The following post is an excerpt from the Second Edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible
Available through most online retailers!
TEN SECRETS TO STOP SELF DESTRUCTION
“Hi Frank, This is Mr. Patton. I’d like to talk to you about helping my daughter. Another tournament is over and once again we’ve witnesses the unthinkable. Samantha lost again to a weaker, lower level player. This happens all the time! Maybe she’s just not cut out for competition? I send her to an Academy. She hits almost every day. Why isn’t she winning? Is there anything my wife and I can do as parents to help? Please call me back. My number is …”
If you’re athlete suffers from losing to lesser players, relax there is a solution. As a matter of fact, there are ten solutions! This is a major factor in the mental skills department. Begin by reviewing the below list of self-destruction solutions with your player and entourage of coaches. Ask your athlete to circle their top 3 favorite solutions. Along with their coaches, schedule time to rehearse the repetition of the solutions.
Self-Destruction Solutions:
1) When you are donating points with first or second strike errors, simply focus on hitting three balls clean straight down the center of the court. You’ll go from handing the opponent the trophy to making them earn a seven ball rally. Trust me, this really works!
2) While being too eager to see your beautiful shot, you sneak a peek early, pull out of the strike zone and shank balls off the frame. A great tip is to simply say “plant” when the incoming ball lands on your court and “turn” as you begin to uncoil the kinetic chain into the ball. Trick yourself into thinking that you can see the ball “hit” the strings of your racket. Wa-la! No more shanks!
3) Future thoughts are a common enemy of high quality tennis. Thinking ahead to the award presentation, their new ranking or what their friends are going to say when they beat this seed is a sure fire path to “Loserville.” Focus on the present execution of your performance patterns versus the post-match outcome drama.
4) Mistakes often lead to anger. Anger leads to increased ball speed. Increasing ball speed leads to more errors. To steady up, sometimes match the opponents ball speed until you get your game back to a controllable level. Yes, champions often simply match the ball speed.
5) Use the tactics found in applying the proper air zones and court zones. Understanding zonal tennis will greatly reduce the sheer numbers of unforced errors.
6) Another critical function of reducing the “avoidable” error is the proper use of offense, neutral and defensive choices. Pro tour studies show that professionals hit on average 60% neutral, 20% offence, 20% defense. Match play video analysis of intermediate juniors show an average of 80% offence, 15% neutral, 5% defense. Hum…no wonder the unforced error count is through the roof!
7) Most juniors use changeovers to watch the other matches, check out that cute chic or guy over by the fence, watch cars go by or even spot the American airlines jet overhead. Proper internal changeover rituals would be to simply think two games back, fix flaws and design proactive plans, then organize how they will be using the information during the next two games.
8) If you’re self-destructing and want to respond to adversity like a champ, copy Serena. She reads her notes during matches to relax and stay focused. She’s earned a few bucks playing this game and seems to have a future. Haha! You should have your notes prepared and actually choose to pull them out and read them if needed.
9) As the “deer in the head light’ spaced out look comes across your face, remind yourself that you can break free of all this panicking by taking a few “swoosh” shadow swings. Be aware that one of the first fundamentals to shut down are your quick little steps. Move your feet and use verbal and physical triggers to re-gain composure.
10) On a parental note, often a large portion of the stress that inhibits your child’s peak performance is unknowing caused by you. Stress causes poor brain function and tight muscle contractions. Are you successfully de-stressing your athlete on game day?
Training how to handle ADVERSITY is a major contributor to a champion’s success. I often remind intermediate athletes that they have to be comfortable…being uncomfortable. Spending a couple hours each week for the next month focusing on a few of their solutions may be the exact protocol your athlete needs to salvage a routine match that has gone south.
