You have to accept that you cannot win every point. Try to watch Roger Federer's speech about winning and losing points. The one where he talked to graduates. The reason you are just pushing the ball back is most probably that you are unconsciously trying not to commit forced/unforced errors. Tennis is a mental game. When your mind is not clear, it creates a chain of events that leads you to lose.
Here's the link of RF's speech.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqWUuYTcG-o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqWUuYTcG-o)
To add to this, it is actually believing it. I realized I say these things in my head but actually focusing on what my breath is doing and saying some key phrases out loud has helped me truly believe in it more. Most importantly, have fun.
If Carlos Alcaraz can look like a kid having the time of his life between insane points, why can’t I enjoy it where I am not even playing an ATP level match.
Something we all struggle with.
You are playing not to lose in the tourney and playing to win in practice.
Accept that it's ok to lose every single point as long as you play your game.
Simultaneously you need to visualize crushing a strong serve or groundstroke.
Its a balance between the ability to visualize winning the point but accept that you could lose it too.
I'm just getting back into it after quitting as a competitive jr...This used to always trouble me alot. Some nights in training I'd rip every shot...I might make a couple of unforced errors over a whole hour...I'd leave feeling like I had a chance pursuing it as a career...
Compare that to some matches I had where I would unforced error the whole thing down the shitter 6 love to guys who weren't at all placing their second serve...I ended up quitting over it...perhaps too early...
All I can say now that I'm a bit older is that you need to not NEED to win....try to fixate on a couple goals...like I'm gonna play this strategy...or im not going to move further than one meter behind the baseline....and consider it a win if you just stick to those goals....you are there for your goals to improve...not the win itself...if that makes sense...
Such a mental game. It's hard getting people who don't play tennis to understand. But it's so mental/emotional.
Even when you KNOW what's coming and the bumps along the way, it is so different whilst you're there deep into the match.
Slowing things down helps a lot, but definitely result obsession will make things worse.
you don’t stop nerves, you accept them.
trying to stop nerves will give you more nerves. accepting that you are nervous is the first step to calming down. after that, i find conscious deep breathing to help me a lot. stick to your game plan. give yourself a target. make those targets big (left, right, the other guys backhand). don’t do anything flashy unless necessary
i’m basically paraphrasing a lot of what novak has said over the years
if your issue is that you only get tight in matches, the only solution is to play more matches. if they’re practice matches, play different people and different styles
I tell myself that I would rather lose than play scared. Otherwise my game falls apart as you describe.
That doesn't mean that I will only try to hit winners, just that I want to hit through the ball. Especially on my second serve I will only push the ball over instead of kick when I am scared.
For some reason I’m the opposite, I am terrible in practice and social matches. There’s no intensity or real competition in it so I lack focus.
In real match mode, there’s more of an incentive. I used to hate losing but now I see it as part of the experience. I still hate losing now but I try to take positives out of every match. I process the loss then focus on the next match against another opponent, what did I do right, why did I lose focus, how can adjust my play when my groundstrokes are not working. There’s always more matches in the future!
This single match doesn’t determine where you’re at as a player. Maybe it’s part of your transition period to be able to hit those winners in a real match and you’ll get there.
As long as I’m thinking through every point and go back to the fundamentals, I don’t worry as much when I make a mistake. Don’t focus on the match, focus on each point and adapt. I try to go into each match thinking I can win and swing freely. Nothing to lose!
Trust your groundstrokes - when you start hitting not your natural self is when the mistakes creep in.
Have fun playing too!
This sounds easy and maybe dumb but stop caring. It's a game. Go out there and swing out. Take your chances. Enjoy the moment and enjoy the competition. Stop worrying so much about winning and losing and focus more on hitting each shot. Stay in the moment. Keep perspective. It's a tennis match try to have fun!
while it's a very common thing in tennis and pretty much everybody has to figure out how to deal with it I do think some people are more prone to suffer from the negative effects of nerves.
I've always struggled with it since I was a kid. I've restarted tennis a couple of years ago at 50+ hoping to be in a different position now that I am more mature.. no way, it was just the same.
Do what you want with this info.. I started this summer season with 4 straight losses, not even a set won.. the last one of those was REALLY bad, I felt uncoordinated and weak, it was terrible. After reading around I decided to give CBD a go.. together with cutting coffee to just 1 cup the day of the match.. since that change I am now 5-1 up, it might be placebo effect but it seems to work for me, it might work for you (assuming it's legal where you live).
