To grunt or not to grunt at Wimbledon 2011…

That has been the question of a lot of tennis players and fans alike for some time now. And for some, the “problem” is just getting worse.

In fact, Wimbledon 2011 is having a big issue with the amount of tennis grunting going on, in during the first week of competition.

Some Wimbledon 2011 tournament officials have even gone on record, essentially saying it’s really killing tennis and takes away a lot from the game.

“We have discussed it with the tours and we believe it is helpful to reduce the amount of grunting.”

Although spectators may find the noise off-putting, “We are one tournament in a global circuit… But we have made our views clear and we would like to see less of it.” - Ian Ritchie, the chief executive of the All England Lawn and Tennis Club.

I mean, does grunting really even help? Or is belting out a loud yelp or scream just something that players like Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova do to be annoying?

Science Says Grunting Gives Wimbledon 2011 Players Tactical Edge:

Well, science says it’s both.  Thanks to a new study published in the journal, Public Library of Science ONE, we now have at least some concrete evidence that suggests that a “tennis grunt” could actually give the initiator a strategic and competitive edge. And it could really do some damage to the receiving player’s game.

Two psychologists, from both the University of Hawaii and the University of British Columbia, recently conducted a survey which showed that making “extraneous sound,”  a sound that simulated grunting, while a player is awaiting an oncoming ball can cause their response/reaction to decrease both in the speed and accuracy departments.

The findings of the experiment also gave support to the idea that grunting could compromise the receiver’s judgment when attempting to read and analyze the spin and speed of a ball as well.

How did they come to this conclusion?

The two behind the study, Dr. Scott Sinnett and Dr. Alan Kingstone, took 33 students from western Canada and showed them 374 video clips of a tennis player hitting a ball to either the left or the right. In half of those clips, the player added a loud grunt while hitting his ball, and in the other half he remained silent.

Then, upon hearing the ball hitting the player’s racket, the students had to decide on the direction it would take. And no, they couldn’t sit there all day trying to decide.  It was imperative they come up with a definitive answer right away.

And what happened? Well, what was noticed was that the scores of those students suffered a significant drop off when viewing shots where the player made extra noise or became very vocal.

It quickly became harder to distinguish the ball’s trajectory and destination – much more difficult than it was when they viewed clips where no outside noise was provided (…when they only had to deal with the ball hitting the strings).

After this observation, Dr. Sinnett gave his obvious conclusion of the results when players are forced to analyze the shot of a grunting opponent. “They were basically slower and could actually be wrong-footed, if you could extend that to a real-world tennis court.”

OK, so they’re slower. But now you’re probably wondering exactly how much slower and how much longer a player would have to wait to make a movie, right?

Well, based on the findings, it suggests that a tennis ball struck along with a loud grunt can travel a whopping 2 extra feet in the air before the opponent is able to respond. Wow, that’s a lot of lost time, isn’t it? You bet!

Now, this is shocking, sure.  But it’s not surprising at all, if you ask me.   If you think about it, these results truly make a lot of sense.  How so?

Well, I’ve always believed that the sound exerted during racket-ball contact can be a great indicator of what type of shot will be generated and where the ball may actually land inside (…or outside) the court.

For example, a player hitting a hard flat-bomb (…right in the sweet-spot) is going to sound much different than a backspin, slice shot, or even a mishit.

Hearing these sounds can assist you in understanding the proper positioning and stance you’ll need to acquire, in order to complete a worthwhile return – two concepts extremely critical in the world of tennis strategy.

Grunting Can Make These Important Sounds Almost Impossible To  Hear, Wimbledon 2011 Player or Not.

You see, since a player generally will grunt at the exact same time he/she strikes the ball,  it becomes very difficult (…and at times impossible) to tell how well the ball and shot have been hit. Why? Because that sound indicator will have been totally masked or canceled out.

And with that, there comes an extra moment of indecision.  The receiving player is forced to wait a fraction of a second longer and (…24 inches of ball flight) to make his move.  So, he’ll find himself a step behind, when he could have been well on top of things.

It’s the same thing in baseball. Time is incredibly crucial there as well.  You need to be able to react within a split-second of contact.  The sound of that ball hitting the end of the bat is going to give you a big clue as to which area of the field the outfield players should cover.

And heck, now you have multiple players (…more than 5) involved. So, it’s importance is magnified. Make the wrong move there, and you’ll run into one another and fall flat on your butt.

And when the volume of the crowd reaches a certain decibel, it becomes much harder to know where that thing is going (…grounder, left-field-right-field, or center field).  Again, you lose that second and are forced to wait.  The only difference in tennis is, the player can control the noise. He can release it or silence it on a whim.

So, if you want to slow down your opponent in your next match, go ahead and grunt. Feel free to open up those vocal chords!  But hey, you don’t want to make it a point to be as loud as possible or overdo it.  That will displace your focus.

——-

Now before I head out, let me ask you… Is this strategy a fair one?  Many people, like Martina Navratilova, believe grunting is awful and should be banned from tennis or at least be made punishable by the commission.

But if you ask the legendary tennis coach Nick Bollettieri, who has coached many “grunters” like Andre Agassi, he says grunting is 100% natural and no action should be taken.

So… With all that said and the new evidence provided… Should grunting be banned from tennis? Is there a significant enough of an unfair advantage in play here? Or should we all just forget about it and play tennis, because all is fair in tennis warfare? What do you think?

For more kick-butt tennis tips and strategies on how to steal away your opponent’s reaction time (…without grunting), click here.

Have a great week guys! And enjoy the rest of Wimbledon 2011

Brian
TennisMindCamp

A few days ago, I found myself reading an article about the Lakers (…my favorite team) and their losing streak (…rolling eyes).

And I thought, why am I tormenting myself with this horrific story?  But I’m glad I kept reading, because towards the end, I found a major bright spot.

The last few lines contained a powerful quote and sports psychology concept that transcend throughout the entire sports world and really spoke volumes.  In fact, that’s what inspired the topic for our first post of the year.

And though all athletes can relate and benefit a great deal, I found it to be perfect for all the serious tennis players out there like you.  Why?

Because the subject matter directly correlates with one of the biggest problems that you as a tennis player have probably faced at some point.  And it can really kill your winning chances if you don’t do something about it, and quick!

So, what we’ll do is briefly talk about the common mental error, one that’s a fundamental issue in our sports psychology, then I’ll give you a solution to help stop it from killing your winning chances.  Sound good?

Alright. Now, when you’re as serious a tennis player as you and I, we many times put our all (…our 110%) into each game and play out every point as if it were our last.

I mean, we’re going after every shot. We’re aggressively running down every short ball and drop shot thrown our way.  We have our tennis mind set on winning every single point of the match at all costs.

Now, this sounds incredible. And it is.   But… Yes, there’s a but. Going all out and putting your 110% into each point is admirable and will definitely put you in the position to win, making getting the victory a short drive down “easy street”  more times than not.

B-U-T…

Sports Psychology: Beware Of The Warning

If you let your competitive fire drive you out of control and fail to corral it, you could be heading for a 10-car pile up and “total” your entire game. You have to be careful.

You see, when we are so serious about winning (…and experiencing early success), we end up drenching our “tennis minds” in a pool of unnecessary pressure – a lot of times to the point where we find ourselves drowning in it.

