Samantha Stosur’s Match Toughness

Tennis players constantly work on improving their strokes. While that’s important, many players lose sight of the importance of match play. Players can gain experience and confidence from playing lots of matches. Match play allows you to work on your between point routines, battle back when you’re down, and strive to keep your momentum going when you’re playing well. Without match play, it becomes difficult for players to transfer their practice to matches.

Sam Stosur won her first round match at the French Open. Stosur has now reached the French Open final where she will meet Francesca Schiavone. In her first round match, Stosur beat Simona Halep 7-5, 6-1. She attributes her first round victory to playing lots of matches and building her confidence. Stosur was down 2-4 the first set, but was able to bounce back from the deficit.

“Confidence is a good thing. When you play a lot and win a lot of matches, you’re feeling good, and that being 4-2 down doesn’t make you panic. You still feel like you’re in the match and all that kind of thing. You know, like I said before, I didn’t think it was a big deal, and broke back and was 5-4 up. So then, you know, it totally swings back around,” said Stosur.

Match play is important to your mental game. During matches, you may experience frustration after mistakes. You may tighten up during critical points. Think of playing matches not only to improve your skills and strategy, but also your mental game. You can find out what your mental game challenges are during match play. These same mental challenges might not be as noticeable in practice.

“I think my preparation going into this year’s tournament is a lot better than last year. I’ve played a lot more matches, won a lot more matches, so I’m feeling a lot more confident than what I was last year. Obviously last year, as the week went on, all that kind of was erased. It didn’t really matter what happened before the French. It was right there, which is kind of the same this year. But going into it, I feel like I’m playing better and probably more confident now than what I was this time last year,” said Stosur.

Your tennis psychology tip is to play practice matches and not just work to perfect your strokes! There is no substitute to match play. Playing matches can help you improve your mental toughness as well as your tennis skills. Use your matches to help build your confidence for future matches.

Play Your Best Tennis When Down in Matches

Welcome to session number fifty five 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 you’re down in a match. Many tennis players tighten up and go for too much when down in a match. Listen to this mental game of tennis podcast to learn how to play relaxed tennis.

 

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*Download The Tennis Psychology Podcast #55 (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: Serve Better in Matches

Welcome to session number fifty four 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 answers a question from a tennis player who serves better in practice. Many tennis players have trouble serving their best in matches. Listen to this mental game of tennis podcast to learn how to serve your best in matches.

 

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*Download The Tennis Psychology Podcast #54 (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!

Trust When Playing A Tough Opponent

Welcome to session number fifty 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 play your relaxed tennis when playing a tough opponent. Many tennis players become anxious and tighten up during tough matches. Listen to this mental game of tennis podcast to learn how to play your best tennis.

 

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*Download The Tennis Psychology Podcast #53 (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: Letting Go of Past Mistakes

Welcome to session number forty six 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 let go of mistakes and play on with composure. Many tennis players get frustrated when they make mistakes, which cause players to lose focus and under perform. Listen to the podcast to learn how to forget about past mistakes.

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*Download The Tennis Psychology Podcast #46 (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: How to Trust in Your Practice

 Welcome to session number forty five 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 practice in matches. Many tennis players under perform in match play. Listen to the podcast to learn how to develop a trusting mindset in matches.

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*Download The Tennis Psychology Podcast #45 (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!

Do You Play Better in Practice than Matches?

Welcome to session number forty 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 play as well in matches as you do in practice. Many tennis players play well in practice, but have a hard time transferring their skills to matches. Listen to the podcast to learn how to trust in your practice and perform well in matches.

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*Download The Tennis Psychology Podcast #43 (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!

Do You Become Nervous in Matches?

Welcome to session number forty 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 the top strategies to overcome feeling nervous during a match. Many tennis players play tenatively and under perform when they feel nervous or anxious. Listen to the podcast to learn how to play free of anxiety to play your best.

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*Download The Tennis Psychology Podcast #42 (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!

Dementieva Finds ‘A Winning Way’

Elena Dementieva’s success at the Rogers Cup in Toronto hadn’t been great – until now. Dementieva hadn’t made it past the second round (besides her semi final loss in 2003) since playing on the professional tour. Putting her record aside, Dementieva was able to come out with a win against Sharapova, 6-4, 6-3.

Dementieva almost let the first set slip away with a 4-1 lead, where she was broken twice. Dementieva broke back to take the lead and the set 6-4.

“Sometimes you have to find a winning way when something goes wrong, and that’s what happened today. I was not playing at my best, but I was able to find a winning way.”

When something goes wrong, some players panic, lose confidence, or fix their stroke or fold under pressure. What can go wrong during a match? You might have a string of unforced errors on your backhand side. You might think your opponent made a bad line call. You might have trouble executing your game plan for the match. No matter what goes wrong in a match, you can make adjustments, or find a winning way.

How can you find a winning way?

You do what you have to win. You might play inside the baseline and take the ball early. You might find that you’re winning points on your slice backhand. Whatever your strategy is, stay committed to it! You’ll have to make adjustments to your game to get the job done.

Dementieva made some adjustments to her game:

“I just feel I played a huge day. I was fighting for every point, so many long rallies. It was not the way I like to play – it was a more defensive game today – but against her, it’s very hard to be aggressive because she puts a lot of pressure on the first two shots, so you need to work on defense before you have your chances to go for your shots,” said Dementieva.

Your tennis psychology tip today is to have a plan b (and c). You’re not going to be on your game each time. Your ability to make adjustments and grind out when you’re not playing your best can help you come out with a win. Once you find a way to win, stick to your game plan and let the rest take care of itself.

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.

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*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!

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