ALL LEVELS by ALICE TYM
WINNING THE MENTAL GAME
O
One of the keys to playing better pickleball is being able to manage your thought processes. You need to be able to keep the good material in your head and ignore the bad material. Sometimes that is not easy. Positive and specific thoughts are better than negative and vague ones. So, how do you train yourself to do this?
For example, the other team hits a winning, unplayable let cord. You can growl,“ Lucky,” under your breath and lose the next two points, disrupt your focus and interrupt your strategy. Or, you can think about how you are going to play the next point. Leave the let cord behind. That point is over.
Your opponents will be looking at your demeanor. You can give them a lift by reacting poorly, or you can demonstrate control by a head held high and a“ Nice shot” comment. How you deal with the situation is more important to the overall match than one lucky point.
What if your opponent is on fire? What if he is hitting screaming winners? A good mental trick is to think,“ This is what he has to do to beat me.” Then find a way to disrupt his rhythm by changing the way you’ re playing.
Perhaps you are feeding him with too much pace. In doubles, try hitting to the other player. Change your spin. Slow down the game. Play more to the middle of the court, giving him fewer angles. But by all means, be cerebral, not emotional. Do not give in to the“ Well, he is just lucky today” mentality. He is playing well because you are letting him.
What if you’ re exhausted? You can choose to focus on how tired you are, slump your shoulders, and drag your
48 TO SUBSCRIBE, CALL 412.914.8294 OR GO TO PICKLEBALLMAGAZINE. COM