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| Welcome to the February/March 2016 update from Tennis Server, http://www.tennisserver.com/
Greetings,
In our February/March edition of Tennis Server, Ron Waite provides guidance on What Do I Do With My Other Hand?!!! and How To Handle An Opponent's Power; John Mills provides some advice on Tennis vs. Skiing and The "Unit Turn"; and in his column in this newsletter below, Tennis Warrior Tom Veneziano chimes in on "Why Is Tennis So Much Harder Under Pressure?" and "Mental Toughness Versus Emotional Weakness in Tennis."
Have fun on the court!
Cliff Kurtzman
Publisher and Editor-in-Chief
Tennis Server
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The Tennis Warrior - Exclusive to Tennis Server INTERACTIVE
Tom Veneziano |
The Tennis Warrior is brought to you by Tom Veneziano (tom@tennisserver.com). Tom is a tennis pro teaching at the Piney Point Racquet Club in Houston, Texas. Tom has taught thousands of players to think like a pro with his Tennis Warrior System.
March 2016 -- Why Is Tennis So Much Harder Under Pressure?
If your tournament play is never as good as your practice play, there is a simple explanation: You need more practice! But what is it about going from practice play to competition that causes your play to drop? The explanation behind this baffling change is somewhat technical, but understanding it will help your game.
First, you must understand that in tennis every time you hit a ball, your body sends impulse signals through your nervous system to your brain. The brain learns from these impulses then sends signals back through your nervous system as you hit another ball. The more you practice, the faster and more accurately those impulses travel along the pathway of your nervous system.
Most players are unaware of this invisible aspect of stroke development, so they place all their emphasis on overt mechanics and techniques. But if they do not have a nerve pathway carved out from repetition, all the mechanics in the world will not save them! The correct impulses traveling through these nerve pathways enable players to perform mechanics more automatically and spontaneously on the court. Thus the need for massive amounts of repetition.
When you are on the court in a practice match, impulse signals are flowing through these pathways unobstructed. You are relaxed and playing carefree tennis. You are operating at your optimum level, so you experience a high level of feel and anticipation. This is the way you know you are capable of playing!
Now, all of a sudden you are in a tournament, league play or any type of pressure competition, and your game is not even close to the level of your practice play. Yes, you make some good shots and play decently, but you expected much, much more. After all, you just experienced top-notch, relaxed play in your practice match. What went wrong?
There is always a certain amount of pressure placed on all players when playing competitively. That mental pressure will affect a player's nervous system. Anyone who has felt a little shaky or broken into a sweat just before a competition will testify to that! But guess what else depends on the nervous system? Your strokes! Remember, tennis strokes and mechanics depend on sending signals through the nervous system. Your nervous system now has a double burden. First, it must handle the stress from the competition, and second, it must handle the impulses to perform a stroke. Both are fighting for control over the same system. Not a good situation!
Who is going to win this fight for control over your nervous system? Most of the time, your nervousness from competitive play wins the fight. This is why your performance drops a notch or two under pressure play. But what can you do?
Increase your repetition practice to improve and strengthen the impulse signals going to and from the brain. Did you ever notice that when you play under pressure you can still play? You are just not playing at your optimum level. Well, if you increase and strengthen those impulses that your strokes depend on, when you are under pressure your game will not drop as much. Why? Because your stronger stroke impulses will negate some of the power of the competing stress impulses.
Tennis pros compete while under tremendous pressure, but the strength of their stroke impulse signals far outweighs the competing nervous signals. Often, the pros manage to play even better under pressure, since they are so frequently under this type of pressure and have developed outstanding coping skills as well as strong impulse signals.
I believe the best example of this principle would be giving a speech. Most people are nervous wrecks when speaking before an audience. In this anxious state, they must now pull their thoughts together, remember the content of their speech, and recite it clearly. All through that same nervous system. What is the solution? When a speaker is comfortable with his subject and knows the information exhaustively, inside and out, he can overpower and conquer the competing nervous stress.
The same is true for tennis. Knowing a subject inside and out is the same as knowing your stroke production inside and out. More review and repetition of a subject allows a more thorough understanding of it, which minimizes stress during a speech. In the same way, more practice and repetition of your strokes bring a more thorough understanding of the feel of your strokes. Better feel means faster, more accurate impulse signals that minimize your stress under competition. The more powerfully those signals flow through the pathways, the more you can relax and enjoy automatic, instinctive, carefree tennis in any situation.