For example, we end up thinking that we have to be perfect to win matches.  Oh no, we can’t miss a shot or lose a point, otherwise we’re failures or don’t really want it bad enough.  And what’s worse is we tend to hold on to that feeling way too long.

So, if we miss one ball, make one misread or mishit, we end up dwelling on it and hammering ourselves mentally,  internally beating ourselves up over and over again – to the point where our adrenaline is sky high, our focus is completely derailed and we can’t even function for the rest of the match.

And that’s just it. With there being at least 4 points per game you have to focus on, a minimum of 24 points per set you have to contend with, and a minimum of 120 points per match you have to worry about, does it make any sense getting caught up worrying about about 1?

You want and *NEED* to focus on the present. Play in the moment. Once something happens and a play is made, what can you realistically do to change it?

I mean, really… Think about it. Use your head and not your humongous warrior-like heart for a second. Honestly, other than challenging it (..if you’re in the pros and have access to a “visine mac cam”), nothing can be done. Exactly.

Steve Blake, backup point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers, was right on the money when talking about his missing shots as of late.

“I get frustrated because I don’t like to miss.  After the game, I get upset because I feel like I let my teammates down.”

I’m glad he offered this bit of sports phsychology.  Why?

This is probably very similar to how you feel after what you believe was a costly double fault or ill-timed mishit? You feel like you let yourself down as well as your coaches and supporters, right?

Well, he doesn’t just sit there and soak in his sorrow or let it get to him. In fact, he echoes the best strategy to getting back on the winning track and feeling great again is frankly, forgetting about it.

“When you’re in a game, focus on the game at hand. You have to have a short memory sometimes. You can’t be thinking about the past too much. That’s kind of the way it is in a long season. You’ll miss some, but hopefully you’ll make more than you miss.”

So you see… This guy is a pro. And this type of thinking is what’s got him through the tough mental battles, and on to prizes like an NCAA championship with Maryland and a spot on the most talked about franchise in sports.

And it’s no different in your tennis game.  You need to learn to play tennis with the one-by-one mind set. I know it sounds like a cliche, but one point at a time is where your mind needs to be if you want to be a consistently successful tennis player.

Once you miss a shot, it does you no good to get down on yourself. Once it happens, it’s in the past. Leave it there. Don’t take it with you.

Your plan of attack should be to put the same level of intensity and effort into the rest of the points ahead of you. That’s the quickest way to get that lost point recovered and transferred over to the winning column.

See, easy right ?  Now, if we could only get Steve Blake and the rest of the Lakers to adopt that same philosophy when they get hit with a foul they didn’t agree with, then we’d really be talking.  Oh,  and we’d have less ejections.

For more kick-butt sports psychology information and tennis tips on this topic & many others, click here.

All the best,
Brian
TennisMindCamp

You can train in the wind if you know the right tennis tactic (…or tactics) to use.

You can train in the extreme heat and even in really cold outside temperatures, right? …Again, if you have the right tennis tactic (…or tactics) .

Now, of course, you should make it a point, to use some of your tennis practice sessions to work through those conditions, so you’re not caught off guard if confronted with something similar come match day.

But hey, here’s a thought. What about in the rain?

Many players think that rain is another word for “tennis stop sign.” You know, all improvement of your game must stop just because it gets a little damp out.

Well, not true. You may very well not be able to run around the court smacking tennis balls, but your tennis training doesn’t have to be put on hold when it starts to pour.

See below for 3 surefire ways to work out and keep your game on the up and up, even through the eye of the storm.

Tennis Tactic(s) To Use When Playing In The Rain, Heat, And Snow:

Weather Tennis Tactic #1. Your Ball Toss

You see, the serve is one of the most important shots in the entire game. It enables you to instantly gain momentum, knock your opponent on the defense, and many times, take control of the pace and tempo of the match – all pretty powerful stuff.

Now that said, let me ask you something. How’s your toss? The reason I ask is, one of the biggest (…and most common) problems that keep players from having an awesome serving game is an untamed or inconsistent toss.

…Meaning, every time they toss it in the air, it seems to end up some place different (…or at least somewhere that was unexpected). And that’s no good.

So, if you believe your toss could use some improvement, do this.

When the rain is pouring outside on the tennis court, stay inside. Grab a tennis ball, and find a comfortable place in your house (…or even at the gym). Then simply setup in your serving stance and practice tossing the ball.

But don’t just toss it anywhere. Alter your tennis tactic a bit.  You always want to have a specific target in mind. You want to be able to execute the same height and placement, every time it goes up (…without even having to think about it).

It doesn’t matter if you use different tosses for your different serving weapons (…flat, side spin, topspin or kick), they all need to be on target and precise.

Now, you don’t have to go through the entire swinging motion – just the toss and the cock-back. Oh, and really believe that you’re serving.

Take it seriously. That way, you’ll be conditioning your mind (…as well as your body) to operate as close to match-like battle mode as possible.

So, by you putting the necessary work into your pre-match prep and using the right tennis tactic (…even in the rain), you and your serve game will be shining, match after match after match.

Weather Tennis Tactic #2: Strength & Conditioning Tennis Training

Though many tennis players ignore this element of their game, the tennis tactic of making your body stronger is a major essential in becoming a dominant tennis athlete.

This not only is great for preventing a tennis injury, you’ll be able to hit harder shots, and your tennis endurance will increase. So, when you used to be huffing and puffing, you’ll be saying “Next Please.”

Now don’t misunderstand me, you don’t have to (…and really shouldn’t) use this to gain big car-crushing muscles like a football athlete in the NFL or the iron Mike Tyson of old. You want strength, not bulk.

HUGE muscles are just going to make you slower – not to mention decrease your racket head speed.

Now, a good place to start your strength and conditioning tennis training is on your core. Sure, good arms and legs are important, but your mid-section (…or your core) is what’s going to make a world of difference for you.

And if you’re not sure what makes up your core. The “core” is comprised of your abs (…upper and lower obliques) and your back muscles.

Examples of good core exercises include: push-ups and/or bench press and sit-ups. Again, you can train at home or at the gym. Rain won’t get in the way.

Weather Tennis Tactic #3. Run Your Practice

Use this time for pure cardio tennis training. Lace up your running shoes or cross-trainers, hit the pavement (…or the treadmill and elliptical machine) go! Building up your wind and your endurance is an absolute must if you plan on becoming a player who is difficult to beat.

Because you see, not all of your tennis matches are going to be short and sweet. You’re going to run into a few long ones, and you’ve got to last if you want to get the victory.

Let me tell you, there isn’t a worse feeling than not getting to the next round because you just physically couldn’t hang.

So, don’t let, not having the perfect tennis weather, stop you from getting the dominating results you dream of. Try these 3 examples the next time it rains, and keep your game going upwards.

Now, you have to go through the entire swinging motion – just the toss and the cock-back. And really believe that you’re serving. Take it seriously. That way, you’ll be conditioning your mind (…as well as your body) to operate as close to match-like battle mode as possible.

NOTE: Only 1 Day Left To Gain Special Pricing On The New TennisMindCamp Strategy Secrets 101 Physical Edition. If You’re Interested, Click Here Before The Price Goes Back Up.

For more tennis tips, tennis lessons, and strategies, click here.

Gain access to over 19 hours of Kick-butt instruction and see success like the big boys, visit this page.

Have a great week and an even better game!

