Leaving Your Matches on The Court
Do you beat yourself up after you’ve lost a match? Do you have a hard time forgetting about your losses or matches where you’ve played poorly?
If you do, you might define your self or person (not player) based on your tennis performance. You essentially attach your self-esteem to your tennis performance. This is a common mistake that many tennis players make.
When you define your self based on your tennis performance in matches, you might use tennis as a way to boost your self-esteem, or feel better about yourself.
But, what happens when your tennis game isn’t working the way you want it to?
You don’t feel good about yourself. You can’t forget your losses or matches where you played poorly.
The key is to learn to separate your self-esteem from your tennis performance.
This isn’t always easy to do, but James Blake has mastered how to get past his losses…
Blake recently lost to Gonzales at the BNP Baribas Open in the third round.
“When I get off the tennis court, I put it behind me. I have to put the losses behind me. I think you have to do that, especially at this age. I beat myself up so much the first few years I was on tour, and, you know, still get pretty upset at myself. But I’m doing much better job now hopefully tomorrow putting it behind me and not worrying about it. Just forget about tennis for a day or two, and then get back to the practice court and worry about getting better, not worried about what I did poorly today,” said Blake.
Mind training for tennis can help you separate how you feel about yourself as a person from your tennis performance.
The key is to realize you are a person that happens to play tennis, not the other way around.
Tennis is just part of your life, and does not define your life.
Try to find a balance in your life.
Find other hobbies or activities to help you define yourself outside of tennis. You can also think about who you are as a person, not just a tennis player. Think about the characteristics of your personality. Are you honest, decisive or easy going for example? These exercises can help you think of yourself as a person and not just as a tennis player.
As Blake says, you have to leave tennis on the tennis court. Many players bring home their poorly played matches with them. They might over-analyze their mistakes, second guess their strategy or beat themselves up. This of course doesn’t help your self-confidence for the next match. You might be still thinking about your previous loss.
You can re-visit your match later on when you feel your negative emotions have settled. Review your match objectively. This can help you learn from your mistakes, develop better strategies and improve as a tennis player.
Your Tennis Psychology Tip For Today
Leave tennis on the court. Learn who you are as a person rather than just an athlete. Learn from your losses rather than dwelling on your poor performances. Understand that you are more than a win/loss record, you are a person on the inside!
Learn Proven Mental Game Strategies To Perform Your Best On The Court!
Are you (or your players) performing up to your ability in competition?
Do you bring your best and most confident game to matches?
Successful tennis players have learned how to perform with ultimate confidence in tournaments.
If you are ready to improve your mental toughness and perform with ultimate self-confidence in matches, Tennis Confidence: Mental Toughness For Tournament Players can help you do this!
Use Tennis Confidence to help boost your mental toughness in tennis and discover powerful and proven mental game strategies that have helped professional athletes win!
Tennis Confidence: Mental Toughness For Tournament Players
What are mental game customers saying?
“Thank you for all the knowledge, tools, material, and guidance you have given me throughout this course. It was truly a great experience. I am looking forward to integrating this mental training system not only to students at the club, but as well bring this wonderful education outside to athletes that truly are committed, and strive towards reaching their peak performance.”
~Tim Whitehead, Head Tennis Professional, MGCP
Download Our Free Tennis Psychology Report!
Discover if you are making one or more of these “costly” unforced mental game errors during matches!
Download our free Tennis Psychology Report:
Six Unforced ‘Mental Game’ Errors Tennis Players Make Between Points
You’ll discover:
- How your mind can be your best or worst asset on the court.
- If you are using your mind effectively between points.
- One strategy that can help you let of go the last point.
- The top mental game skills you need to master to boost your confidence and performance between points.
Click here to download your FREE report today: Six Unforced ‘Mental Game’ Errors Tennis Players Make Between Points
What are tennis players saying?
“Dr. Cohn, one of my goals is to become a world-class-coach, There are a few coaches from the US who inspired me the most-John Wooden, Son Shula, and Pat Riley. After working with you, I now also list your name among the most influential coaches in my field!”
~Franz
Boost Your Self-Confidence And Focus With Expert Mental Game Coaching!
Master mental game coach Dr. Patrick Cohn can help you overcome your mental game issues with personal coaching.
You can work with Dr. Patrick Cohn himself in Orlando, Florida or via Skype, FaceTime, or telephone. Call us toll free at 888-742-7225 or contact us for more information about the different coaching programs we offer!
What are our mental coaching students saying?
“I have really enjoyed listening to your tennis psychology podcasts on iTunes and reading your E-books. I already have improved in my mental game. I played in a tennis tournament this past weekend and played with the amount of confidence I should have in myself. If I lost a point or made a stupid error, I knew how to deal with it and move on to the next point. I didn’t get frustrated.”
~Melanie Lewis, Junior Tennis Player
Leave a Reply