Tennis

How do you deal with the pressure?

You are in great physical condition and you've got textbook ground strokes, but when you get out on
a tournament court the noise of the crowd distracts you and you can't concentrate on your next
move - your head feels foggy. You hit the ball back, but your opponent controls the game with ease.
You feel even more pressure when you know your parents or other significant people are in the
crowd, creating those dreaded butterflies in your stomach.

Funny thing -- the last time you played, the umpire made some bad calls and your opponent was
really obnoxious. You got ticked off and were really, really angry! All of the sudden you weren't
afraid any more, you had a surge of energy and fought back from 40-0. You not only won the set but
you won the match! Looking back, you played better - but you know your angry behavior on the
court was wrong. You may ask yourself if you really have to get angry to get fired up? You may
have a good understanding of how physical fitness and conditioning affect your performance but
what about the mental and emotional side of the sport? What mental challenges must you
overcome before you reach that next level of performance?

Below is a list of a few of the mental challenges that exist in a tennis match. When reading these
different situations imagine what it feels like inside at that moment, rather than your present state
of mind while reading them.

Hitting a ball when you have made a mistake on your last shot.
Hitting a ball when you've made a series of mistakes.
Hitting a ball in the opening points of a match.
Hitting a ball to win a game when you are in the lead.
Hitting a ball to keep you in the game when you are about to lose.
Hitting a ball to win a match.
Hitting a ball when you are about to lose a match.
Hitting a ball to make a comeback after falling behind.
Hitting a ball when your opponent is on a roll and playing aggressive
Hitting a ball after you have hit a brilliant shot, but lose anyway.
Hitting a ball after you have had a long, long point and lost.
Hitting a ball after you have had a long, long point and won.
Hitting a ball after you have had a bad line call.
Hitting a ball when your opponent is beating you badly.
Hitting a ball when you are beating your opponent badly.
Hitting a ball when the match is close.

You are not just out there hitting balls, you are playing the moment, the situation, the mental
balances of the match...always! Your challenge is to maintain a relaxed ‘go for your shot' mentality
regardless of these different mental situations. This is True Focus. Sometimes you have to step
up your game and increase your intensity and other times you have to slow down your game and
not over play.

When Dr. Jim Loehr, a renowned sport psychologist, was asked to describe mental toughness he
described it this way: "There are four key elements to "toughness": strength, flexibility,
responsiveness and resilience. Each component has a mental, physical and an emotional aspect
to it - it's not just mental toughness.

Strength: Mentally you have strong concentration skills and you are physically strong. You can
resist buckling under great emotional pressure.

Flexibility: The more rigid you are (inflexible), the easier it is to be thrown off by your opponent. The
more physically flexible you are, the better you are physiologically to compete.

Responsiveness: Toughness does not mean being hard or mean. Basketball great Michael
Jordan is an example of a responsive athlete. Michael is alive and spirited. Responsiveness is a
sign of healthy competitiveness.

Resilience: This refers to speed of recovery - mentally, emotionally and physically. Great
competitors have a great capacity to handle failure with grace. They are able to bounce back from
disappointments or mistakes and keep competing."

When asked, "Which emotion is the most damaging to performance?" "Surrender", he said without
hesitation. "It's called "tanking" -- you stop trying, you've given up!"

"The second most damaging emotion to performance would be anger. Your temper flares and
your muscles become focused on the perceived threat." Anger can actually "fire you up", arouse
and stimulate you to compete. But anger is a negative emotion and sports psychologists have
proven that peak performance is generated by positive emotions.

“Both tanking and anger are used by athletes to control fear or "choking". "John McEnroe is an
example of someone who used anger to control his fear,” said Loehr.

There is a link between mental and physical performance. Emotions cause biochemical changes
in your body. The chemistry of fear causes muscles to tighten, when what you need to achieve
peak performance is relaxed muscles. Through hypnosis we can help you attain that relaxed state
necessary for muscles to cycle through the explosiveness and back to the relaxed state, all the
while eliminating fear from your game. This is True Self-Confidence.

Whether you are a beginner, an accomplished amateur or even an experienced veteran, learn the
secrets of athletic expression as The Enlightened Tennis Player program
will help you to think better & perform better...

BECAUSE HOW YOU THINK ALWAYS DETERMINES HOW YOU SUCCEED!

Purchase Program Now!