Brian, Head Coach
TennisMindCamp

When you’re out on the tennis court, you’re always going to be doing one of two things (… while also exerting mental toughness of course):

1. Going Deep: Grooving something (…that already works well) deeper into your game,  so it becomes more second nature to you (…whether it be from an exhibition match, scrimmage and/or drills).

OR…

2. Going Wide: Expanding your game by adding something new that you hope will enhance or strengthen it (… i.e a new concept your coach told you or a new strategy you may have picked up on from watching some of the pros on tour).

Now with option one, there is rarely a problem. Most of the time, it’s when you’re operating under the second category where we as players can make a very detrimental mistake.

And what’s that? We give in too soon.

Let me explain…

When attempting something new (…like an alteration in the tennis grip we use or the way we’re holding the racket on a particular shot), we tend to be in a very anxious mental state.

We’re excited about potentially adding a new threat (…a stronger weapon) to our in-game arsenal.  The endorphins are rushing. Adrenaline is pumping, because we’re thinking about how many more easy wins we’re going to accumulate as a result.

Then, we begin to try it out, but what happens? You guessed it.  The balls start to fly everywhere.

Either they’re shooting 5 feet long and hitting the back fence, flying sky high and landing on the neighboring side courts, or we end up playing MLB (…striking out at the mound, whiffing the ball completely).

So, now what?

Now you’re probably feeling royally embarrassed because you think that everyone now sees you as this awful “newbie” who can’t even hit one ball or one serve straight.

Then you’ll probably want to stop those negative feelings immediately.  And to do that, you’ll revert back to what you were doing before. Right?

STOP! Don’t go back to the dark side just yet. Stay strong. Use your mental toughness.  You might be killing your chance at a major tennis breakthrough. Why?

The whole reason why you decided to do something different was because you weren’t satisfied with where your old methods were taking you.  Remember?

Whether it be in the form of comfort, execution or the bottom line, wins and losses, you wanted something better.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. You’ve probably formulated the idea that turning back to those old ways will somehow give you substantially better results.

Well, sure.  Maybe for the time being, so you can finish that drill. But those are short term goals.  But what about in the long run – the big picture?

Mental Toughness: The Big Picture (…Give It Some Time)

You want your winning ways to last beyond that one match or tennis practice session.  You want your winning results to last a lifetime – your entire career.

But if you turn back now, your long term goals will be cut short, and you’re going to be in the same spot you were before – searching for more ways (…more clues) that could possibly fix the same problem you had initially.

Don’t sabotage what could be an unbelievable playing career (… one filled with concrete tennis confidence, on-court domination, and extreme excitement). Don’t throw away something that incredible behind a few minutes of discomfort.

That’s where your mental toughness comes in. Give it a little more time.  Before you do a complete 360, try to push through it.  It doesn’t matter if it’s a slight grip alteration or a drastic difference in serving motion, everything new requires time to adjust.

Mental Toughness: How Pete Sampras and Rafael Nadal Push Through It

I mean, how do you think Pete Sampras’ serve got so good? Mental toughness.   He kept tweaking it and refining it until he got as close to perfect as he could get, then he kept going.

Yeah, he fought through the angst with his coaches and the immense performance pressure, and he produced incredible results (…becoming one of the greatest this sport has ever seen) .

Example number 2. Rafael Nadal is the second example of a world class player using mental toughness to achieve some major success.

Just this year, Rafael Nadal proved how change (…even abrupt change) can lead to overwhelming success.  And he did it in the most crucial of circumstances.

Right before he took the court in Flushing Meadows, less than 3 days (…yes 3 DAYS!) before the US Open, Rafa and his coach changed from the continental to a more eastern grip to flatten out his serve and generate more power.  This was done so he could take advantage of the faster slicker court surface there.

By all means,  it wasn’t the easiest transition in the world.  Of course he had a bit of difficulty in his first session. But he kept at it with his professional level of mental toughness.

And we all know how the rest of his US Open opponents feel about his serve during the final week of the tournament.

And what’s more incredible is he did it when the pressure for output was at its peak – all while the critics, analysts, and fans from all over the world were saying that this could be a real “make or break” tournament that could determine which way the rest of his career leads.

Not only that, this was the only two-week title chase that he hadn’t yet captured.  But he did it, and it worked!

Who knows what would have happened if Rafa thought it was too big a risk -  and to avoid the national stage disappointment, served the way he was serving before?

So you see, overwhelmingly positive results aren’t always going to reveal themselves right off the bat.

Now don’t get me wrong,  I’m not saying that they’ll always happen with given time either.   What I’m saying is, don’t sell yourself short and let the pressure of short-term discomfort discourage you.

Give it at least a week with your new strategy or technique before you “toss it” out of the window and say it’s no good. It very well may be just growing pains on the way to tremendous improvement.

But hey, you’ll never know unless you give it a chance.  Oh, and you know what they say, good things come to those who “work hard” while they wait.

Let me know what you think of this tip, I’d love to get your feedback . For more on professional mental toughness,  kick-butt (…opponent-crushing) tennis tips, tricks, and strategies,  click here.

Have a great day and an even better game.

All the best,

Brian
Tennis Mind Camp

There are two kinds of tennis players…

1) The Recreational Tennis Player: This is the player that breaks out his racket simply because it’s something fun to do with the buddies and to have a good time or because the doctor said they need more exercise.

2) The Ultimate Competitor: This is the player or athlete who will do whatever it takes to get the win – the one who puts in hours and hours of intense training everyday (…giving his 110%), eats all the right stuff, scouts out his opponents before match time, and plays every point like it’s his last; so he can kick the butts of his opponents on a consistent basis.

Which one are you?

Now, don’t worry, neither of these are wrong or even ideal. It’s a personal choice. But since you’re reading this post, I can make a pretty good assumption that you fall into the second group.

And if my assumption is correct, that’s great! I love it when a player really puts their all into achieving a personal goal – and even more so when they actually achieve it.

The feeling of accomplishment is incredible, especially after you’ve put so much into it.  Oh, and it’s always a lot more fun when you’re royally kicking tail too!

But you have to be careful. Why? Because though having a strong will to win is a great thing, if you let that urge get too out of control, it can become toxic to your chances of getting the victory. What do I mean?

You see, too many competitive or serious athletes unconsciously take things a little too far sometimes.  They expect to do no wrong and make no mistakes, when they go out to battle.

They feel that since they put in tons of time, effort, and hard work, they should be rewarded by playing a perfect match every time they step onto the court (…or at least close to it). Sound familiar?

Then when it doesn’t happen (…and they do mess one up), those players get all out of wack. Why? Because when we U.C players produce an error, a lot of times we think it’s because we’re underachieving or aren’t working hard enough.

And when you’re an “Ultimate Competitor” kind of player, that really stings! It’s like a spear right through the heart.

So with that said, this is where the U.Cs problem starts to manifest itself.  In many cases, the greater our desire is to win, the stronger our memory becomes.

When we make an error (…even if it’s just 1) we end up holding on to that one point or that one error for too long.  It’s like we’re holding a grudge against ourselves,  finding it extremely hard to let go.

We keep saying to ourselves, “Why did I miss that?” or “That was so easy….” or “Maybe the other guy, but not me!”

And that feeling of regret or failure can stick with us in following games and show up in later points and games, causing our once stellar performance to take an incredible nose-dive. Your technique goes south and your strategy or game plan is all but forgotten.

