Racquet Mail: Trusting Your Strokes

This is the first of hopefully many Racquet Mail posts. I received an email with a question about trusting your strokes, and wrote this article in response.

Trusting your strokes is a skill that is obviously quite mental in nature. In my program, called Defeating the Monsters in your Mind, we take a unique look at approaching the trust factor, like so:

First we need to have a definition of what mental toughness is. Mental toughness is the ability for you to perform a skill, based on what you know at the time, performing the skill accordingly without fear of failure or success.

The lack of trust begins when you do not have a clear cut picture for success. Your mind is not focusing on the shot, but is already worrying about the future and concerning itself with the consequences before they even have a chance to happen.

Before you are a competent rally person, you need to focus on the task at hand like so:

1 – Read the incoming ball,
2 – Make a decision regarding both speed and location,
3 – Move into a position allowing you to execute your shot, performing the skill,
4 – Allow your eyes to stay within the contact zone long after the ball has left,
5 – Allow your movements to continue after the shot, recovering and then preparing you for the next shot.

In the practice phase for your game, your focus should be on the execution of your shot. In the match, the focus will then switch to the result of the shot before it is made.

There are a number of drills available that will enhance your ability to perform in match play the same way that you would perform in practice, including:

1 – Looking for the spin of the ball as it comes toward you,

2 – Preparing for the shot as soon as you can see the spin. The sooner the spin is perceived, the more time you will have for preparation. This level of focus, which falls at 8 or 9 on a scale to 10, will allow you to better evaluate what your focus level is, which will help you determine what your practice level is.

3 – Count as you make contact with the ball, as well as when your opponent makes contact with the ball, allowing you to focus on it.

4 – Counting will also allow you to breathe. You can cause a lot of stress in a rally if you are not breathing. It is common for “choking” to occur where you freak out and go for a winner because you are not breathing.

5 – Make tennis an experience that is moving, by counting the number of steps after each contact, and before the next contact. Most professionals average at around 10 to 12 steps, though average players take 4 to 6 and beginners only average 2 to 4 steps.

The reason for dropped steps usually relates to:

- Not knowing you needed to take a specific number of steps,

- Beginning to worry about the shot’s future allows your feet to move less and legs to become tighter.

These are some of the most typical ways to conquer the monsters in your mind. If you have any thoughts relating to the fear of failure or success will impact your ability to play the game. The only way to control the future is by taking the right steps now. See the ball spin, count, and move, in order to stay in the present.

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This post involves:

consequences, contact zone, e mail, execution, fear of failure, focus level, game, incoming ball, lack of trust, mail question, match, monsters, opponent, practice phase, rally, Strokes

... and focuses on:

Racquet Mail, Strokes

Posted by Ken DeHart on January 19, 2009 in Racquet Mail, Strokes. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.