Tennis world en n 49 Tennis World issue 49 | Page 46

Mental Tennis: Tricks of the trade
Mark Gellard
Contrary to popular belief professional
tennis players suffers from many of the ‘top down’ approach. When experiencing
difficult periods during a match focusing
same mental struggles as the regular club
or recreational player. Mental toughness on simple concepts such as a ‘low to high’
swing or the ‘bounce-hit’ of the ball will
is arguably the most important skill set
required in order to fulfill your potential
and so being aware of some simple yet
highly effective ‘tricks of the trade’ will elicit a clear thought process devoid of
unnecessary distractions. After all tennis
is simply a matter of putting the ball over
the net and in the court one more time
provide you with an unshakeable
confidence and perhaps even more
importantly, a plan of action when in the
heat of battle. that your opponent. Nothing more.
Nothing less.
Modern day tennis has become a complex
conundrum involving an expansive range
of factors for players to comprehend and
master including movement patterns,
strategical awareness, statistical
tendencies and biomechanical
recommendations. The spectacular shots
we see from the professional players are
undoubtedly awe inspiring but it is
ultimately their mastery of the basic
principles of the game that separates
them from the ‘average Joe’. With so
much information readily available through
modern technology and coaching, it can
often be easy to forget the fundamentals
and mistakenly evaluate the game with a
Tennis is unique in comparison with other
sports in so much as it is a predominantly
internal battle rather than an external one.
Statistics from the professional tour
indicating the average number of unforced
errors to winners highlights how so much
of what ‘we do’ rather than what the
opponent ‘does to us’ effects the outcome
of a match and so understanding the
importance of being your ‘own coach’ on
the match court is of paramount
importance. Setting performance based
goals during a match such as ’I want to hit
spin on both my 1st and 2nd serve’ rather
than result based ones ‘I have to make
over 70% of my first serves’ allows you to
remain objective in your analysis while
providing the added benefit of alleviating