Be Your Own Coach
by: Mark Winship @ In Touch Tennis

Tennis can be a frustrating game at any level. It requires us to make quick movements, react to various stimuli all at once, and make decisions relating to these stimuli all in a very short space of time. Not only that but we are constantly striving to strike the ball with the correct technique and to deal with outside influences such as the expectations of those who are watching.

And to make matters worse we are very quick to berate ourselves and question our ability when we make a mistake. Heck, sometimes we even blame ourselves when our opponent hits a fantastic clean winner!

It's kind of like having a coach at the side of the court who is always on your case and never has a good word to say about how you are playing. The constant stream of abuse is bound to have an effect on how you feel about yourself and consequently on your performance. The challenge is to be a good coach to yourself. Encourage and motivate when you are feeling down or angry and reward yourself for all the good points that you play. Be the coach that you would like to have sitting in your corner.

This might sound like common sense and you are probably wondering where the tip lies in all of this. I think that if you took the time to be aware of (or even write down) all of the words that go through your head throughout the course of a tennis match you would be very surprised at how negative they actually are. 'Positive self-talk' is a valuable tool that needs to be practised. If used effectively it can allow you to keep your attention in the present (rather than dwelling on the last or previous points) and to create a positive mental state conducive to high performance.

So don't let the voices in your head get you down: Be a good coach to yourself!