My biggest weakness

[eaglesburg]

My focus in matches can be absolutely awful. I'd honestly say that it is my biggest weakness, and it is probably associated with the heavy legs I me talked about in another thread.

Of course there are some days where I am 100% on point. I would say that usually happens when I play someone who rips the ball at me a lot. Other days it happens against people hit the ball normal pace too. There may be times when I have mental lapses, but I am able to recognize them and refocus. I don't really lose my faith in my shots. My shots are better on these days, but I'm not sure whether that is the cause or the effect of the good concentration.

However, too often I struggle to maintain my concentration while I am playing. It's almost like I just lose my will to win even though I still might get frustrated and angry with myself. I lose my energy and intensity that I have when playing well. Here is probably the biggest aspect of it: on these days I can get realllly realllly down on myself. I won't like throw my racket or anything but I usually get quiet and like I said before, lose the intensity, energy, and concentration. Many people have told that it is extremely obvious when I am down on myself, and once it happens...I'm basically toast. I kind of check out of the math and don't really want to play anymore. Any attempts to pump myself up are usually useless. My shots aren't nearly as sharp on these days, but again I'm not sure if this is the cause of the poor focus or the result of it.

If I can improve this aspect of my game, I will be a much better tennis player.

What advice do you guys have for working on this?

A couple of weeks ago I started meditating and I played probably some of the best tennis of my life. But I stopped about a week ago. I'll start up again and see if it works again though.

[bowt]

could be related to food mate and having an upset digestive system

[eaglesburg]

could be related to food mate and having an upset digestive system

It might be but it can't be the whole story because there are days on which I say the same exact thing and play differently.

[bottle]

Anybody with politics as sensible as yours couldn't be bad. I recommend naps.

[eaglesburg]

Maybe I need to apply my rational side on the court to force myself to focus. I'll try paying attention to my thought patterns when playing so I can change them if I'm not playing well and the thoughts are unhelpful.

[bottle]

Maybe you should be crazier. I've seen that work. Go for the shot that's supposed to be a bad idea.

[stotty]

Balls...

eaglesburg,

Being mentally strong is perhaps the most important part of being a tennis player, assuming you are playing amongst equals. Djokovic defeated Nishikori in the semis of Rome last week simply because he was that bit stronger mental when it came down to the wire. There was nothing between either player throughout the match. Nishikori proved he can hit the ball just as well as Djokovic and even managed to nullify many of Djokovic's superior serves. In the end, it just came down to who had the the bigger balls.

Speaking of balls....

A good way to go about matchplay is to do so like a true man, the old-fashioned type of man less common these days. Try to be a more of man than the man you are playing, in terms of courage and being tough. Set your stall out and resolve you will concentrate from start to finish and not buckle under any circumstances, however big the point, or whatever the setbacks. It's a good way to set about playing matches. It will make a man of you, and you will respect more those who actually beat you. This whole attitude can bring about great respect amongst men.

I came from a club where many of the leading players thought like this. Matches were all about gumption and not buckling on big points. Players were considered weaklings if they couldn't win the big points, and there were numerous players with lovely strokes who couldn't win the bigger points. Tennis amongst equals becomes less about lovely strokes and more about who's who and what your character as a man is like.

I know this post may sound macho, but it isn't, at least not in that sense. It's about turning yourself into a good man, a man of character, a man to respect.

You have identified your problem yourself...concentration. So concentrate! There is no silver bullet here, just tell yourself to concentrate, apply yourself totally for an hour or two. That's really all there is to it. You and you only are in control of that.

[klacr]

eaglesburg,

Being mentally strong is perhaps the most important part of being a tennis player, assuming you are playing amongst equals. Djokovic defeated Nishikori in the semis of Rome last week simply because he was that bit stronger mental when it came down to the wire. There was nothing between either player throughout the match. Nishikori proved he can hit the ball just as well as Djokovic and even managed to nullify many of Djokovic's superior serves. In the end, it just came down to who had the the bigger balls.

Speaking of balls....