Oh yes, the failure to clear your mind of that one point or one mistake is a mental training error that can prove to be very costly.

It can, and often times, completely ruins your chances at a  great win.  It’ll be almost leech-like sucking all the positive energy, attitude, and body language right out of you.

And it doesn’t matter how great your strokes are. If your mind isn’t in it, it’s going to be an obstacle next to impossible to overcome.

Mental Training: Transcending Throughout The Sports World

We saw it in the meltdown of Andy Roddick back in 2001 against Lleyton Hewitt. And just this past Sunday (…which is one of the main reasons I decided to bring this up), we saw and heard a prime example of this concept during the Chargers (…my favorite team) vs Jaguars game.

Towards the beginning, Charger’s Ryan Mathews, one of the most talented and hardest-working running backs in the NFL, was having a great game.  But later on, he fumbled the football. Oops! That’s right, he made an error!

But instead of shrugging it off, and getting ready for the next down mentally fresh, he unfortunately allowed his fumble in Monday night’s opener to put a major dent in his performance for the remainder of the contest.

“After that play, everything went downhill.  The problem was that I wasn’t running smart. I ignored my instincts and went away from everything I’ve been doing over the past few months.” “I’m trying a little too hard to be perfect.”  “I didn’t respond well when something went wrong.”- said Matthews.

Before the second-quarter fumble, Mathews averaged a commendable  4.8 yards per carry. But after his mistake, his performance suffered a major drop off by almost 2 whole yards, decreasing to only 3.0 per carry. For non-football fans, that’s a BIG difference!

So, take Ryan’s words and experience and learn from them.  Incorporate them in to your game beforehand so you can avoid this happening to you, and so you’re not singing your shoulda, coulda, wouldas afterward.

But that’s not all… Ryan isn’t the only one with some words of wisdom for you here 8-).

The next time you feel like you’re on a roll in one of your matches, and you mis-read a ball, accidentally shank a kill-volley into the stands, or somehow allow your opponent to best you on a couple of points, give the three things I’ve listed below a try as well.

Mental Training: 3 Keys To Great Ways Enhance Your “Inside” Game:

Mental Training Tactic #1: Understand That No Player Is Perfect (…including you)

Aspiring to achieve perfection is fine.  But “EXPECTING” perfection is an unrealistic concept.  It’s pure fantasy. And expecting to attain it 100% of the time, will drive you wildly insane .  And before you say it, nope, it has nothing to do with skill.

It has everything to do with reality.  It doesn’t matter if you’re Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, or Roger Federer. Honest mistakes are and will be made. It’s unfortunate, but it’s the truth.

You MUST realize that you’re going to miss one or two (…at least).   Once you shift your mindset (…and cease to play in the fictional or fantasy world), you’ll be much better equipped to get yourself back on track when you do make an error and will avoid setting yourself back even further.

Mental Training Tactic #2: Erase Your Memory (Operation Amnesia):

Later on in the press conference RB Ryan Matthews gave out some more valuable advice in saying, “I have come up with a bad case of amnesia. When a bad play happens or I make a mistake, I have to let it go right away.”

…And he’s absolutely right!

If you make an error like a double fault or botch up an overhead smash, it’ll be tough (…because your competitive fire runs so deep), but you just have to let it go and erase it from your memory.

Each point has it’s own dynamics (…strokes, positioning, court coverage, footwork, weakness exploitation, weakness protection techniques etc). You don’t want to think about all of that, TIMES 2.

Not only will you be further out of wack mentally, you’ll be forced to reach for your bag to grab a extra strength Tylenol soon enough. Why? Because you’ll  have given yourself a major headache from thinking too much. Trust me!

So, once that point is over, you must activate “operation amnesia”. Forgive yourself and Forget about it. Why? If you hold on to it, you’ll be distracted and it’ll eventually consume you.  And we never do anything well when we’re distracted.  That’s why it’s illegal to text while driving .

You’ll be playing your B game (…an inferior game plan)  against your opponent’s A game. That’s not good and can potentially cost you the match every time. Because you have even more fish to fry.

The match is not going to stop or slowdown because you’re having a “moment.” If anything, it’ll get even harder, because your opponent will notice that you’ve begun to unravel.  And once he smells blood and sees that you’re wounded…

It’s just like if you were out in the wild, he’ll bare his teeth and get even more aggressive – forcing you to deal with even heavier firepower.

Alright, so while playing a match, you want to play “IN THE MOMENT.” Anything outside that single point that’s live is none of your concern. Period!

Mental Training Tactic #3: Take a Breathe Brake:

If you sense yourself getting upset behind a mistake, mis-read or miscalculation, don’t attempt to go right back into the thick of the action (…or the heat of the fire) immediately after the mistake is made. Why? For two reasons:

1) Because once you create that error, chances are your tennis mind has immediately transferred to a negative state. Whether it’s from the rise in the levels of pressure, anxiety and bad adrenaline or the tightening or over-clenching of your hand on the racket, your mental engine won’t be running on all cylinders yet.

You need some time to bring things back to center (…both mentally and biologically) before you continue.

2) This will provide you with a brief moment to analyze what you did wrong, so you can correct it and minimize any further damage. If you rush right into it, history will just repeat itself.

So, take a couple of long deep breaths and allow yourself to get your mind and body centered once again. The longer and deeper the breaths, the more you’re going to get out of it.

Now, you want to do this asap, before your anxiety shoots through the roof. Because once it blows, it’s very difficult to bring back down. It may take a lot longer that you think.

And hey, don’t say “Ehh” that just sounds like nerdy mumbo-jumbo….. I breath all the time…. even when I’m not playing.”  You’ll be surprised exactly how powerful breathing can be.  Your breathing is one of the most vital core components that enables you to win and play at a high level.

In fact, I actually talk about a very special type of breathing (…in great detail) that can get you focused in 50% of the time of any other breathing style and will have an incredibly positive impact on your game.  Click here to check it out.

Alright guys, let me know if this tennis tip of the week made sense to you. Apply this type of tennis training to your next match, and you should definitely notice a difference.  And remember, forrrgeeet about it!

All the best,
Brian Hall
TennisMindCamp

P.S. Thanks to all of your who wrote me during my stay at the US Open this year. I had a wonderful time, and the action as awesome as always!

Tennis Fitness Tip…

The 2011 US Open has finally arrived and it’s already starting to turn into one wild ride, with top-seeded players like Li Na,  Shahar Peer, and Gael Monfils getting ousted so much earlier than expected.

That’s what’s so great about this tournament – anything can truly happen when you’ve got some sizzling (…high octane) action from the best players this world competing against one another.

And I mean that literally. Their tennis fitness has been incredible.  That said,  they’ve been letting it all hang out, despite being in the middle of a severe heatwave.  Oh yeah, this is without a doubt my favorite grand slam of them all.  Why?

First, the atmosphere here in NY is like no other. And secondly, it’s on a hard (…fast and slick) court.  That means the game is sped up – thus encouraging the players to be much more aggressive.

I can’t wait to be down there on the court (…minus the intense Hades-like heat of course) to see the most eye-popping shots being ripped harder and faster than we’ve seen on tour in a while.

Every shot has more bite and does a lot more damage – something the power hitters like Serena Williams, Andy Roddick, and Rafael Nadal are already falling in love with.

