A new player can feel and see improvement every time he steps onto the tennis court, but after a few months, fault-finding often replaces the new player’s natural ability to remain focused on getting better. Fault-finding destroys ones abilities and should be avoided at all cost.
The good news? I am here to tell you that you can get better everyday and know it.
Just follow these two little steps: Improve your mental toughness as a practice session or a match proceeds, and also make note of whether you are becoming more or less accurate. I have watched thousands of hours of tennis, and one thing remains clear: In every match, one player will finish mentally stronger than the other. If you want to be the stronger one, then you have to continually monitor your will and focus.
Is your will to win stronger and your concentration greater as a match goes on? If the answer is yes, then you are improving. If not, then take note and work on improving it. Trust me: The simple act of logging your progress is already a mental improvement. However, if you focus on being happy when you win, sad when you lose, happy when a ball goes in, and sad when a ball goes out, then your improvement will be painfully slow and difficult to notice. Improvement has little room for emotion. Play with your brain, not your feelings, and liberate your game from inconsistency.
What does it mean to be more accurate as you play? Well, contrary to belief, power – while a part of the puzzle – isn’t what wins. You still have to hit the ball in the court. Try this: When you hit a ball and see that it didn’t go where you aimed it, notice what it does to your thinking. It throws you off. If you have a plan and suddenly the ball lands in a spot that will change your plans, you need a second to re-adjust. Do this enough, and you become lost on the tennis court. You lose confidence because when you lose control of the ball you lose mental focus, and vice-versa. That is why it is so critical to keep focused on being more accurate as a match goes on.
So, if you want to get better right now, improve your mental toughness and your accuracy each time you are on the court. At the end of each session, evaluate your performance based on these two things – instead of winning and losing, or happy and sad emotions – and you’ll be on the fast track to better tennis.