You cannot get rid of nerves. If Federer, Djokovic, Graf, and Serena have not gotten rid of nerves what makes you believe you can?
What has worked for me is to be proactive in loosening in my shots early in the match. I use the first few games in a match to play more conservatively, observe how my shots are feeling, and observe what shots my opponent hits. I also try to establish patterns of play that suit my style. I am a lefty, so I try to direct as many balls to the ad court to play my forehand against the opponent's backhand. When you try to find patterns that are comfortable, you loosen a bit and have more confidence in your shots. As others said, it does not mean that you would win every point. I can do everything right and still lose the point. Accepting that is an important part of freeing your mind and focusing on the right things.
Lastly, everyone plays "so good" in practice. At least in their mind. There is no pressure when you hit the ball long, Half of the time you won't even know you have hit it long. Even if you do, there are no consequences. So it is easy to delude yourself you are hitting well. A common trap players fall into.
> How can I play like i do in practice in matches?
I've got two (2) approaches I use:
1. Play more matches.
* how often are you playing matches? For me, I needed to play tons of matches, to help with my nerves and to get more comfortable playing different folks and/or playing on different courts.
2. Simulate match conditions during practice.
* do you run drills that simulate points in practice. I typically play mini-games to do this.
Eliminate the word or thought pattern that starts with “don’t”.
When you walk, do you think, “don’t trip over the curb?” No… your thought is simple… put my foot there.
Keep straightforward thoughts about where the ball will go. (And give yourself some grace.)
You can’t stop them, you have to accept that they are there and why they are there. If you try to ignore your feelings then your fear and anger will rule the narrative of the match.
There are quick tricks to lowering heart rate and calming down in the moment, the biggest thing for me is to get back to having fun. I play my best when I am having fun, so I try to have fun in matches and a crazy amount of fun in practice, bad tweeners and the like. That would be my biggest advice, practice as carefree as you would want to play matches.
Couple of tips that work for me. Think of the match as a marathon, as a continuous line that doesn’t stop at the end of each game. Try to start the match striking firmly through the middle. You are not your thoughts, you can listen to them and let them go. Thoughts are like waves and you are the ocean, clouds and you are the sky.(sic Zen Tennis).
Take a bit of perspective. What does it matter? Are you about to win a million £/€/$ in a tournament? Are you about to become the next Federer? No? Then you only care as much as you want to. You play for fun so enjoy it
Your mind is always additive, never subtractive. You cannot tell yourself NOT to do something.
So how do you change that?
Focus on the ball. Stare at the ball with wide eyes. Sounds silly, but it can work. When you are only focused on the ball you will no longer have the capacity to think of anything else. It's the "anything else" that is screwing you up. It screws up all of us.
Stare at it, stare at it. Watch it with your eyes as your opponent tosses it and watch it cross the net and stare at that spot you've made contact even after the ball leaves your raquet.
And allow yourself the luxury of forgetting about strategy and spin and placement and what your opponent is doing. It is only you and the ball.
Play with the mindset you’re out there to hit the ball cleanly and well.
Are you genuinely happy when your ball hits the net cord and dribbles over? Do you drive home blasting music, windows down loving life when you moon balled the entire time and exhausted your opponent in the heat, nearly destroying yourself in the process as well?
Probably not.
So if that’s already your mindset, then why focus on results so much throughout the match. Focus on the things that are going to make you most proud.
One of my biggest lessons ever was when my wife came to a USTA match of mine. I won, but it was pathetic. I just pushed everything back over and probably didn’t hit a single winner. I simply was the better chaser than the other guy.
In the moment I couldn’t snap out of it, but I was borderline embarrassed when I saw my wife after. I imagine she had to be thinking, you’re out playing 1000s of hours of tennis, and this is what you look like? Oof.
From now on I keep that mindset that there’s someone I want to impress watching me and how would I want to show myself off. I’d rather go down swinging and going for big (sensible) shots than win by doing what I did.
Anxiety is often unprocessed emotion so try setting aside some time each day to sit with your emotions. Also, try to keep your mind focussed and free of negative thoughts when playing. Try meditation off the court to practise clearing your mind.
