There are some players who have that natural, innate skill that makes them perfect candidates for tennis superstardom. There are others who lack a natural ability but have achieved major tennis skills because of their hard work and dedication. Guess what, though? Both of these types of player still have the opportunity to fail. Sucks, huh?

People who have god-given skill usually get big-headed and don’t keep up their practice and skill-building. They’ll never reach their full potential and will eventually sit stagnant in a pool of their own smugness.

Those who bust their own chops in order to get better and better sometimes get bogged down in a routine, become bored and similarly let themselves taper off in their practice, reaching a plateau from which they may never rise any higher.

So how do we avoid becoming one of these terrible examples? No, the answer isn’t steroids; it’s consistent, dedicated, hard work day in and day out.

Right now you might be thinking, “Wow, what a revolutionary idea! Hard work and practice makes me better at tennis?!? What other nuggets of wisdom do you got stored up in there, Brian? The recipe for ice cream soup, perhaps haha?” Well, if you let me finish, you might learn something, junior. Effort is the backbone of skill.

The best tennis pro in the world could lose to an inferior player if that player has a lot of heart and the one who is expected to win isn’t giving it his or her all. Haven’t you ever seen The Mighty Ducks?

Basically, the point is to give it your all each and every time you’re on the court. Sure, you may just be playing a pickup game for fun, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t consistently challenge yourself!

Keep in mind that this doesn’t mean that you should be busting your fuzzy yellow balls if you’re nursing an injury. Depending on the severity, you may not want to be within twenty yards of a net, service box, or sideline. Take some time and spend it with your bed, instead. Oh yes, there are going to be times when you may want to relax.

To put it simply, lets just say this: When you’re on the court with the intention of “training”, “practice”, or any type of instruction, don’t allow yourself to “take it easy”, “relax”, or whatever you want to call that. Whether you got to your skill level with hard work or natural-born talent, remember that stagnancy happens to the best of us, and it is often that trait that marks the worst of us.

So how can you ensure that you give it your “all” each and every time you step on the court? Here are a few quick and easy guidelines you can use to keep you on your toes.

1: No Excuses: This is an easy enough one to follow. There are plenty of reasons why you may have missed that serve or shanked that backhand, but 7 times out of 10, it’s because of something you did incorrectly. Make sure that you realize that and don’t blame it on external things like the weather, the racket, or not having the right shoes. By taking responsibility, you’ll subconsciously begin to play better before you know it.

2: No Mediocrity: This is in line with what we’ve discussed above. Remember to never be satisfied with a decent return or an “okay” volley. Be happy you made it over the net but don’t be comfortable with it, you know what I mean? Make sure not to pat yourself too hard on the back if you don’t deserve anything more than a light tap or a quick “good job.”

3: Reward Yourself When You Earn It: On the flip side, make sure that your back is patted when it is warranted. If you broke through a previously un-reached barrier or accomplished a goal, by all means get loud and happy about it! Don’t dwell on it too long, though. Accept that there are always new goals and barriers on the horizon.

4: Vary Your Routine: This accomplishes a few things. For one, you’re less likely to get bored and will therefore be less likely to reach a plateau. Also, switching up practices and lessons will help you set and meet different goals at different times. If you try day in and day out to achieve an unrealistic goal, you may quickly lose hope and desire and tire of the chase.

On the other hand, if you have several small “attainable” goals spread out in different areas, you will see encouragement and motivation skyrocket as you reach these goals with ease and fun (…the most important thing).

These 4 mental strategies should definitely make tennis fun again. You have my word.

Have a good one guys!

- Brian

I mean, even though you’re virtually the same in every aspect like health, athletic ability, and overall game, one frustrating question is continuously swirling around in your brain and seems like it’ll never go away; “Why Can’t I Beat Him… EVER?

I bet you probably start to feel that you’re probably  just deficient in some unknown regard. And it’s killing you because you have no clue on how to fix it.  And then doubt sets in, and you begin to just accept that you can’t stand up to that particular opponent, am I right?

You start to avoid matches with them and even pretend you don’t see them when they show up on the court so they have no chance to say those words that make you cringe… “Hey, wanna play?” Why?

Because you already perceive what the outcome is going to be, a LOSS! And you don’t want to be put through that type of embarrassment anymore. I mean, who would?

