In tennis can you learn the winning mind?

In tennis many people talk about the winning mind. Some confuse it with the male attributes while others consider it as the expression of an extreme self-confidence, others think it is a question of character and therefore the responsibility of its emergence would depend on an innate factor and not trainable, finally there are also those who believe that a low social status determines the will to succeed that show the champions. These explanations are used to build a rigid and ​​magic idea ofwinning mentality and put the tennis players in a position to suffer their origins, if they did not match the above said they will never emerge as a winners.

Based on my experience with many successful athletes, including 10 medal winners at the Olympic Games and as documented by sportpsychology in relation to top athletes the question is a very different and more detailed. In this short article I want to provide some practical advice that every tennis player could commit to follow with the confidence to improve the performance, which of course i twill be tailored to her technical level, fitness and play style.

Don’t have expectations, be committed to do your best – Every player wants to win the game that will play, but she has to put in the farthest point of the mind this idea and think just playing. No one knows what it will happen, otherwise everyone can stay focus on the present, on serve and response. In the hands of the tennis players there is the opportunity to be committed at their best but not to win a point, then the focus should be only on the game … and then at the end of the exchange he will see if the maximum has been sufficient or if the opponent has been better.

Be patient, the negative moments are coming – Tennis is a game where the player who makes fewer mistakes than the opponent wins the match, the goal is to make less mistakes than the other. The negative moments are there in each set and you should not believe  that time will not come. We must accept this limit and when it happens there is no need to get angry or depressed but show patience and keep the focus on play.

Do not let the score determines your emotions – The players with little experience and many teenagers get excited when they play well and lose control emotionally when they lose points. These players show little stability in their behaviors. Thus, their mood determines how they will play. Often I say to these people that they should be the biggest fan of themselves, but instead they behave like those fans who applaud when their team wins and whistle when it loses.

Manage competitive stress and accept your fears – In tennis many male players are so afraid of their fears that they prefer to believe that: “today I did not feel the blows,” “I was stiff, the legs woody”, “the other did the game of life “. The girl player however are often more emotionally swaying, loading or unloading on the basis of  won or lost points. Tennis players must have the courage to accept the fears, learning how to manage them. This is one of the big differences between the champions and other athletes.

Think about the game – Whatever it’s the technical level, the tennis players have to think about how they want to play. It can also be a simple “run and throw it over there” but they have to think. This approach is particularly evident in the serve: “how distressed I put my opponent?” “What did I do when I won the points.” There are technical thoughts and thoughts useful to support the motivation and an active approach to the game. They need both.