Tag Archives: match day preparation

Pre-Match Visualization and Imagery

Posted on July 23, 2017 by in Emotional Tennis, Maximizing Tennis Potential

The following post is an excerpt from the Second Edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible NOW available through most on-line retailers! Click Here to Order

09HEADPHONESweb1-1441671027028-master675

PRE-MATCH VISUALIZATION AND IMAGERY

Warming up doesn’t stop at the physical. Players need to build up their “wall of defenses” in preparation for the continuous onslaught of mental and emotional challenges that competitive tennis encompasses. What we think about often dictates what we create.

A mental, emotional no-no is to obsess about the next opponent’s past success, ranking or seeding. Winning tough matches begins with a winning mind set.

“A winning mind set is a performance based plan.”

In the nights leading up to a big event, a great way to preset a positive mindset is to re-live a past peak performance experiences. Set aside 15 minutes a night for three nights in a row to allow your athlete to re-experience the feelings of coming through under pressure. This is known to calm nervousness and quiet fears. It also has been linked to motor programming the skills of applying the appropriate responses with little or no cognitive processing. It has been proven to improve the player’s physical, mental and emotional performance on game day.

Positive visualization includes the athlete imagining their strokes working to perfection, their tactics and strategies working like clockwork and their emotional state of mind calm and relaxed.

Pre-match visualization topics are unlimited, but some of the best visualization exercises include the following:

1) Perfectly executed primary and secondary strokes.

2) Top seven favorite perfectly executed patterns.

3) The three pillars of between-point rituals.

4) Successful patterns of play against the three main styles of opponents.

5) Preset protocols for common emotional issues. (Gamesmanship)

 

Ask your athlete to begin their pre-match visualization by arriving on site early enough to set aside 20 minutes to mentally rehearse the performance goals they’ve been rehearsing on the practice court.

Start this self-hypnosis by seeking out a quiet area away from other competitors and distractions- with closed eyes, ask them to take several deep relaxing breaths. Then create a vivid mental image of numerous tasks being performed successfully. Let’s call this your positive movie.

To build confidence and reduce pre-match stress, ask them to mentally re-run the “movie” several times to reinforce the positive thoughts.

 

“Positive constructive visualization actually trains a player to perform the skills imagined calmly, without hesitation.”

Spectacular Match Day Preparation

Posted on August 4, 2016 by in Match Day Preparation, The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from Match Day Preparation NOW available through most on-line retailers!  Click Here to Order Matchday preparation

 

There is often a very fine line between competitive success and failure. A poor start, an initial lack of focus, or a bout of wavering confidence can cause a seemingly winnable match to quickly slip away. The will to properly prepare for competition usually makes the difference. For players to achieve consistent positive match results, their preparation must include ritualistic, inflexible routines.
A player who is ready to compete creates an impenetrable wall that keeps the human elements of fear at bay. Remember, for a tennis player, FEAR stands for “False Expectations Appearing Real.” Players who disregard pre-match rituals often unknowingly start a downward spiral that inevitably results in a loss. Their lack of self-discipline leads to self-doubt, a condition that fuels nervousness and then causes a lack of confidence and low self-esteem. These negative forces have a way of fostering a lack of self-control on match day.


“Spectacular Performances are preceded by Spectacular Preparation.”

 

How does your player grade their match day preparation?

MATCH DAY PREPARATION

  • Equipment Preparation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
  • Pre Match Visualization (Quiet Mind): 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
  • Pre Match Stretching (Dynamic): 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
  • Pre Match Warm Up Routines (Fundamental & Secondary shots): 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
  • Pre Match Run: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
  • Pre Match Nutrition/Hydration: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
  • Post-Match Stretching (Static): 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
  • Post-Match Nutrition/Hydration: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
  • Post-Match: Match Logs: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
  • Scouting of Opponent:

10.1)  Style of Play: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

10.2)  Stroke Strengths and Weaknesses: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

10.3)  Favorite Patterns: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

10.4)  Movement Strengths and Weaknesses: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

10.5)  Frustration Tolerance Level: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

 

List your Top 3 Match Day Preparation areas to focus on this year:

1.

2.

3.

 

Write your Personal Action Plan:

 

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net

 

PRIOR TO MATCH DAY

Posted on June 6, 2015 by in Match Day Preparation, Maximizing Tennis Potential

The following post is an excerpt from Match Day Preparation.  Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo

Prior to Match Day

Success in tournaments is directly related to the quality of preparation. Champions become champions because they’re the few who are actually willing to put in the grueling hours of pre-match preparation. Spectacular achievements are preceded by spectacular preparation. This section of your book is dedicated to proper preparation. Remember the old saying “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail”. Make today be the last day that you go into an event under prepared.

PERIODIZATION TRAINING

Players need to balance their preparations for short-term goals—such as an upcoming tournament—with their long-term improvement schedule. Managing these training phases is called periodization. When preparing for an upcoming match, a player’s plan for training to reach a peak level at the event should be customized to the player’s current comfort and ability level. Trying to perform skills that have not yet been securely ingrained is a recipe for disaster. The following are examples of both poor and intelligent pre-match preparations through periodization.