February 2016 -- Mental Toughness Versus Emotional Weakness in Tennis
The Mental Toughness Sphere or the Emotional Sphere. In which Sphere do you reside during most of your matches? Can you recognize whether you are controlled by your emotions or controlled by your mind? Do you know what to do if you become mired in the Emotional Sphere?
A major part of learning how to win is becoming aware of when your emotions take control and what to do about it. You must bring yourself back under the power of the Mental Toughness Sphere. But how? First, understand the differences between the two spheres of thinking:
The Emotional Sphere is characterized by subjectivity (taking your mistakes personally), over-thinking (paralysis by analysis), and dwelling on past failures.
The Mental Toughness Sphere is characterized by objectivity (not taking mistakes personally), correct thinking using a relaxed mental attitude, and playing in the here and now.
You know you are in the Emotional Sphere when negatives, mistakes, and failures become more paramount in your mind than the next shot. You must quickly recognize this and switch back into the Mental Toughness Sphere. How? Simple! Apply the Refocus Technique. After you make a mistake, repeat to yourself, "The next shot is more important than the last mistake, the next shot is more important than the last mistake." Do not serve or return serve until you have cleared your mind of the last mistake. You must refocus and move on. Immediately!
The Refocus Technique is the recovery technique that brings you back into the Mental Toughness Sphere. Although this is a simple technique and sounds easy, it is amazing how many players cannot forget their mistakes and move on. Instead, they become entangled in the Emotional Sphere.
Listen to some of the answers players give me when I tell them to use the Refocus Technique. Each answer is followed by my response. I warn you though, I do not pull any punches. Read on at your own risk.
Player: "But I missed such an easy shot!" My response: "I did not say forget your mistakes and move on only for difficult shots! The Refocus Technique is for ALL mistakes."
Player: "I practiced for months and I still make the same mistakes." My response: "Practice more. Forget your mistakes and move on!"
Player: "I cannot win if I keep making these mistakes." My response: "Says who? You! Have you ever heard of mental toughness? Forget your mistakes, get back in the Mental Toughness Sphere, and move on...now!"
How is that for being blunt? The point I am trying to make is that the thought process of forgetting the mistake is more important than the mistake itself. As the great professional golfer Gary Player stated, "We create success or failure on the course primarily by our thoughts."
Let me graphically demonstrate how this works. When you make a mistake on the court and do not forget it, that mistake festers in your mind. If the mistake festers too long it will begin seeping toward your emotions. Once the mistake hits your emotions, it is quickly blown out of proportion. Then this larger-than-life mistake shoots back toward your mind, where it now takes on a whole new meaning. The failure completely clouds your mind. From this point on, everything you think is filtered through this oppressive cloud of negativity.
You are now firmly focused on the problem and steeped in the Emotional Sphere. Your mind is influenced by your emotions instead of your emotions being influenced by your mind!
Your only hope to remove this cloud of negativity and restore mental order is the Refocus Technique: The next shot is more important than the last mistake. You will then be back under the power of the Mental Toughness Sphere. The home of Champions!
Your Tennis Pro,
Tom Veneziano
Previous columns from Tom Veneziano are archived online in the Tennis Server's Tennis Warrior Archive six months after publication in this newsletter.
   
In Tom Veneziano's book "The Truth about Winning!", tennis players learn in a step-by-step fashion the thinking the pros have mastered to win! Tom takes you Step-by-step from basic mental toughness to advanced mental toughness. All skill levels can learn from this unique book from beginner to professional. No need to change your strokes just your thinking. Also available at a discount as an E-Book.
Audio CDs by Tom Veneziano:
Recent Tennis Server Columns
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Drills and Tips: Turbo Tennis by Ron Waite
Ron Waite |
In his February column, Ron discusses what to do with your non-dominant hand during stroke production. See:
In his March column, Ron some good advice on how to handle an opponent who seems to be overpowering your game. See:
Player Tip: "Tennis Anyone?" by USPTA Pro John Mills
John Mills |
In his February column, John talks about similarities and differences between learning skiing and tennis. See:
In his March column, John discusses the benefits of starting your strokes and volleys with a "unit turn." See:
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