go back to watching Hanna Montana. Dad was boring her to death… Tennis kids have a hard time understanding the relationship between focus in practice and their performance in matches. But I know better…. It’s not enough to show up, you have to practice with the same intensity, focus, and effort that you would give in a tournament.

We call this practice specificity in sports psychology for tennis. You want your practice to match the intensity and focus required to play well in matches. The closer you can make your practice to match situations, the more effective practice is. But I don’t think kids understand this relationship because they just want to have fun with friends and play games – at least this is my daughter’s orientation in tennis. She has to be excited about something to get her head in the game.

I cannot motivate her to focus in practice if she does not want give 100%. Maybe that’s why I get frustrated at times. I tried to tell her that everything she does in life, not just tennis, should be with full focus and effort. Why give anything less? So, I pulled out a “contract” we put together stating that he would give 100% focus and effort in her tennis practice. In return, I would treat her to an occasional smoothie or ice cream after practice. I reminded her we had a deal together.

We also discussed the idea that she should hit shots in practice as if she was playing in a tournament. She’s usually motivated and focused for tournaments. She responded, “But it’s just practice, not a match.” I guess she didn’t understand my point about practicing with the same intensity as a match. For this reason, you have to involve kids in play and games instead of just drilling them on the perfect forehand. Kids get bored quickly with “drills” if they do not have an outcome or game component to the drills.

I was able to cap a parental urge to push my tennis kid beyond what she was able to do that day, but learned a valuable lesson: Tennis kids must be self-motivated, have personal incentives to play, and push themselves towards success.

Do you want more sports psychology articles, videos, and e-books for tennis kids, check out Kids’ Sports Psychology.

Tennis Psychologist Not For Every Player

Using a tennis psychologist might not be for every tennis players. And I’ll tell you why in just a moment… But first I want to discuss the role of sports psychology in tennis.

The goal of sports psychology for tennis is to help players perform their best by improving the necessary mental game skills to excel in tournaments. Tennis psychology seeks to achieve the overall goal of performance improvement and enhancing consistency in your performance. No voodoo or psychoanalysis here. And sports psychology for tennis players is not about working with problem players or bad behavior.

I prefer to use the title “mental game coach” because I think players can relate to this title better than “tennis psychologist” or “sports psychologist.” Mental game coaching is education and not therapy – its’ another facet of performance enhancement similar to functional training.

I go out of my way to make sure my students understand that I am not trained in traditional “psychopathology” nor have a license to practice psychology. My professional background is in education, physical education, sports, and sports psychology. My experience also comes from the sports world as a former athlete, coach, and for the last 20 plus years, as a mental game coach to athletes.

How do you know when you need or could benefit from tennis psychology? I start by asking some important questions. Are you performing up to the ability you have shown in practice? Do you perform as well in tournaments as you do in practice? I am sure you know some fellow tennis players who have been labeled with “great talent” or physical skills, but have not performed up to their full potential. This is a primary sign that one’s mindset may be getting in the way of performance and when a tennis psychologist or mental coach is warranted.

Here are some other questions to consider:

• Are you so self-conscious that you worry about what others think about your performance?
• Do you have any doubts about your tennis game before or during matches?
• Do you get so anxious that you don’t have a calm mind or think straight in matches?
• Are you motivated by a fear of failure and does this affects your performance in matches?
• Do you get distracted easily by things that go on around you in your environment?
• Do you become easily frustrated when things do not go according to plan?

Working with a sports psychologist may not be appropriate for every tennis player. Not every person wants to “improve performance.” Sport psychology for tennis is probably not for recreational players who participate for the social component and to have a fun weekend. Moreover, if you do not spend time improving fitness or working with a coach, most likely you will not adhere to a mental coaching program.

Young tennis players whose parents force them to see a sports psychologist are not good candidates either when the child does not understand or see the utility in mental game coaching. It is very important that a player understand the importance of mental coaching and wants to improve his or her mental game without the motivation to satisfy a parent. Similarly, an athlete who sees a mental game expert only to satisfy a coach will not apply mental training.

Sports Psychology does apply to a wide variety of serious tennis players such as tournaments players. Most of my students (junior, high school, college, and professional athletes) are highly committed to excellence and seeing how far they can go in sports. They love competition and testing themselves against the best in their sport. They understand the importance of a positive attitude and mental toughness. These athletes want every possible advantage they can get including the mental edge over the competition.

Sports Psychology is about improving your attitude and mental game skills to help you perform your best by identifying limiting beliefs and embracing a healthier philosophy about tennis.

Below are some ways tennis players can benefit from a tennis psychologist or mental game coach:

• Improve focus and deal with distractions.
• Grow confidence and cope with doubts.
• Develop coping skills to deal with setbacks and errors.
• Find the right zone of intensity for optimal tennis performance.
• To instill a healthy belief system and identify irrational thoughts.
• Improve or balance motivation for optimal performance.
• To develop game-specific strategies and game plans.
• To identify and enter the “zone” more often

Want more information? Check out my sports psychology programs for tennis players.