Every coach and every serious tennis player understands that technique, physical conditioning and game strategy can only go so far in determining success in tennis. The mental and emotional contributors to success are huge. Some players believe that tennis is as much as 90% mental and 10% physical. It’s really hard to say; but what we can say with certainty is that as athletes get older and closer to each other in terms of their physical abilities, talent and technique, mental strength becomes the key difference maker.
When contributions to excellence in any sport are calculated, usually the most important…yet least trained…are the roles of mental and emotional processes in performance. Coaches focus on “left brain” training, including technique, the geometry of the court and game strategies. “Right brain” training is largely ignored. The right brain deals with emotions, self-talk, mood, balance, visualizations and mind pictures…all of which can have a tremendously positive impact on tennis success.
A USTA study of fifty-one American tennis champions found that they attributed their successes primarily to emotional and mental toughness. Over the past 30 years a new science, “Sport Psychology,” has emerged, with a strong research base of skills sets aimed at giving the athlete every advantage available to supplement his/her athletic preparation. These skill set objectives include training in the following: mental toughness and intensity, self-confidence, regardless of the competition and score, getting into and staying in “the zone,” overcoming worry and anxiety during competition, preventing and overcoming injuries, perfecting pain management and maintaining anger and emotional control at “crunch time.”