I’m going to get straight to the point with this one, because it’s extremely important.

Confidence is one of those things you MUST have if you want to win. It’s that simple. Deep down inside, you MUST feel that you can take on any opponent at any given time. Oh yes, I said *ANY* opponent, and I mean it .

A player who isn’t confident in himself has a high probability of losing the match even before the first ball is hit. So how do obtain this feeling? Well, confidence is generated by your complete mastery of your technique. This means practice and more practice. Aren’t you excited? Before you ask… Nope, there are no shortcuts.

You have to master your strategy and technique. Why? The biggest reason for your lack of confidence is due to your uncertainty. You’re very unsure, and many times, outright lost out there on the court. If you had your strategy down pat, you’d have the necessary tools to guide you in making the right decisions throughout each match you play.

But when you’re clueless and very uncertain, your muscles tense up, your brain cramps up, and fear and frustration set in. Because let’s face it, no one likes to look like they don’t know what they’re doing out there. It’s a part of human nature.

Now, the only way to cure that bug is practice and repetition. And repetition is the mother of skill. But I’m going to be honest with you, getting the motions, movements, and techniques that work best for YOUR individual game plan is going to take some time.

But once you’ve done this, you’ll be prepared for anything. No more uncertainty, and the possibility of surprises out there during the match will be virtually zero. The only person that’ll be surprised out there is the guy on the other side of the net.

Oh and there’s more, when you have a high level of confidence in what you have learned and practiced, it will not only show in your your results but it’ll also show in your movement and body language as well.

Your poise, coolness and ability to clearly show that feeling on your face and in your posture will cause your opponent to really take a step back and say “Wow, this guy must really be good.”

And even if you don’t have a strong enough skill set just yet to beat your opponent outright, that’s completely fine. He’ll certainly think you do. And either way, you’ve just acquired a tremendous psychological advantage. And we all know, when you have the player’s mind in your hands, the victory should soon follow.

My advice to you is this. If you want to excel in tennis and build up your mental tennis game, don’t try to act confident. Instead, be confident by putting a lot of elbow grease in your practice and endurance workouts. And you’ll definitely reap the benefits.

- Brian

TennisMindCamp