How Do Find Confidence in Elite Tennis
What is the most effective recipe for confidence and success in tennis?
First of all, confidence is a prerequisite for success. If your confidence is low, you may still win a few matches, but you will lack consistent results and continually fall short of your potential.
The recipe for confidence is not complicated. However, many players overlook the need to work to improve their confidence, even though they understand it is necessary for peak performance.
That is why they often find themselves in a state of constant frustration after receiving lackluster results and underperforming in tournaments.
For elite-level confidence, there are three essential elements:
1. Competing from Your Strengths – Top confidence begins with understanding your strengths, both physical and mental, and creating a tactical game plan that takes advantage of your core strengths. Knowing your strengths helps you develop confidence and trust in your game.
2. Preparing at a High Level – Preparation isn’t just physical, but also mental and tactical. When you are committed to complete preparation, you leave no stone unturned. It’s preparation that helps you play composed and poised under pressure.
3. Working to Improve Your Whole Game – Even though you should compete from your strengths, you need to improve on weaker parts of your game to become a complete player. When you are a complete player, you will feel confident competing against any player or playing style.
Confidence grows when you work to overcome your limitations instead of avoiding them.
Victoria Mboko, 18, began the year ranked No. 333. Mboko won her first events of the season and steadily climbed the rankings to No. 156, achieving an overall record of 33 wins to just three losses.
While Mboko’s emergence may seem sudden, she has put in the work to develop physically, mentally, and tactically. Mboko knows her strengths, and she gameplans according to those strengths.
MBOKO: “I like to be very powerful, and I like to take control of the point. I like things at my own pace, I don’t like people rushing me.”
With each match and tournament throughout this season, Mboko’s confidence has grown, not necessarily due to wins but as a result of her preparation.
Mboko has worked with former No. 3 WTA player and coach Nathalie Tauziat to expand her skill set and feel more comfortable in various circumstances that arise during a competitive match.
MBOKO: “[Tauziat] is pushing me more to use all aspects of my game, because that’s how she used to play. I feel like she has been using her expertise very well — she knows the game, and she knows what I’m able to produce. Sometimes we work on my slices. She wants me to come more to the net and be more all-around, so that if any situation comes up in the match, I’m there and I’m prepared for it.”
Confidence is not a mysterious quality reserved for the lucky few; it is a mental skill available and accessible to all tennis players, which can be developed daily through intention, effort, and mental training.
Confidence is not something given to you but something you work for. To build strong confidence, ask yourself the following questions:
What are my strengths, and how can I leverage those strengths in matches?
How can I improve my mental, physical, and tactical preparation?
How can I improve my overall game, including the weaker parts of my game?
When you compete from your strengths, prepare with purpose, and actively work to improve your weaknesses, confidence becomes a game-changer.
Related Tennis Psychology Articles
- What Comes First? Confidence or Success in Sports
- Boosting Confidence in Young Tennis Players
- Do You Have Unshakeable Confidence?
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