In most cases, the majority of players I’ve had the pleasure to watch and to hit with tend to get mentally unglued due to one of these 3 reasons:

A. Broken Focus:

As a tennis player, you have to remain focused on the most immediate task throughout the game. If you get caught up on something that happened on a previous point or look too far ahead, you will get distracted. And let me tell you, distraction kills!

Now by distraction, it could be a number of things. Things that shouldn’t get to you actually wind up doing just that. They get to you!

Whether it’s intentional like an over-the-top grunting sound when you’re opponent strikes the ball or unintentional like the foot steps or the sporatic clapping from the spectators watching you play, you have to put those in your ignore box.

If you find this difficult to do, don’t worry. Focus alone is one of the single most difficult concepts to master in the entire sport - mainly because the need for it is so constant.

You can rarely take it easy or take a point off. So, naturally your brain weakens and your ability to execute suffers as a result.

Quick Fix #1: The way to give your brain an extra boost is by giving it a rest. It may sound backwards, but it’s completely true. Take small focus-breaks between points and during change overs. This can help to keep the mind fresh and vibrant for longer periods of time.

Some players accomplish this by looking into the sky, taking deep breathes, or even plucking their racket strings before they walk up to the line.

B. Rushed Perfection

The second common way you can lose critical points during the match is by trying to thread the needle and be overly accurate with your shots.  You stop thinking and start forcing. It’s a very stressful situation for most players. So naturally, they want to get out of there ASAP.

For example, you end up trying force the ball 2 inches from the corner or literally try to hit the  ball smack-dab on the lines, that doesn’t do you any good. Your strokes end up all over the place -  becuase your muscles are very tense from the pressure of wanting to get it over with pronto!

Well, trying to go for too much when you’re already at a disadvantage 100% self-sabatoge!

TMC Quick Fix #2:

Don’t rush. You want to relax and play with confidence.  Let the game come to you. In other words, trust your shots and your ability to play well.  Don’t play like your frightened baby sister who just finished watching the music video for Michael Jackson’s thriller. Take the “He must deal with me” mindset.

Your shots will then have more pop, and your shot selection will dramatically improve - thus putting your opponent on the defensive end. As a result, you’ll be able to hit out and extend through your shots smoothly and in rhythm, and have a great chance at winning the match!

C. Playing Not To Lose: This happens when you’re in a great place in a match to really do some damage and just give up.

For example, you have a 5-3 or 5-2 lead, and just about to close it out, and you go blank. Everything goes numb, and you end up giving up game after game after game.

The reason why this happens is because you become too afraid to take any offensive initiative.You want him or her to mess it up instead of you taking it. You think about the people you know who are watching you, and you don’t want to do anything to let them down.

So, you stop doing what got you in that winning position and change it to something that causes you to tank. Not very smart, but I know it’s really hard to control.

TMC Quick Fix #3:

Deal with reality and what’s actually happening in between those sidelines, NOT in fantasy! Play in the moment. Don’t waste any mental energy on the things that happened in the past or may (…or may not ever happen) during and/or after the match is over.

If you watched the finals yesterday, you could see this kind of strategy working deep within Andy Roddick.

Though he let that incredible chance at taking a commanding 2 - 0 set lead slip away, you would have never known anything like that happened.

He wasn’t thinking  “What if he breaks me, how will I catch up?” or What will my friends say when I’m holding the trophy above my head??

He was poised, and dealt with what was right in front of his face, and that was all. That’s how you maintain that type of intense mental toughness to take the best player in the era to 13-15 in the 5th set of Wimbledon.

Whenever you’re not in the immediate present, your anxiety will spike and your game will suffer. So, avoid doing that, and you’ll avoid hearing the most hated word in the entire sport - CHOOOOOKE!