"The Mental Game" by Coach Mike Bolla

A coach once told me tennis is like a mixture of boxing and chess. Boxing because you are head to head against another opponent trying to score points (you are hitting a ball though in tennis not each other -although I have seen the latter in a tennis match lol) and chess because there is a mental or ‘thinking’ aspect of the game which is what this article will focus on.

 If you have gone to tournaments or even watched ‘racquet gladiators’ battle it out, then you’ve no doubt been privy to matches where people say at the end  ‘Wow, how did he lose to that guy, he’s such a better player than him’ or  ‘wow she beat her? How? She’s nowhere near as good!’ or maybe those remarks where even a little closer to home ;) Many a times players can win matches solely on their physical skill or capabilities, while similarly players who do not have as much physical talent can win matches  with their ‘mental game’. When you have a combination of the two it is deadly and then you have players like a Federer or a Lendl or Graf etc.

Some Preliminary Ideas on ‘Tennis Chess’ or The Mental Game

State

 When you are frustrated, upset, or feeling bad do you usually play well? It is important to manage your focus.  So, if you have a match and you see your sister has eaten the last bowl of cocoa puffs (which is not the best pre-game meal anyway, but that’s another article ha!) you can get all upset and let it affect you, and you bring that to your match or you can just let it go and say to yourself ‘I have an important match this morning and I’m ready for it and focused and nothing will phase me.’  So as this example suggests, your state can have a lot to do with how you’ll perform.  As a general rule, the better you feel, the better you’ll play.

Strategy

 Another focus is strategy.  You know your opponent and therefore you have decided on a game plan on how to play him/her. Even if you just met this person a great opportunity to develop a game plan is during the warm-up. I recommend to all my players to really warm-up half hour before their match on their own before getting on the court with their opponent, especially if it is their first match of the day or if they’ve been sitting or waiting around for hours. Hitting with a coach or another friend is excellent, or if that is not available, hitting against a wall, or using a ball machine are excellent as well. This will allow your focus to be on your opponent during the official ‘warm-up’, enabling you to develop a winning game-plan. An example - You notice the player during ‘warm-up’ has a very weak overhead or has made 1 out of 8 overheads and struggles with that shot. Translation to game-plan – I will draw him to the net or when he is at
 net I will, the majority of the time as my shot selection throw up a high lob. Some people feel uncomfortable about this sort of picking on another player. At the higher levels of sport you can be assured players and coaches are watching video footage of their opponent for this very reason.

 Besides knowing the other player or your opponent it is very beneficial as well to know your own game. Not only for improvement during practices but also in match play. Some examples, if you know your second serve is significantly weaker than your first serve, try as much as possible to get that first serve in. Even if that means taking a bit of pace off of it. Another example, if your net/volley game is weak,  on an approach go for it, instead of using it as a set-up shot for a volley winner. The more you know your strength and weaknesses in your game, not only will it be a good barometer on what you should work on to improve in practice, but in match situations it will allow you to put your best game on display.
These are just a few ideas to help you with this many a’ times neglected aspect of the game.

 Remember you can play hard or you can play smart. Or if you really want to be a great player, you can do both.