But hey, don’t get too down on yourself. You’re not alone. This is a typical situation faced by literally every tennis player that has swung a racket.

In fact, I’ve witnessed the same thing myself and that’s why I can easily understand how you’re feeling. You want to know why this is happening to you? YOUR MIND IS OUT OF CONTROL. Let me explain.

A while back, I was the top players at one of the earlier tennis clubs I was a member of… until a friend of mine decided he wanted in too. We were both equal in skill and had almost the same number of wins under our belts.

When we first started playing, I lost a couple matches against him (…back to back). At that point, Randy was promoted to the top position on the team. Yea, my spot!

That really started to eat at me. I mean, I was top dog, then I dropped to #2 faster than I could blink my eye. I then started to doubt myself and even thought about leaving for another club across town or even in another state. An athlete’s ego is fragile haha, especially when you’re as competitive as you and me.

But no, I didn’t leave. I stuck with it, hoping it would get better. But in our next meeting, I started to make tons of mistakes that even more than before. As you can imagine, I got REALLY bummed out, and incredibly frustrated.

I really don’t like to lose. I actually despise it. So, I had to do something to change it and start winning again. After all, I couldn’t just sit there and do what I’d been doing and expect something different to happen. That’d be insane

So after a couple days of some intense thinking, I realized that the problem didn’t have anything to do with my strokes at all.

It was all happening between my ears. I was giving Randy the victory before we even stepped foot on the court. I was thinking too much about things that didn’t matter like past matches I lost against him, and how embarrassed I ‘d feel if I lost AGAIN, how awful it would be to see his stupid face grinning back at me at the end, and God forbid, I drop to #3!!!!

At first, I thought that highlighting those ideas would light a fire under me and give me the extra push to do better, but all it did was disturb my mental stability and decrease my confidence level. Why?

Because I was playing, hoping NOT TO LOSE instead of unleashing the killer instinct to WIN! When you do that, your anxiety level skyrockets. My body and muscles were tight before I even hit my first ball. This was the reason I was making so many stupid “unforced” errors.

But once I understood the problem, that I was focusing too much on him and NOT on the game, it helped me to turn things around pretty fast.

In my next match with him, I tried directing my focus to any and everything except my opponent: the ball, my racket, my shoes, the sidelines, anything but him. I didn’t want him in my thoughts at all, because it could trigger a response that I definitely needed to keep under wraps.

Without a doubt, it was mentally exhausting, but it definitely did the job. This approach helped me a lot as I wasn’t focusing my attention on him anymore.

I instead was more focused on my game,  the ball, its movements, my overall court coverage and my shot selection.

The idea is to de-clutter and eliminate the space occupied by your opponent and how badly you want to beat him by re-directing your internal energy on things that won’t distract you.

You’re there to play the points – one point at a time. The only portion of your opponent you should be focusing on are his weaknesses and figuring out a way to destroy and exploit them blow by blow. Or I should say stroke by stroke.

This seemed to solve my problem and I actually won that match 6-1, 6-3! We played a couple of matches after that, and there were few that I won and a few which I lost.

But this time, I only lost the match because he was just playing better. Maybe luck was on his side or maybe it wasn’t my day. However,  I didn’t lose any of the matches because I was busy worrying whether I would win or loose against my opponent.

You should take this approach whenever you face a similar problem. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a tennis player, boxer, wrestler or chess player; just remember that everything lies in your mind. You have to have full control on your emotions by:

So yea, focus on what matters, you playing well and executing what you’ve worked on in practice. Do this from the first  point to the last point, and you’ll achieve great results.  And don’t get upset if he hits an incredible shot from time to time.

Look at it this way, this player makes you nervous and uneasy to start with right? So you’ll already be on edge. These 4 strategies above will help you keep your cool and will help strengthen your emotional control.

And once you have full control over all your emotions, then it won’t matter if your partner is on the same level as you or even “better” then you. You’ll be able to give yourself a fighting chance every single time!

Remember, it’s not just about physical strength or mechanics; every match is a mind game! What do they say? It’s the inside that counts… wink . Exactly!

Have a great day and an even BETTER game.

Brian Hall,

Your Tennis Mind Coach