So, not only do the tennis players have to be as mentally sharp as a Ginsu knife, they also have be in the best physical shape and have the best tennis fitness level of their lives and really be able to put the pedal to the metal if they have any hopes of keeping pace, staying alive, and advancing to the next round.

Sounds awesome right? The only thing that can mess up all this wonderful drama is what? Injuries!  Though they’re a part of all sports,  injuries suck, to be quite frank. They can cancel out months (…and even years) of hard work in less time than it takes yell D.Q!

It doesn’t matter if you’re a newbie or if you’ve been playing this sport for the last 20 years and have tons of titles, it can happen to all of us.

So if you’re a pro playing in the US Open like Sloan Stephens or a rec-player who only whips it out on the weekends, and want to avoid sustaining one of these things, two things must occur:

(1) Identify: Identify some of the most common tennis injuries and understand how they happen.

(2) Develop a Game Plan: Find a working remedy that helps to avoid them altogether.

Tennis Fitness:  3 Most Common Tennis Injuries

•   Tennis Elbow: The tennis elbow injury is caused by over-usage, like the repeated contraction of the forearm muscles that you use to straighten and raise your hand and wrist.

Another way this injury can be generated is from improper technique. For example, if your backhand follow-through is faulty (…if you use too much of the wrist and not enough arm when you hit the ball), your chances of getting a tennis elbow injury are going to go up.

That puts too much pressure on your ligaments.  And by repeatedly stressing those ligaments, tears will appear in the tendons, because they can’t stretch. (Your Ground-Strokes and Ground Game Will Suffer)

•   Tennis Shoulder: The tennis shoulder injury often times appears after you’ve overloaded the rotator-cuff when the muscle is contracting. This injury is usually caused during the follow-through phase of the serve.

The main symptom it manifests is pain when the ball makes contact with your racquet (…during your serving motion).

When suffering from this injury, one symptom you might experience is a decrease in velocity – meaning  you can’t serve as hard as you normally would. (…Will probably face more break-points and can cause a drop in confidence as a result).

•   Tennis Ankle: The tennis ankle injury is one of the easiest and most devastating, because it doesn’t need to be built up over time.  One wrong move, and Ouuuuuuuch – you’re done!

Ankle injuries are caused by sudden side-way movements you make such as pivoting while making a subtle (…but rapid) change in direction.

You can also suffer from this type of injury if you play on a slippery (…wet) surface or when you keep playing, even if you feel that fatigue is overwhelming you.

These injuries, though common, are really awful and can slow down your progress a great deal, especially if your level of tennis fitness isn’t on the level that it should be.

So, how can you decrease the chance of it happening to you in one of your matches or practice sessions? What’s the remedy?  STRRRRRRRRETCH!!!!

Stretching, though often times overlooked by the club player, is one of the best ways to avoid all of these major injuries.

In fact, stretching and tennis fitness are so important, the pros like Roger Federer, James Blake, and Maria Sharapova have the best trainers in the world (… men and women that they pay pretty handily) to make sure they never forget to do it.

So, here are a few tennis stretches you should use before every match you play. Below, I’ve listed three of the tour favorites.  And get this, you don’t even have to pay me $$$ .

Tennis Elbow Stretch (T.E.S)

1. Extend your right arm out in front of you with the fingers pointing down and your palm facing you. Place your left hand over the fingers on your right hand.

2. Next, pull the fingers on the right hand down and inwards toward your body, all while keeping your arm straight.

3.  TIME: Hold this stretch for 15 to 20 seconds.  As you improve and as your arm loosens up a little more, go ahead and add about 10  more – the total would then be 30 seconds.

*This will help stretch and loosen those tendons and ligaments surrounding the elbow.

Cross-Shoulder Stretch:

1. Raise the arm of the shoulder you intended to stretch so that it’s parallel with that shoulder. Stabilize the side of your shoulder and shoulder blade against a hard surface.

That will keep the shoulder blade from moving or sliding forward when you begin the stretch. *If the shoulder is moving, you’ll be losing a lot of the benefit provided by the stretch.

2.  Reach across your body and position your arm in front of your chest (…leaving about an inch space between the arm and chest).

3. With your other hand, you want to lock onto the outside of the elbow of the right hand and pull your arm to the opposite side of the shoulder and inward, toward your body. The arm being stretched should be right at or slightly above your pectoral muscles.

4. TIME: The longer you can hold the stretch without feeling fatigue or pain the better. A great time duration for the stretch is around 15 to 20 seconds. And if you’ve done it a while, feel free to extend it to around 30 seconds for an even more intense stretch.

After doing these 4 quick steps, you should really feel the stretch and the back part of your shoulder should start to loosen up.

BEWARE: If you start to feel a strong pain or pinching sensation in the front part of your shoulder, something is wrong. And you should stop and readjust. If you still feel no difference, stop immediately and try something different.

Tennis Ankle Extension:

1. Sit in the chair or on a bench located on the tennis court. Make sure to sit up straight, don’t slouch. But keep in mind, you don’t want tension in your body – especially in your back. So, find a good mid-point and relax your back against the bench or the chair you’re sitting in.

2. Then, you want to angle your feet so that the top of them are facing down, towards the court. You want to imagine that you’re pushing  the top of your feet through that hard court, grass, or clay court surface you’re on.

This is going to create an incredible stretch across the top part of your ankles. Feel free to do one or both feet together.

There is no rule regarding that. Of course, doing them both simultaneously can help you to loosen up in less time, but do whatever feels best (…and is the most comfortable) for you.

If you have trouble sitting, standing is also a valid method. Tuck the hips underneath you, pushing the knee down to the floor.

The result will be a feeling of increased muscle control, flexibility and range of motion. If done correctly, you’re going to be able to pivot and change direction while going at high speeds, while minimizing the risk of injury.

Not only that, but by loosening up those wheels,  you’ll be able to enhance your court coverage and gain optimum speed out there.

Oh yes, stretching can not only help you prevent a devastating injury, but by basically unraveling or “Un-Kinking” the muscles, your ability to push off will be a lot more explosive, and you’ll be able to travel across the tennis court in much less time – something that’s incredibly important to the players in this year’s US Open.

These are just 3 of the many stretching techniques to help tennis players elevate their tennis fitness level.  But try these out and you should have a much healthier time as you’re kicking butt out there on the court.

All the best,

Brian

TMC NEWS: Before we get into how to give your tennis forehand and back for punch, I want to let you know that TennisMindCamp Strategy Secrets 101, the new and intense strategy collection totaling almost 19 hours of professional tennis tips, tricks, and tennis secrets is now available.  If you’re interested in really taking your tennis game to the next level, click here.  For this week’s tennis tip, see below .

———————————————————————————

Now like I stated in my last tennis tip, bringing the aggression when you’re down is an

extremely powerful strategy and can be great for pulling you out of a mental hole.

But unloading too much in the wrong situation or going into overload with its usage, is an ill-advised decision and one of today’s players most detrimental mistakes.

Oh yeah, going “all-in” on your tennis forehand and other strokes can dig you even deeper into a hole (…mentally and physically) if you’re not careful.

If you bring it too often (…and attempt to pound every ball),  sure you’ll feel that rush from the adrenaline and be confident for a moment, but that feeling will quickly tank from putting yourself in too many unfavorable positions and accumulating too many errors.