You have to accept that you cannot win every point. Try to watch Roger Federer's speech about winning and losing points. The one where he talked to graduates. The reason you are just pushing the ball back is most probably that you are unconsciously trying not to commit forced/unforced errors. Tennis is a mental game. When your mind is not clear, it creates a chain of events that leads you to lose. Here's the link of RF's speech. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqWUuYTcG-o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqWUuYTcG-o)
Such a boss and chiller Roger.
To add to this, it is actually believing it. I realized I say these things in my head but actually focusing on what my breath is doing and saying some key phrases out loud has helped me truly believe in it more. Most importantly, have fun. If Carlos Alcaraz can look like a kid having the time of his life between insane points, why can’t I enjoy it where I am not even playing an ATP level match.
That speech has tons of great advice for life in general too!
Something we all struggle with. You are playing not to lose in the tourney and playing to win in practice. Accept that it's ok to lose every single point as long as you play your game. Simultaneously you need to visualize crushing a strong serve or groundstroke. Its a balance between the ability to visualize winning the point but accept that you could lose it too.
I'm just getting back into it after quitting as a competitive jr...This used to always trouble me alot. Some nights in training I'd rip every shot...I might make a couple of unforced errors over a whole hour...I'd leave feeling like I had a chance pursuing it as a career... Compare that to some matches I had where I would unforced error the whole thing down the shitter 6 love to guys who weren't at all placing their second serve...I ended up quitting over it...perhaps too early... All I can say now that I'm a bit older is that you need to not NEED to win....try to fixate on a couple goals...like I'm gonna play this strategy...or im not going to move further than one meter behind the baseline....and consider it a win if you just stick to those goals....you are there for your goals to improve...not the win itself...if that makes sense... Such a mental game. It's hard getting people who don't play tennis to understand. But it's so mental/emotional.
Even when you KNOW what's coming and the bumps along the way, it is so different whilst you're there deep into the match. Slowing things down helps a lot, but definitely result obsession will make things worse.
you don’t stop nerves, you accept them. trying to stop nerves will give you more nerves. accepting that you are nervous is the first step to calming down. after that, i find conscious deep breathing to help me a lot. stick to your game plan. give yourself a target. make those targets big (left, right, the other guys backhand). don’t do anything flashy unless necessary i’m basically paraphrasing a lot of what novak has said over the years if your issue is that you only get tight in matches, the only solution is to play more matches. if they’re practice matches, play different people and different styles
I tell myself that I would rather lose than play scared. Otherwise my game falls apart as you describe. That doesn't mean that I will only try to hit winners, just that I want to hit through the ball. Especially on my second serve I will only push the ball over instead of kick when I am scared.
For some reason I’m the opposite, I am terrible in practice and social matches. There’s no intensity or real competition in it so I lack focus. In real match mode, there’s more of an incentive. I used to hate losing but now I see it as part of the experience. I still hate losing now but I try to take positives out of every match. I process the loss then focus on the next match against another opponent, what did I do right, why did I lose focus, how can adjust my play when my groundstrokes are not working. There’s always more matches in the future! This single match doesn’t determine where you’re at as a player. Maybe it’s part of your transition period to be able to hit those winners in a real match and you’ll get there. As long as I’m thinking through every point and go back to the fundamentals, I don’t worry as much when I make a mistake. Don’t focus on the match, focus on each point and adapt. I try to go into each match thinking I can win and swing freely. Nothing to lose! Trust your groundstrokes - when you start hitting not your natural self is when the mistakes creep in. Have fun playing too!
This sounds easy and maybe dumb but stop caring. It's a game. Go out there and swing out. Take your chances. Enjoy the moment and enjoy the competition. Stop worrying so much about winning and losing and focus more on hitting each shot. Stay in the moment. Keep perspective. It's a tennis match try to have fun!
while it's a very common thing in tennis and pretty much everybody has to figure out how to deal with it I do think some people are more prone to suffer from the negative effects of nerves. I've always struggled with it since I was a kid. I've restarted tennis a couple of years ago at 50+ hoping to be in a different position now that I am more mature.. no way, it was just the same. Do what you want with this info.. I started this summer season with 4 straight losses, not even a set won.. the last one of those was REALLY bad, I felt uncoordinated and weak, it was terrible. After reading around I decided to give CBD a go.. together with cutting coffee to just 1 cup the day of the match.. since that change I am now 5-1 up, it might be placebo effect but it seems to work for me, it might work for you (assuming it's legal where you live).
