We have all been there. Tennis is not going so well and that voice inside your head telling you how terrible you are at tennis. Telling you that you really should give up and who cares anyway and that you really actually hate this game and this team and this day!

Competition tennis can bring out the absolute best but also worst emotions. Some people let it show outwards, some people let it fester inside and some people pretend that there is no voice in their head.

4 WAYS TO CLEAR YOUR MIND WHEN PLAYING TENNIS

BREATHING

Breathing has technique just like a topspin forehand. Ideally you should be doing deep belly breaths as much as possible. At the minimum, start with one deep breath at the end of a point and take a couple of deep breaths before your serve.

MENTAL SPACE

If you have a lot on your mind then this can definitely boil over to your tennis emotions and self talk. In the ideal world we would all take an hour or so before a match that is free of TV, smartphone, work, jobs, difficult conversation or rushing to clear our mind before playing.

AWARENESS

To get your self in the present you need to be aware of the sensations of what is happening at that moment. This can include the look, the sound, the smell and the feel of everything involved in a tennis match. A pre serve and pre return routine is a good time to do this. It can be a simple as listening carefully to the sound of the ball or calling out ‘bounce/hit’ to track the ball movements.

LETTING GO

Let go of trying to get everything perfect. Give up on telling yourself what your doing wrong and what you need to do and just loosen up, play and have some fun. Sometimes you have to lose the attachment to the result to actually play well.

Rick Willsmore

Director and Head Coach

www.scarboroughtennis.com.au