A tennis match can last from 45 minutes to even several hours. The time limitation makes this sport unpredictable. It makes players fight for every ball because until the last point is won, they can’t be sure about the match’s final result. This also helps players who are playing badly and look like they have zero chance of winning.
Before the match, preparation is crucial. Players must work on their game weeks before the league match or tournament starts to make sure they feel comfortable with their strokes and can play on auto-drive while choosing the right tactical decisions. Additionally, players must work out and take care of recovery to balance work and rest properly. If this hard work is done, a player will be in good physical and mental shape, justifying positive expectations before participation in the competition. However, as we all know, playing well during practice sessions is much easier than repeating the same performance under the pressure of competition. Many players struggle to deal with it, especially in their heads.
Every day of competition is a new day of adaptation. Players must adjust to the current conditions and make sure they do their best to perform better than their opponents. Unfortunately, it is not always as easy as it looks because factors like weather conditions, tiredness, or the opponent’s uncomfortable style of play can make the player miss a lot and slowly lose hope of winning the match. It is important to understand that this difficult situation is a challenge primarily for an athlete’s mind, as players have to remember a few rules to apply while dealing with the short or long-term struggle.
Prolong the match.
Often, when players make more errors than usual, they rush their game. They feel frustrated, can’t mentally accept the high number of mistakes, and want to change this scenario as fast as possible. This attitude rarely leads to success and is why underperforming players mostly lose matches without winning many games. The solution is simple: the player must prolong the match in this challenging moment. I am not talking about untying shoelaces on purpose or going to the bathroom for 10 minutes. I am talking about using the full 20 seconds between the points to allow players to rethink their situation and make proper decisions to limit unforced mistakes. The longer the match lasts, the more time player has to find the solution to improve their level of play.
Change your performance one step at a time.
When a child is around one year old, he learns to walk. Later on, when he can walk and does it faster and faster, he tries something more challenging, like running. This approach has to be taken while playing and playing poorly. Unsuccessful players have the opposite approach: they want to immediately switch from playing the worst tennis of their life to playing their best tennis, which is almost impossible. Before you can play your best, you have to go step by step with patience. If you miss many balls, you must work hard to reduce the number of other mistakes by 10 or 15%. You have to accept that you will still make more errors than usual, but by hitting just a few more balls in, you will get more control, your confidence will go up, and soon you will start missing less. Be humble with your current performance and improve just by a little. The result may surprise you.
Remember that two players play the match.
Mindset has a significant impact on a player’s performance. It is not easy to have a positive and confident mindset when the player misses every ball, and the opponent doesn’t have to do anything special to get a big lead in the match. A negative score combined with a low-quality game creates irritation and demotivation and deprives one of self-confidence. Here is the test of the player’s mental skills. When it looks like there is no way to win this match, a player must remember that two players are on the court. If one player misses almost every ball for 30 minutes, the second player can start doing the same. Who knows. That is why you should always believe in your chance to win the match because even when you play badly for 30 minutes, you don’t know what your and your opponent’s games will look like in the next half an hour.
We play the game of tennis to have fun while being challenged – and to win. However, we can’t control everything, and every day is different, so we have to accept the situation when it happens to us. At the same time, we must be conscious of the mental steps that we have to include to up our game and increase the chance of winning the match. You can only know who will win the match once the last point is over, so always hope and fight even when it is the only thing that works well for you on a given day.