I'm Not Nervous... I'm Ready!
by: Mark Winship @ In Touch Tennis

We are all familiar with at least some of the symptoms of nervousness prior to, or during a tennis match. Whether you have a real problem with your nerves or you've just built up a complex about taking on one particular opponent, I would like to suggest 3 ways that could help you jilt the jitters.

1. Positive visualisation

Nervousness is almost always closely linked in some way to self-doubt. You can remove some of this self-doubt by using your imagination to conjure up some images of you playing really great tennis. It's like playing back your own short movie production in your mind. In this movie you are the main character…in fact you are the hero or heroine! Your troublesome backhand hits the target every time and nothing your opponent can do disrupts your ice cool demeanour on the court. If it helps, you might even want to try listening to some inspiring music at the same time (The soundtrack to the Rocky movies is always good!).

Take a few minutes on the night before or morning of a match to go through this process of positive visualisation. If you know that you are vulnerable in a particular situation (e.g. hitting a wide forehand, or capitalising on a big lead) make sure that you visualise yourself having success in this area.

2. Have a plan

Once again, self-doubt and nervousness can arise if do not have a clear game plan. This may involve giving the match (and your opponent) some thought before you step out on the court and formulating a rough plan of attack. The most effective game plan will take into account your strengths, your weaknesses, the court surface, and the strengths, weaknesses and game style of your opponent (If you know them).

However, having a game plan for the match as a whole may not help to relieve nerves when things gets tight. In this situation it is essential that you have a plan for the point ahead. Even if you only make a decision on where you are going to aim your serve and where you hope to be able to hit your next shot this will remove a great deal of mental anxiety.

Having a clear plan to focus on at the beginning of a match will go a long way towards relieving some of those pre-match nerves. That is not to say you won't have to change this plan throughout the course of a match but it will certainly help to give you a positive direction in the first few games. Remember- a bad plan is better than no plan at all!

3. I'm not nervous...I'm ready!

Countless studies have now shown that the key to relieving feelings of nervousness is to alter your perception of it. Confused? Well the degree to which nervousness has a negative impact on your game will depend upon whether you perceive the fact that you are nervous as being debilitative or facilitative to your performance.

For example, try to perceive your nervousness as a sign that you are ready and 'up for the match!' Being nervous is a good thing- it shows that you care about what you are doing and that your body is preparing itself for action! If you can change the way you think about being nervous it will make a huge difference to your performance on the tennis court.