How to Turn a Match Around
by: Dave Winship @ On The Line

When you go behind in a match, it's time to remind yourself that the scoring system allows the losing player plenty of opportunity to reverse the trend. If you become negative about your prospects, you can easily get caught up in a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Many people will tell you that being mentally tough is about being able to play each point completely unaffected by what's gone before. Sorry, but I do not buy that. Obviously, you don't want to play a point when you're emotionally out of control. But to play without emotion is not only difficult, it's a waste of a valuable resource. When your intensity level has dropped and you start playing over-casually, for example, it's very useful to get a bit angry with yourself and introduce a bit of urgency.

You need to react to the experience of past points, you need to respond promptly to fresh challenges and you need to be able to change your perception of the match to ensure you recognize key moments. You can possibly do all this while remaining emotionally neutral, but it's like driving a car that's stuck in one gear. If your emotional perception of the match doesn't change, it's a pretty safe bet that your intensity level won't either. It's no good waiting for your opponent to go off the boil. You need to get the momentum of the match to change - NOW!

I'm not advocating a John McEnroe approach to tennis. What I'm saying is your emotions can help you fine-tune your performance and can help you change the momentum of a match. And you can (and must!) do it without straying outside the laws and spirit of the game, and you can (and must!) do it without losing your self-control.

The third set of a best-of-three-sets match is generally regarded as the deciding one. But if you've just lost the opening set, you need to change your perception - you need to recognize that you're in a deciding set NOW (because if you lose this one, you're out!). But don't let that frighten you. Expect to succeed. There's a great chance that you could catch your opponent napping as he congratulates himself on winning the first set. Now's the time to start sending out the right signals. Now's the time to grow taller inside, turn the other cheek and show your opponent that you're undaunted.

Obviously, you need to do more than change your emotional perception of the match. You also need to re-evaluate the challenge in rational terms. That means working out how your opponent has been hurting you and how you've been hurting him. Make the adjustments to your game plan accordingly. Even if you only come up with one simple thing, you'll learn to enjoy the process - it makes competing more fun.

Develop a good work ethic. Most sports reward competitors who work harder than more talented ones, and tennis is no exception. I strongly recommend you try to emulate the kind of tenaciousness demonstrated by Lleyton Hewitt. Having a quality like that underpinning your game will help you beat people who are technically superior to you. Why? Because everyone produces their best tennis when they believe they deserve to win. If you work harder than your opponent, don't you deserve to win?

Try to overcome adversity in your matches by responding positively to the challenge. Do it emotionally by growing taller inside. Do it rationally by adjusting your game plan. If you still can't reverse the trend, pump your fist and work harder!

Regards.

Dave Winship