A good way to go about matchplay is to do so like a true man, the old-fashioned type of man less common these days. Try to be a more of man than the man you are playing, in terms of courage and being tough. Set your stall out and resolve you will concentrate from start to finish and not buckle under any circumstances, however big the point, or whatever the setbacks. It's a good way to set about playing matches. It will make a man of you, and you will respect more those who actually beat you. This whole attitude can bring about great respect amongst men.

I came from a club where many of the leading players thought like this. Matches were all about gumption and not buckling on big points. Players were considered weaklings if they couldn't win the big points, and there were numerous players with lovely strokes who couldn't win the bigger points. Tennis amongst equals becomes less about lovely strokes and more about who's who and what your character as a man is like.

I know this post may sound macho, but it isn't, at least not in that sense. It's about turning yourself into a good man, a man of character, a man to respect.

You have identified your problem yourself...concentration. So concentrate! There is no silver bullet here, just tell yourself to concentrate, apply yourself totally for an hour or two. That's really all there is to it. You and you only are in control of that.

eaglesburg,

you just got your answer

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[eaglesburg]

Thanks. That may be just what I need. Just suck it up and focus.

[don_budge]

If you can fill the unforgiving minute...

If…Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream---and not make dreams your master;
If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings---nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And---which is more---you'll be a Man, my son!
Rudyard Kipling

Once upon a time in America there was a young man named don_budge and he was at a crossroads of sorts. Historically speaking it was a trivial matter but for him it was an existential moment. Fortunately his good friend Leon came along with some timely sage advice…he merely told good old don_budge, "sometimes you just have to be a man about it". He understood and it made all of the difference.

[eaglesburg]

I think the meditation has really helped. And also just putting extra effort into concentrating which is sorhjimg that the meditation helps me do. I just beat a guy who I beat before playing really smart tennis. I saved so many big break points and played well under pressure. I have noticed improvements before but this was the most obvious one to me. I was able to refocus when I needed to. 4-6 6-3 6-4.

[stotty]

I think meditation is the best way if a player can access that state of mind on demand. Most players can't, or at least not all the time.

The truth is there are an awful lot more fist pumpers out there than meditators. There must be a reason for that. Maybe fist pumpers are more aggressive than meditators? Maybe fist-pumping is an easier state of mind to reach for?

Arthur Ashe's meditative state of mind in his 1975 Wimbledon victory over the fist pumping Jimmy Connors was perhaps the best display of meditation on a tennis court you could ever see. He had to access that state of mind to achieve that win because at that time Jimmy Connors was head and shoulders above everyone else. Arthur perhaps couldn't have achieved that victory any other way. It was truly special.

Carbine Muguruza put in a great mental performance today. I though she was quite exceptional in the way she approached the match. She took the game by the horns and won it. Her last service game was full of self-belief and displayed not one trace of doubt.

[eaglesburg]

The meditation does help. But another big thing for me is keeping my mouth shut. I like to talk to my opponents a lot (friendly smack, just day to day stuff too). I do this cuz for me it makes tennis more fun. However, there is a clear negative correlation between the amount I talk vs my focus and performance in a match. The less I talk, the better I play. But it's harder than it sounds becuz tennis can be a lot more enjoyable for me when making conversation with my opponent. So I've got a couple options: lose, talk less, or keep talking but learn to maintain focus (which is what I'll try to do).

[don_budge]

Meditation or Medication?

The meditation does help. But another big thing for me is keeping my mouth shut. I like to talk to my opponents a lot (friendly smack, just day to day stuff too). I do this cuz for me it makes tennis more fun. However, there is a clear negative correlation between the amount I talk vs my focus and performance in a match. The less I talk, the better I play. But it's harder than it sounds becuz tennis can be a lot more enjoyable for me when making conversation with my opponent. So I've got a couple options: lose, talk less, or keep talking but learn to maintain focus (which is what I'll try to do).

Have you ever felt compelled after a particularly "friendly smack talk" tennis match that was extremely closely contested where emotion reaches a fevered pitch...that you wanted to kiss or hug you opponent at the net instead of shaking hands? Do you want to knock your opponent into next week or do you want to date him?

[eaglesburg]

I gotta get better and starting matches as well. Even in individual games I don't do so well a lot of the time until I am in a pressing situation

(eg opponent got early break and now serving for set and also when facing break points