10 Bits of Mental Toughness Wisdom for the Tennis Player

posted on: November 23, 2015
author: Brian Lomax, Ed.D.

Even though the title of this post refers to tennis players, I believe any athlete can gain perspective from these ten points.  Apply them and reap the benefits.

1. When your opponents make excuses for why they lost to you, take it as a compliment. You broke them mentally and now they’re desperate to protect their self-esteem.  It proves that you ARE the mentally tougher one.
2. Regardless of the score, look at every point as an opportunity to break your opponent mentally. How you perceive each moment is your choice.  Choose to have a productive perspective.
3. Write down five reasons why you are tough to compete against. Once you have that list, commit to doing those things more often when you practice and play.
4. Most athletes don’t treat their minds like muscles and therefore have undisciplined thoughts and beliefs. This can improve with training, but you have to be open minded about doing the necessary work that brings about more discipline and control.  If you think that your mind simply works a certain way and there is nothing to be done about it, then your mental game will not progress.  Be coachable!  Get yourself into a “mind gym.”
5. It’s okay to be irrationally optimistic when competing – it might win you a match. Being pessimistic won’t win you anything so why would you choose that?  It’s shocking how many players choose pessimism over optimism.
6. Your goal should not be to win points, but instead to play great points. Play enough great points and the winning will happen.  The question is, do you know how to play a great point?
7. Your best performances go through your strengths so go to them under pressure.
8. Part of deliberate practice is practicing competing.
9. Always respect your opponents. You need them.  No one can create a great tennis match by himself/herself.  Your opponent is also your partner.
10. Every tennis player has three roles on the court: the player, the coach, and the official.  Your training should address all three of these.

What are your thoughts on these?  Can you apply them to your game?  Let me know in the comments below.