Tennis Psychology

         Who Said This Was Easy!

Sports Psychology is a broad term that is often defined as the study of all psychological aspects involved in sports and applying the use of various techniques to assist an athlete enhance their performance levels. It involves many areas from not only helping to enhance an athlete’s performance but also assisting the athlete apply these principles in every day life.

Below you will find articles, advice and various resources relating to the area of tennis psychology and mental toughness for tennis players. Includes topics such as visualization, confidence, concentration, determination, finding your "Ultimate Performance Zone" and dealing with pressure.

The Athlete's Mind eBook - Free for Members

At Global Sports Coaching we are always striving to provide you with informative resources, not only in the form of tennis articles and drills but for all aspects of becoming a better tennis player and coach. As a valued member we would like to provide "The Athlete's Mind" eBook to you as a part of your GSC membership. We hope that you enjoy this eBook and gain some valuable tips from it to help take your game to the next level!

The Key to Being a Successful Athlete is Achieving Your "Ultimate Performance Zone" Every Time You are in Competition! "The Athlete's Mind" shows you what you need to do in order to find this state of mind that gives you the advantage over other athletes! You are about to take the first step in being the best athlete you can be and reaching your full potential!

Tennis Psychology Article 1: Djokovic’s Toughest Opponent: Himself - by Patrick Cohn. Many tennis players are their own worst enemy when it comes to the mental game of tennis. When you’re your own worst enemy, you beat yourself and critisize yourself for making too many unforced errors or mistakes on easy shots. You’re impatient about success, going for too much, too quickly. You try too hard to make it happen, rather than just letting it happen. Read Tennis Article >>>>

Tennis Psychology Article 2: Emotional Control Leads Azarenka to Win - by Patrick Cohn. Tennis players can experience strong emotions during match play. Positive emotions, such as experiencing the thrill of hitting a winner can have a powerful effect on your mental game and thus boost your confidence and focus during the match. Feeling positive emotions, such as momentum, can help keep your run going strong. Read Tennis Article >>>>

James Blake: How to Put Loses Behind You 

Do you beat yourself up after you’ve lost a match? Do you have a hard time forgetting about your losses or matches where you’ve played poorly? If you do, you might define your self or person (not player) based on your tennis performance. You essentially attach your self-esteem to your tennis performance. This is a common mistake that many tennis players make... read entire article >>>>

Mardy Fish Wins Ugly to Capture Third Title

Mardy Fish captured his third ATP title beating Evgeny Korolev 7-5, 6-3 at the Delray Beach International Championships on Sunday. In the past, Fish struggled to come home with the win when he got the to the finals. Fish has reached 10 finals in his tennis career, winning just three titles. But, Fish was able to set his record aside to stay confident and focused in the final in adverse weather conditions. Mardy Fish's Story >>>>

5 Tips to Improve Federer’s Mental Game - By Dr. Patrick Cohn

What’s a better mindset for Federer that will help him win again against Nadal after his demoralizing, heartfelt loses in the Australian Open? I’m revisiting the psychology of tennis lessons we learned from the Australian Open finals. The momentum shifts of a final match, such as Federer and Nadal in the 2009 Australian Open, are interesting to watch from a mental game perspective. As a mental game expert, I try to peer into the psychology and momentum of a match. Tennis Psychology Article >>>>

Tennis Confidence and Coping with Errors - By Dr. Patrick Cohn

All kinds of tennis players—junior, amateur, collegiate and professional—need to have high self-confidence to perform their best and feel successful. Confidence is your number one mental game asset on the court. You may think that some confident tennis players are arrogant and use intimidation to psych out their competitors. Some players shout at officials or get into fights with other players because they have big egos and lots of confidence......Tennis Psychology article >>>>

Tennis Mind Games and Juniors Who Cheat

By Dr. Patrick Cohn - One of the hallmarks of a strong mental game of tennis is your ability to stay composed when you are down in a match or making unforced errors. You cannot be a consistent performer unless you slay the raging monster within – or control your emotions during matches. I am sure at one time (or two) your mind game let you down because you became upset, frustrated, or angry with yourself or an opponent. I probably bet it cost you a couple games or even a set. At the younger levels of junior tennis – 10 and under – I have witnessed cheating by young players, which can lead to frustration for the opponent... read entire article on cheating juniors >>>>

Venus Williams’ Winning Mindset for Tennis

By Dr. Patrick Cohn - Venus Williams beat Elena Dementieva in three sets (6-4, 4-6. 6-3) at the Sony Ericsson Championships. Do you think your tennis mindset is important to tennis success? Williams’ does… Her victory was a result of her sound tennis mental toughness and positive mindset.

No one can be perfect in tennis and you have to learn how to cope with mistakes and unforced errors. Williams’ ability to bounce back after errors helped her come out as a winner. Williams said that matches don’t always go as planned and you can’t dwell on the negative: “No, you can’t think about [not holding your serve] during the match. Because sometimes it doesn’t go how you plan. There are shots and plays that aren’t as you plan. If you get down on yourself, there goes the match. So I don’t really dwell on, okay, it hasn’t gone the way I want. How do I make it go the way I want?”
~Venus Williams ......Read entire article >>>>

Tennis Psychology - Mental Toughness - Serve it Good

By Beth McCaskill  - Players holding serve isn't always about having the biggest, and fastest serve. The key to the best servers is they have very good second serves. The placement keeps the opponent off balance, or off the court. The serve also keeps the opponent out of there strike zone so advantage goes to the server. When you have a great second serve it automatically allows you to go for more on your first serve, and get free points. A common saying "You're only as good as your second serve." This saying is the truth...read entire article on the tennis serve >>>

Is Imagery And Visualization Important In Tennis?
By John Hoskins

There is some confusion concerning Imagery and Visualization and we need to deal with this to start with. It is only in recent years that more emphasis has been placed on the mental side of tennis together with other sports, even though tennis is 65% mental once you have got past the learning of techniques, tactics etc. Visualization has been used for some time in certain sports but this is only part of the equation and only refers to the practice of mental rehearsal with the emphasis on the visual sense, to imagine a sport situation.

Tennis players use visualization on a daily basis when getting ready for the serve, whilst doing their preliminary routines they are visualizing in their minds where they are going to place the serve. This can be very powerful and should not be overlooked as a help to your serving practice.Read Full Article on Imagery and Visualization in Tennis>>>>

How to Avoid Losing to Higher Ranked Opponents
It's always difficult to play tennis opponents which are ranked higher than you. Of course, you'll feel excited and nervous and it's easy to allow your fear to overcome you. However, there are certain key mental points that you can use in order to overcome this fear rather than succumbing to it. Here are those mental points and how to utilize them to play strategically against a higher ranked opponent.Realize Who the Pressure Is On - Hey, when you go out there to play this great opponent, you need to realize one thing. Although it might feel like all the pressure is on you, it's not. Read entire Tennis Article>>>>

Tennis Psychology eBook - Psyched Up Drills for Tennis

By Rufus Keown - The aim of this tennis e-book is to introduce on-court drills which will improve your player’s psychological performance during competition.  Given the importance of mental training, this series will hopefully provide some interesting new material for coaches.

...download Psyched Up Drills for Tennis ebook>>>