That said, you don’t want to play with  the “Kill It” mentality every time you take your racket back. If you do, your game can take on two terrible traits that may ruin your winning chances completely.

1. You’ll Quickly Experience Tennis Fatigue:

Going “all in” on your tennis forehand and backhand requires a substantial amount of energy (…much more than if you were hitting a milder shot in an average baseline rally), and thus leaves you with less energy to use on the next shot – and in future games as well.

And get this, this isn’t just an arm thing.  For every shot you hit, your whole body is engaged (…arms, legs, knees, torso, head, shoulders, toes, wrists, and mind). And each time you really push it, the more your entire body takes a hit.

So, if this strategy is attempted in great numbers, you won’t have much left in the tank if the match turns into a long one or goes into extra innings so to speak.  You’ll simply be too exhausted.

And it won’t matter how badly you want that win or if you have the momentum in your favor or not. If your body can’t go anymore, the party is over .

That will ultimately result in your retirement – giving your opponent a free “express” pass to the next round. You don’t want that. You want to make your opponent earn everything.

2. You’ll Become The “Predictable Tennis Player.”

This is one of the worst labels in tennis. As a result of your uncontrolled aggression on your tennis forehand and backhand (…your serve too), your opponent will be given the chance to “settle in” and get comfortable – TOO COMFORTABLE. Why? Because you won’t be forcing him to adjust.

And with no variable or variety involved, he won’t have to think. He’ll know what you’re going to attack him with. He’ll already be prepared and know exactly what part of the court to cover, how fast he needs to be, how much pace he has to generate to get off a solid shot, and he’ll already have figured out where you’re going to recover.

And as a result,  he can even be further ahead of you on the next one – something that can turn into a circle of terror pretty quick.

Tennis Forehand and Backhand: The Bottom Line

Bottom line, YOUR SHOTS (…your tennis forehand and your tennis backhand) will have much LESS IMPACT. I mean, it won’t even matter if you blast your best screamer (…a shot with amazing speed) over there and it felt amazing coming off your racket, your opponent won’t feel your intended wrath and will return it with relative ease.

So yeah, what once was your “bread and butter” would now turn into your “day-old brussels sprouts.”  It’ll be hurting a lot more than helping.  And that can greatly affect your confidence level – thrusting it into a downward spiral.

How do you avoid these two negatives? You’ve got to set up.  You’ve got to set yourself up to make the big play.

And in order to do that, you have to change your mental state or frame of mind to that of a chess player or a championship-level boxer, instead of the incredible hulk.

Don’t set your sights solely on smacking the winner. Just go firm and secure – mixing it up with some flat shots, topspin shots, slice shots, and even sneak in a few drop shots now and then.

Then, what do you do? You play neutral or “detective tennis.” You wait – wait until you see you’ve got your opponent in a defensive position and on the ropes. That’s when you can load up, strike, and really let him have it.

Jab Your Tennis Forehand… Then Uppercut:

It’s the same thing in boxing. You don’t want to approach a fight, looking for the knock out blow with every punch.

For example, look at one of the greatest fighters in the world today, Manny Pacquiao.

In his recent bout against Puerto Rican born Miguel Cotto, he worked Cotto until he could find or generate that opening to really unload on it.

Even though Pacquiao has the power to knock his opponent out with one punch, he would jab his opponent a few times to the body, just to get a better feel for his opponent and what his possible responses and counter-attacks might be.  Then he’ll hit him with a couple up-stairs.

He would fade back and retreat (…assess the situation), then move in and regain the role of the aggressor, with hopes of landing a killer power shot every once in a while.

Then, when he would see that opening (…the opponent letting his guard down or falling out of position), that’s when he would load up that heavy left cross that sent Cotto crashing down onto the canvas.

You see, when those fighters are “dancing around the ring,” they’re not running away from confrontation like many believe, they’re very strategic and calculated warriors. Because hey, if you go for it (…load up that big swing) too soon or too often, it could very well be you who’s looking at the ceiling, flat on your back.

So keep your aggression in check, and only use it when you feel (…and see) the time is right. This will help you conserve energy and keep your opponent honest, so he doesn’t end up beating you to the punch.

Let me know if you think of this tip on tennis forehand and backhand strategy was helpful. Or if you have something like you’d like to share.  I’d love to get your opinion and insight.

Have a great day and an even better game,

Brian
TennisMindCamp

==> Tennis Strategy Secrets Course Now Available!

—————————————————————–

Let me ask you a question.

When everything seems to be flowing for you out there on the court, you’re hitting the balls with great accuracy and you can see you’re giving your opponent problems… What should be your next move?

That’s easy!  We ALL know what to do and what tennis strategy to use when we’re playing well – just keep doing what we’ve been doing.  You never want to deviate from a plan that’s working.

But when the flip side happens and things aren’t going your way, that’s where it can be difficult. That’s when you can really see the gap between the good players and the legends. Oh yeah, when the negative emotions begin to stir up from being beaten, that’s when you see a player’s true colors emerge.

So, let me ask you another question.  When you are down and feel the match starting to slip away, what’s the best tennis strategy use in order to turn the tides of that tennis match to help you get back on top?

Two possible options available: You could…

Tennis Strategy #1: Tone It Down Pull up and ease off on your shots and just focus on getting it in, with the attempt of trying to eliminate making any errors.

OR

Tennis Strategy #2: Turn It Up: Go in the opposite direction and turn it up a notch – even higher than you we’re playing at before.  I mean, you can hit out on your shots and really let them fly – despite the possibility of a possible error here and there.

Which do you think would be the best option? Which game plan would you go with? …Got Your Answer?

The answer is tennis strategy #2. What?!? Yes, this is a rather tricky one (…and goes against what you probably have seen some others do). I mean, who wants to increase the possibility of missing a shot, right?  We always hear that we should take some off and “get the ball in.”

But number 2 is going to be your best play the majority of the time. Why?  Check it out.

When we begin to recognize that the terms and tempo of the match are slipping out of our grasp, much of the time we pull back and take our foot off the gas, so much that you can’t even tell that we’re driving at all. We start playing “too safe” and even “passive” tennis.

But little do we know, this “going into our shell” and “hoping not to lose” can be just like driving the stake right through our own chances of making a comeback.

When we back off, that subconsciously sends the “we can’t” message to our brain. Then of course, we tighten up, and our technique falters because we end up tucking in our swing.

And then, what began as a small storm, quickly grows into an immense hurricane of slammed rackets, self-sabotage and loud (…disgusted) screams/grunts.

And the core of why all this is happening… is what? Because we stop believing. We stop believing in ourselves and that we have what it takes to pull this off.

Boy, would Melanie Oudin be upset . I mean, she feels so strongly against this, she even has it printed on her trademark sneakers.

You don’t want to do that! Don’t allow yourself to be pushed or play passive tennis. Play with a tennis strategy that’s active, not passive!  Push back! When you hit out on the ball, that sends a mental message of “I can, and I will.”

As a result, you’ll feel more confident and upbeat. You won’t compromise your technique or your tennis strategy, and you’ll continue to extend and follow through on your shots – which in turn give you more power a more threatening game.   So with this, you’ll be playing to win. See the difference.

Who cares about an error every now in then? Heck, you’ll commit a ton more by playing that other way!

