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Importance Of The Tennis Mental Game
Anil Panjwani
My son has gained an edge on me after he became a staunch
fan of Federer. Kids will learn from example, whether we're
talking matrices in precalc during high school, picking their
nose as a toddler, or in our case, the basics of mental tennis.
Federer vs. Safin, a short compare and contrast. Actually,
just a contrast. Well, fine, both of them happen to be tennis
players.
Changeovers (Federer)- Sits down in his chair, meditates,
clears his mind, visualizes victory.
Changeovers (Safin)- Screams at umpire, heads back to line
to show mark of ball, tosses racket while getting a point
penalty, has a fit, repeat cycle.
During Point (Federer)- During a point, or in the whole match
from a bigger perspective, you will probably notice Federer's
consistency. He has an amazingly few amount of errors for
the number of winners and aces he hits. He is able to hit
the shot over and over again.
During Point (Safin)- Safin recently broke a tennis record.
Two actually. And possibly a third but that one's unofficial.
He had the longest game (time) in Wimbledon history, over
20 minutes. He also went over 13 deuces; I'd lost count during
the match.
However, Safin has beaten Federer. At the 2005 Australian
Open Semifinals he took down Federer in your epic 5 set tennis
battle. People remarked at how calm he looked through the
match. He'd taken his mental game to the next level.
Getting to the mental level of Federer takes years, even decades
of experience. I never had any resources to find out how I'm
supposed think while playing tennis. Nor did my son. We both
figured it out after years of practice, but still only had
a rough understanding. When he did some research on it, he
soon surpassed me, and then I did some research to get my
edge back on him!
Here are some tricks I learned:
* Bounce-Hit: I can't stress enough how useful this
one is. It helps you concentrate without thinking all the
time: how do I hit this shot, am I doing it right, is this
how coach told me? When you are actively thinking about hitting
any tennis shot, you are guaranteed to miss it. Eh, maybe
miss it 90%, you get lucky a few times. What you do with bounce-hit,
is when the ball is hit by your opponent, say hit. When it
bounces, say bounce. When you hit the ball, say hit. Try it
out, this works in rallies and on serve!
* Be Happy! This is as much a tennis tip as a life
tip! If you look happy, it will not only confuse your opponent,
you might play better too. Seeing you dejected on the other
hand, will only make them to play better, knowing that they
have the upper hand. They'll be having fun, but you won't!
* Control Your Emotions! Don't go on a racket rampage,
throwing it at the fence, the ground, and certainly not at
your opponent. However, the reverse is true as well. Federer,
even after a great shot, displays none or very little emotion.
You should do the same. When you display emotion, you ruin
chances of getting into 'the zone'. 'The Zone' is the state
of mind where you are completely calm, completely aware, yet
at the same time, not thinking about anything much. Everything
becomes effortless and easy. That is the ultimate goal.
Anil Panjwani is a seasoned tennis player. He has
a passion for the game, which he passed to his kids. Check
out his tennis blog! Learning the basic rules for playing
tennis, or trying to crack a 100 on your serve, there's something
for everyone!
Article Source: http://www.goarticles.com
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