The Lesson Lounge - Tennis Warrior

Your Link to Professional Thinking!

The key to concentration

Would you like to improve your concentration? Well, don't look at me, look to yourself! I have been asked this next question many times. "What can I do to help my concentration in a match?" To be honest, this question always befuddles me. It's like concentration is some fleeting mental state they have no control over. Concentration is lost somewhere outside their thinking and they don't know how to find it or where to find it! I always feel like it warrants an answer from me like, "It's over there on the shelf next to the soup! Go get it, prepare yourself a cup of concentration, drink it and than play your match."

My short answer is, "to help your concentration in a match try concentrating."

Frankly I don't know how players lose concentration in a match so easily. In my matches I was always thinking about the mental balance of the match, the score, how to play my opponent on a given point, what my opponent was trying to do to win, what I could do to counter his strategy, how could I surprise him, keep him off balance, should I add extra pressure now, should I back off a little, what weakness can I exploit, where will he hit the ball next, does he change his pattern under pressure, is he predictable under pressure, etc, etc, etc.

I was so preoccupied with all of these match play situations I didn't have time not to concentrate! I suggest you learn to do the same. You may be whining, "but that takes a lot of energy and discipline." Bingo you have the true answer to learning concentration - IT DOES TAKE MENTAL ENERGY TO BE self-DISCIPLINED!

Remember? The key to tennis is consistency, the key to consistency is concentration, and the key to concentration is self-DISCIPLINE. Concentration is not on a shelf somewhere, it's in your mind. YOU control it! Use self-DISCIPLINE to train yourself to concentrate every time you step on the tennis court and you will add a dimension to your game few players have seemed to master. Why shouldn't YOU be one of them!

Tom Veneziano