Overcoming tennis anxiety.

Have you ever stepped up to the baseline and missed the first serve… “don’t miss, just get it in” you think… the dreaded double fault?

Your parents are watching you play, you want to play well, recreate the mega set you played last Friday… suddenly you are 3-0 down and having the least enjoyable set of your life, unable to string two balls together and display your true potential.

And what about that easy smash? You know the one that appears to be hanging in the air for days, you are right up at the net, the easy put away that you should be approaching with confidence but instead the voice inside is praying you not to miss it… next thing you swipe at thin air and the ball bounces twice on your side.

If this is you, you are not alone. This is me constantly along with thousands of other tennis players on the tennis court, it is mentally exhausting and confidence sapping. We become robotic on the court, unable to move our feet at pace, pushing every shot rather than accelerating the racket and unable to commit to solid rallying decisions and passages of play. We become the ‘grey man’, a player with no identity and purpose on the court other than ‘get the ball in’, a way of playing that does not aid our tennis development. However, we are in good company and there are ways past it.

Even the best players in the world get nervous. Roger Federer once said after his 20th Grand slam title “I was just really happy, to be honest, that it was all done. I was so bloody nervous all day. It was eating me up inside. That’s why, when it was all over, I was just so relieved.”  Okay, maybe their nervousness is more justified with thousands watching live, millions more at home, millions of pounds prize money on the table and the chance to be etched in tennis history. But actually, I would offer an alternate view, professionals have years to learn the game, hone their skills and know every angle of a tennis court. They have had countless opportunities to deal with awkward match situations and bounce back, something we as recreational players only experience every other week or so and often the memories can be long lasting and fester. So really, we must accept anxiety, and learn to manage it to free up our tennis.

There are two scenarios I would like to tackle, the first of which is the anxiety of getting on court at a tennis club when we first start playing. I believe tennis clubs are an intimidating place. Tennis itself has a stereotype of being a middle-class sport. The outside perception is that every player at a club is of a great standard, coached for years and playing regular competitive tennis. The truth is far from this, tennis is more accessible and affordable than ever, and this means there is a place for everyone at clubs. There are some incredible tennis players at club level, but also many players yet to maximise their tennis potential and at varying stages of their tennis journey. And in all honesty, most players at clubs do not get coached… they have done what everyone else has done and just got on court and tried things and worked things out. So now it is your turn to get on court and try things out, to miss balls, to double fault, to frame shots, and also to hit winners!!! We have a responsibility as coaches and players to help each other on their path of development. So, step through the gates of your local club, join players of all abilities for the social nights and be amazed by what you find.

The second scenario is that of match nerves. There are lots of idioms for helping this, ‘every point is worth the same’, ‘there is always a way back into a match until it is won’…etc. As true as they are, the truth is I can find infinite reasons as to why I cannot really believe in these sayings. For me there is one thing I have developed to enable me to relax somewhat in a tennis match, that is something I call the ‘personal promise’. It is not full proof, it does not eradicate nerves, but it certainly clears the mind, aids decisions and helps me relax more on the court in tight situations. The trouble with nerves is they distract you from what your point of focus should be in a match and make the path to victory clouded. It is tough to pick through the fog especially with that 3-0 deficit staring you in the face, it’s what I call ‘mental mash’.

So, what is a personal promise? You may have heard the expression “control the controllable”. This is all about refocusing and having a small very achievable and completely controllable goal. For example, having a goal of ‘I must win the next point’ is not a helpful goal as it requires many things to come together, many of which you do not have control of… I cannot control my opponent hitting an unbelievable winner. However, a goal of ‘I must accelerate my racket head through the ball’ or ‘I must split-step when my opponent hits the ball’ are things I have complete control of. These small things allow you to narrow your focus, and provided you achieve your personal promise you cannot be disappointed with your game regardless of the outcome of a point or match. Your personal promise can be any nugget of information you believe will improve your game that you have complete control over, ‘chase down every ball’, ‘prepare my racket before the bounce’, ‘get side on to the ball’. Furthermore, every time you achieve your personal promise, why not team it with some positive reinforcement, ‘I am a great tennis player’, ‘that split step I did was great’, ‘wow, I got a racket on that ball’. This will build confidence in your game, make you more willing to try things and open your mind to what you can do rather than the things you cannot. Try it next time you are on the court and see if you can reframe your tennis in this way, it is not an immediate fix but can relax you and aid development over time. As a coach I would never turn up at a lesson and say, ‘right today we are going to focus on all of tennis today’, it would be too broad a subject and too much information to cover. Focusing on match results is essentially doing that to yourself, it is overwhelming and counterproductive.

It is often very easy to become focused on match results and scores that we cannot fully control. Tennis is a process sport where the results may not come immediately as we need to hone our skills. The personal promise sets you on a path of honing these skills and taking your focus away from winning and losing, reinforcing all the positives you do on the court, ignoring much of what you cannot control and pushing the boundaries of what you believe you can do on the court.  Making personal promises allows you to focus on the controllable aspects of your game in a match and if you can control the controllables better than your opponent you have a great chance of winning a match. The results will come in time… believe in the process.