As a matter of fact, we saw this tennis strategy live in and in abundance just this past week with some of the toughest players on tour. This was obvious in the stellar match where Sam Querrey stunned the top seeded Andy Murray at the Farmers Classic… when Dinara Safina ousted Alona Bondarenko at La Costa… and who can forget the local newcomer (…fresh out of high school) Coco Vandeweghe who surprised the heck out of Vera Zvonareva at the Mercury Insurance Open.

Check out what the players and expert analysts actually said was the biggest reason why these players were able to conquer their emotions after being down and how “bringing the aggression” was the reason that virtually changed the out come of these matches single-handedly!

Querrey, Safina, and Vandeweghe Choose An Aggressive Tennis Strategy, And It Works!

Los Angeles Times (…On Querrey): “After he lost the first set, Querrey seemed to settle into a positive place. He decided to play offense more than defense and to accept the occasional error as a fair exchange for extravagant winners. He also went to the net more.”

Dinara Safina: “I played a tiebreak last week and lost,” Safina said. “In practice I played a tiebreak and lost. Every time I play the tiebreak I play defensive.

Tonight I said it was OK to not be defensive, to be aggressive and whatever happens happens. I was maybe a little bit tight on match point.”

On her first match point, Safina served a double fault. On the second, she hit a forehand return wide but on the third Safina cracked a winner and pumped her fist.

Zvonareva (…Vandeweghe’s opponent): A rout looked imminent after Zvonareva took the first game, but Vandeweghe wouldn’t be beaten so easily. “She decided to be a little bit more aggressive,” said an emotional Zvonareva, the tournament’s No. 3-seeded player and this year’s Wimbledon runner-up.

You see, all of these players “turned it up” instead of “toning it down” and basically becoming the designated “defender” for the entire match.  They used the aggressive tennis strategy to battle through the nerves of being down and to help flip the script to generate major wins!

So the next time you fall behind and start to feel somewhat emotional and want to play “not to lose” by going into your shell, just remember to turn it up and let it all hang out. Do that, and you’ll enjoy more victories, I promise.

Have a great day and an even better game!

Brian

TennisMindCamp

—————————————–

==> Tennis Strategy Secrets Course Now Available!

All 8 (…plus 2 NEW) Serious Player Bonuses Revealed
Click the link above to get all the juicy details. <==

Hey guys,

Unfortunately, last week was an awful one in the eyes of professional women’s tennis. The tennis injury bug escaped again and ran wild, taking massive bites out of some of the highest ranked players of the WTA: Serena Williams, Francesca Schiavone,  and Lucie Safarova.

And now the consensus among the fans is that there’s no way they can be ready to the take the court in Flushing Meadows, New York this year.

Many believe they might as well throw in the towel because by the time late August hits, they’ll be out of shape, their conditioning will have dipped, and their sharpness and reaction skills will be nowhere near up to par.

Well, that’s certainly possible but nowhere near guaranteed. And see, that’s a problem. Too many players actually give up on preparing for a match or a big tournament after an tennis injury (…like tennis elbow), because they were led  to believe that nothing could be done. They had the “what’s the point” mindset.

So that’s why I wanted to take a quick second to really address this and debunk a myth that has been swirling around the sports world for a long time.

Many are under the impression that you MUST stop everything, plop yourself in a lazy boy, and rest-it-out until you’re 100% pain free – otherwise you won’t heal properly. And deterioration of fitness is inevitable and just something you have to work through.

Not True.

If you have a tournament or a big match coming up and you go down with a minor but nagging injury (…a tweak of the wrist, soreness in your knees, or even a quirk in your shoulder), you can still exercise, train and be physically ready to go come match time! In fact, you HAVE to!

Your training may have to be revised, depending on the severity of your tennis injury, but it’s incredibly important that you continue your strength work and your cardiovascular exercises.

2 Great Ways To Keep The Motor Running On All Cylinders During Your Tennis Injury Recovery Period:

1.  Jump In The Pool: Being in the water is great for many muscle related injuries, and it also takes a heap load of pressure off your joints. So whether you chose to do a light free-style, breast stroke, or even dog paddle, your  muscles are active.  You’re revving up your metabolism and burning calories as you would while running on the court. You’re also  building more strength by pushing through the resistance of the water.

This enables you to get stronger without heavily impacting the injury. Oh and don’t think this is easy stuff or this somehow will be a push over. You’re really going to  be working! In fact, swimmers are some of the fittest athletes I’ve ever seen.  Just check out my good buddy from the USA Olympic Water Polo team, Tony Azevedo in google images.

2.  Restructure Gym Workouts: Weight training is crucial to keeping up your core strength and endurance.  But when you get injured, that doesn’t have to (…and shouldn’t) change.  Just because one part of your body is less than 100%, that doesn’t mean you have to shut down your entire body. In order to keep your edge, you want to make your training sessions as similar to your non-injury sessions as possible.

So, if you have a foot tennis injury, you might go lighter on the foot, but you don’t have to neglect the lower body all together. You can do light-weight leg extensions (…sitting or laying down). Having a strong lower base will make getting down to those low balls and volley shots 10 times easier.

If you’re suffering from discomfort in the knee, you can still work your back, arms (…bi-ceps and tri-ceps), chest and abs. Elastic bands, free weights, or machines for resistance are great too.

NOTE: If your joints are what’s giving you trouble, avoid the treadmill. Use the elliptical machine instead. With the elliptical machine, it’s a very smooth, rotating motion so you don’t have the pressure of your body weight constantly going up then landing on the injured body part.

It’s very much like your riding your own bicycle.  Not only that,  it’s been proven that you can burn close to double the calories than when using the regular treadmill. So, you’ve got 2 BIG positives!

But listen, just like with any medicine or remedy, this “staying in shape” prescription does come with a “warning” and a “do not use unless” label.

Tennis Injury WARNING:

Don’t overload your body with too many exercises, too fast. Start off light and slow and see what your body can handle.  If you try to do too much too quickly, you can cause yourself yet another tennis injury.

DON’T USE UNLESS: Before you resume training, make sure you check with your doctor, training staff, and coach before doing any sort of exercises.  These guys know what they’re doing and can save you a lot of time by making sure you do things the right way and won’t risk further tennis injury.

Not only will keeping your training consistent, benefit you physically, but you’ll see the effects mentally as well. Because when we suffer a bad injury, the immediate response that is triggered is negative. Of course, who enjoys pain right? Nobody!

And when that happens, our minds flood with regret, anger, and anxiety – which cause our muscles to tense up.  Plain and simple, we’re stressed. And this stress can actually cause the healing process to slow down a great deal.

But check this out…

TMC MIND FACT: Numerous scientific studies have shown that by continuing to exercise, you’ll decrease your ‘stress hormones’ like cortisol, better regulate your adrenaline flow, and increase endorphins production …(your body’s ‘feel-good’ chemicals), giving your mood a natural boost. And ultimately, you recover faster.

So, if you revise and continue your recovery workout program, you don’t have to worry about not being physically able to take out your next big opponent that you’ve spent so much time preparing for. Keep a positive mindset.  See yourself accomplishing this goal and getting back out there.  Do that and you’ll be out on the court, playing like a pro in no time.

Oh, and don’t worry about Serena, Fran, and Lucie as long as they’re training the right way, you’ll see them blasting balls on the hard court come August (baring any major complications.