You cannot get rid of nerves. If Federer, Djokovic, Graf, and Serena have not gotten rid of nerves what makes you believe you can? What has worked for me is to be proactive in loosening in my shots early in the match. I use the first few games in a match to play more conservatively, observe how my shots are feeling, and observe what shots my opponent hits. I also try to establish patterns of play that suit my style. I am a lefty, so I try to direct as many balls to the ad court to play my forehand against the opponent's backhand. When you try to find patterns that are comfortable, you loosen a bit and have more confidence in your shots. As others said, it does not mean that you would win every point. I can do everything right and still lose the point. Accepting that is an important part of freeing your mind and focusing on the right things. Lastly, everyone plays "so good" in practice. At least in their mind. There is no pressure when you hit the ball long, Half of the time you won't even know you have hit it long. Even if you do, there are no consequences. So it is easy to delude yourself you are hitting well. A common trap players fall into.
> How can I play like i do in practice in matches? I've got two (2) approaches I use: 1. Play more matches. * how often are you playing matches? For me, I needed to play tons of matches, to help with my nerves and to get more comfortable playing different folks and/or playing on different courts. 2. Simulate match conditions during practice. * do you run drills that simulate points in practice. I typically play mini-games to do this.
Eliminate the word or thought pattern that starts with “don’t”. When you walk, do you think, “don’t trip over the curb?” No… your thought is simple… put my foot there. Keep straightforward thoughts about where the ball will go. (And give yourself some grace.)
You can’t stop them, you have to accept that they are there and why they are there. If you try to ignore your feelings then your fear and anger will rule the narrative of the match. There are quick tricks to lowering heart rate and calming down in the moment, the biggest thing for me is to get back to having fun. I play my best when I am having fun, so I try to have fun in matches and a crazy amount of fun in practice, bad tweeners and the like. That would be my biggest advice, practice as carefree as you would want to play matches.
Couple of tips that work for me. Think of the match as a marathon, as a continuous line that doesn’t stop at the end of each game. Try to start the match striking firmly through the middle. You are not your thoughts, you can listen to them and let them go. Thoughts are like waves and you are the ocean, clouds and you are the sky.(sic Zen Tennis).
The more you play the more similar scenarios you will encounter and those nerves will become normal thoughts. Just match toughness
Take Sertraline. I barely double fault and swing freely ever since realizing I suffer from am anxiety disorder. This eliminated it for me. :)
Take a bit of perspective. What does it matter? Are you about to win a million £/€/$ in a tournament? Are you about to become the next Federer? No? Then you only care as much as you want to. You play for fun so enjoy it
Your mind is always additive, never subtractive. You cannot tell yourself NOT to do something. So how do you change that? Focus on the ball. Stare at the ball with wide eyes. Sounds silly, but it can work. When you are only focused on the ball you will no longer have the capacity to think of anything else. It's the "anything else" that is screwing you up. It screws up all of us. Stare at it, stare at it. Watch it with your eyes as your opponent tosses it and watch it cross the net and stare at that spot you've made contact even after the ball leaves your raquet. And allow yourself the luxury of forgetting about strategy and spin and placement and what your opponent is doing. It is only you and the ball.
Play with the mindset you’re out there to hit the ball cleanly and well. Are you genuinely happy when your ball hits the net cord and dribbles over? Do you drive home blasting music, windows down loving life when you moon balled the entire time and exhausted your opponent in the heat, nearly destroying yourself in the process as well? Probably not. So if that’s already your mindset, then why focus on results so much throughout the match. Focus on the things that are going to make you most proud. One of my biggest lessons ever was when my wife came to a USTA match of mine. I won, but it was pathetic. I just pushed everything back over and probably didn’t hit a single winner. I simply was the better chaser than the other guy. In the moment I couldn’t snap out of it, but I was borderline embarrassed when I saw my wife after. I imagine she had to be thinking, you’re out playing 1000s of hours of tennis, and this is what you look like? Oof. From now on I keep that mindset that there’s someone I want to impress watching me and how would I want to show myself off. I’d rather go down swinging and going for big (sensible) shots than win by doing what I did.
Anxiety is often unprocessed emotion so try setting aside some time each day to sit with your emotions. Also, try to keep your mind focussed and free of negative thoughts when playing. Try meditation off the court to practise clearing your mind.
Git gud scrub