Poor Pre-Match Preparation

  1. Changing fundamental grips or strokes– Changing fundamental grips or strokes often leads to not having the old stroke any longer and not having the new stroke ready for match play.
  2. Cramming for the event by overloading the practice schedule. This behavior often leads to drained, low batteries on match day.
  3. Overdoing the off-court training– Overdoing the off-court training, often leads to soreness, fatigue, and injuries come match day.
  1. Adding unfamiliar things to routines– Adding unfamiliar things to routines could lead to physical, mental and emotional confusion.
  2. Seeking out only “Up” practice matches– Seeking out only “Up” practice matches breeds low self-esteem and zero confidence.
  3. Warming up past the point of diminishing returns-Warming up the same strokes too long often leads to your mind playing tricks on you. A seemingly solid stroke may appear to be flawed by over analysis.

Exception to the Rule: Often players and/or parents do not want to get off the tournament trail due to the ranking race.  In this situation, changes must be made to improve while on the tournament trail. Players/parents will have to accept the fact that losing a battle or two may be in order to win the war. In other words a player may have to lose a minor tournament or two in order to improve enough to be able to win Major tournaments in the future.

Intelligent Pre-Match Preparation:

  1. Train repetition of primary and secondary strokes, which grooves the timing and increases confidence.
  2. Train repetition of proactive patterns, which leads to fast cognitive processing speed and faith in the patterns.
  3. Perform light off-court training, this leads to strength and stamina.
  4. Preset mental protocols, this leads to dependable problem-solving skills.
  5. Preset emotional protocols, which leads to self-assurance and trust under stress

ASSIGNMENTS:

Review the above Poor Pre-Match Preparation actions and list the actions you have regularly included in your pre-match regime (if any) and how you will change these regimes.

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
MaximizingTennisPotential.com
Affiliate

 

IDENTIFY YOUR PERSONAL PLAYING STYLE

Posted on June 5, 2015 by in Match Day Preparation, Maximizing Tennis Potential

The following post is an excerpt from Match Day Preparation.  Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo

To identify your personal playing style, let’s begin by self- profiling your game. Answer the following questions based on what best describes your game.Matchday preparation

 

SELF PROFILING QUESTIONS:

  1. Primary style of play? (Hard hitting baseliner, All-court player/Net rusher, Pusher/Retriever or Drop shot artist)?
  2. Preferred serve patterns (Especially on mega points)?
  3. Preferred return of serve position and shot selection on both first and second serve returns?
  4. Preferred return of serve position and shot selection on both first and second serve returns?
  5. Dominant short-ball option?
  6. Preferred net rushing pattern?
  7. Stroke strengths and weaknesses?
  8. Movement, agility and stamina strengths and weaknesses?
  9. Frustration tolerance, focus, and emotional stability?
  10. Preferred length of points? (Do you like to elongate points?)

ASSIGNMENT:

Tipping close matches in your favor requires a player to run their best patterns at crunch time. Do you think pattern rehearsal would help you perform better under pressure?

List 3 reasons why knowing your preferred style of play will improve your confidence on court and get you better results.

1.

2.

3.

(Example answers: If you know your style of play you will conserve energy versus waste energy; you will expose your strengths while hiding your weaknesses; you will be proactive instead of reactive and control the match dynamics.)

 

Plan on entering every match whether it is the first round or the finals, Miami or Moscow, hard courts or clay courts, with your favorite style of play and your time tested patterns.  Starting each match with what you do best…is a recipe for success!

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
MaximizingTennisPotential.com
Affiliate

 

Match Day Preparation

Posted on April 29, 2015 by in Customized Organizational Plan, Match Day Preparation

MATCH DAY PREPARATION

 

There is often a very fine line between competitive success and failure. A poor start, an initial lack of focus, or a bout of wavering confidence can cause a seemingly winnable match to quickly slip away. The will to properly prepare for competition usually makes the difference. For players to achieve consistent positive match results, their preparation must include ritualistic, inflexible routines.

The Mental Emotional Tennis Work Book series are designed for the player to read and take the proper steps to accelerate their game. Match Day Preparation contains information to help players of all levels find this state of readiness that enables them to transform from a normal person into a tennis warrior.

The below blog introduces the match day parental role.

 “Research shows that for better or worse…parents are the child’s greatest influence in life.”

PARENTAL MATCH DAY JOB DESCRIPTION: The Parent’s Primary Role is to De-Stress their Child

  • Stress Increases Muscle Contractions
  • Stress Decreases Fluid Movement
  • Stress Impairs Judgment
  • Stress Reduces Problem Solving Skills

Parents, remember that athletes perform best in a calm relaxed mental state.

PARENTAL PRE-MATCH JOB DESCRIPTION

  • Equipment preparation & nutrition/hydration requirements
  • Warm up routines (Primary/Secondary Strokes) and imagery
  • Keeping the player away from other players and parents
  • Discuss styles of play, strengths and weaknesses instead of the opponents past success
  • Emphasize the importance of executing the correct shot the moment demands
  • Quality preparation is a life skill. It is the foundation for success.

As you can see, education begins with you!

 

 

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
MaximizingTennisPotential.com
Affiliate