For more info on mentally tackling a tennis injury, click here

Update on Strategy Secrets 101, early next week. Yes, it’s finally here . The Pre-order list is filling up fast, so email me asap or place a comment below so I can add you .

All the best,

Brian

Francesca Schiavone wins the French Open Final, but how? Check this out.

Sam Stosur…

In this 2010 French Open tournament, she rolled over Jankovic, roared back against Justine Henin, and stuck to a winning plan when she played the almost unbeatable Serena Williams – all former world #1s, essentially back to back to back.

Then… went into the final as the overwhelming favorite. But… lost to a 17th seed girl by the name of Francesca Schiavone.

How did this happen? How could this happen? How did the under-dog manage to defy the 1 to 120 odds of winning this unbelievable tournament in Paris?

Well, check out a pretty detailed analysis I just completed and find out some of the main reasons for this historic upset.

4 Main Reasons Francesca Schiavone Stunned Stosur In The French Open 2010 Final

1. Superior Serving: This is definitely one of the biggest reasons.  Previously at TennisMindCamp, we’ve talked about how much of an impact the serve can have on the outcome of a match, and on Saturday, Francesca showed just how true a concept that is. She…

A. Played The Percentage: Early on, it was easy to see the nerves being tested and the anxiety seeping through for both players who were on the biggest stage of their lives. Both were a little tight.

But as the the first set began to unfold,  not only did Francesca Schiavone make it difficult for Stosur, by giving her minimal break opportunities, ZERO, the amount of serves that she was strategically placing around the service box reached a high of an amazing 70%!

And when the serves started popping in one after another after another after ANOTHER, the sky opened up and the confidence began to pour on the 29 year old Italian.

As a result, the shackles of tension and unfamiliarity were broken, and her game really began to flourish.  She began to fully extend out on her shots and seemed to effortlessly float (…or fly), depending on the tempo of the point, to each ball and execute with great precision.

Now, seeing that the score was only 6-4 in that set, by no means did Francesca Schiavone completely run away with the set, but that noteworthy first serve percentage is what enabled her to really play “HER” game (…which was to use ALL of her shots) and to steal a boatload of momentum heading into the second set.

Now was she “serve perfect” throughout the entire final? Well…Almost. Francesca Schiavone did have one minor mental lapse in the second set where Sam was able to get a break and hold at to take the score to 4-1.

And as you would predict, that’s when the Australian power-hitter began to pick up some steam.  Though it made for a great wrinkle in the match and stirred things up a bit, it shouldn’t come as a big surprise to us.

Why? Mr. momentum usually likes to stay on the side the player who serves the best – which was definitely the case here. The one “ON” when serving usually can do so many great things like dictating the tempo of the match and making the opponent play at an undesired pace.

Luckily, Fran stuck it out, stayed as poised (…as humanly possible), and got back on serve, which lead to winning 3 of the biggest game of her career back to back to back – dumping all of the pressure  right back onto her opponent.

B. (Fooling Around): Anyone who’s seen the scouting report on Miss Samantha “Smack That Thang” Stosur, knows that she has a thunderous forehand stroke that can reek  havoc on her opponent strings – both ground strokes and the return of serve.

So, this being the case, normally an opponent would force them to return the serve from her backhand side up the T, the weaker of the two strokes. And Sam “expecting” this to happen, would (…if possible) run around it and smack back a smokin’ hot forehand. So… No harm done, right?

Not quite. Francesca Schiavone, fooled her by going the opposite side.  Yes! She did the reverse.  She sporadically would serve balls directly out wide into her opponent’s deadliest weapon. On purpose? Yes. On Purpose !

Guess what happened? Easy points! It frequently left Stosur wrong-footed. And if she did get it back, it didn’t have enough on it to do any real damage.  Stosur wasn’t prepared for it. Why? She didn’t think anyone would be crazy enough to do that.  She was wrong, and it cost her.

See, sometimes it’s good to go down the road less traveled! She did, and made tennis history because of it.

2. Weakness Exploitation:

A. Placed Instead of Punished: You might say, “Wow, how did Francesca Schiavone produce such a top-level tennis performance against one of the heaviest hitters on the WTA without using power. Power? What for?

That’s actually one of the biggest mistakes even the most seasoned and competitive tennis players make. They try to out muscle the “power monger” as I like to call it.  That does NOTHING but add fuel to flame.

Fortunately, Francesca Schiavone did NOT make that mistake in her French open final match this past weekend.

Instead, she denied her opponent that gift and took the pace away!  She put it in her pocket, and sealed it.  Well, she would pull out the big gun O-ccasionally haha. But for the most part, she used milder shots like soft high-topspin loopers and sexy slice backhands.

This strategy not only almost drove the Aussie to the looney bin,  a big it also drove a stake right through the heart of her rhythm gaining hopes! And as a result, she was forced to generate her own pace – something difficult and out-right exhausting to do over and over and OVER again.

It takes a ton of patience, near perfect timing and boundless concentration – something that few possess – even a 7th seed at Roland Garros.

Bait is what it was. Most players end up becoming impatient and wanting to blast it out of the stadium. Sam took the bait… went for the BIG SHOT… and shanked a bunch because of it.

3. Flucuated Between Offensive and Defensive Posture: Much to many player’s dismay, we can’t be running and gunning on high-octane offense 100% of the time. You have to be able to tactically switch between both as each situation changes.

Francesca Schiavone did that. She analyzed and evaluated each situation one-by-one.  If she had Sam with her back turned or in an inferior position, she made an offensive advance.  If Stosur had her scrambling she would shift to a more defensive gear.

Do the opposite, or mixing the two up can spell disaster! So, great job!

4. Became The Neutralizer: As I mentioned before, Sam “Smack That Thang” Stosur is a baseline-banger. That being the case, Francesca Schiavone knew it would be championship suicide to engage in a slug-fest battle from the baseline.

So, her plan was to get aggressive and neutralize her brutal baseline strokes by aggressively attacking the net. She ended up being quite successful more than 80% of time she went net hunting – deflecting well angled volleys to finish her off, point after point, after point.

And when she saw it working, she doubled the dose – winning 14 of the total 15 times she came in.  Smart girl!

The Tie-break: So with all this wonderful strategy working for her, by the time the tie-breaker came around, it was lights-out for Stosur. Confidence, momentum, and the adrenal push were all on Francesca Schiavone’s side!

She felt almost invincible. I mean, everything was clicking. And like anyone would do with that type of feeling,  she went for broke – firing away with ease – executing gutsy (…yet intelligent shots) like the cross-court backhand into her opponent’s weak spot. She was hitting corners and nailing lines.

It was really incredible to watch.  She just steamrolled through the final few points needed to capture the 2010 French Open crown. And that was that – 6-4, 7-6 (7-2).

So, though it was a hard fought match… It turned out the way she ironically predicted the day before when she said, “The smartest player will probably win the match – not the strongest.”

And indeed… It came down to the more strategic player who had the calmest nerves. Fabulous job Francesca Schiavone!

Oh, and that making history thing (…the first Italian to win a Grand Slam in the Open era, well… that’s good too. Enjoy the biggest win of your tennis life. We all here at TMC wish you much continued success!

Let me know if you liked this French Open Finals Analysis by leaving a comment in the blank below.

Have a great week, and an even BETTER game!

Brian Hall, Founder
TennisMindCamp