Back in the day, when I competed as a junior and college tennis player, I used to struggle with consistency in matches. Sometimes I had ‘off days’ or I wasn’t feeling my backhand or serve. I thought the reason for the inconsistency was due to my timing, technique, or footwork. It made sense to me because, on some shots, my mechanics were spot on and fluent. But sometimes, another ball would come at me with the exact same speed, spin, and height, and my mechanics were suddenly off… It drove me crazy! Maybe you can relate.
Coaches told me to hit more balls. As a good student, that’s what I did. However, in matches, I’d move slower or my timing was off again. I had one coach who actually made me run in between points with the hopes of helping me move better during points. This might sound silly, but I’ve tried it all. The motivation was always there but the disappointment and frustration were increasing as I wasn’t able to figure out what caused my timing, technique, or footwork to be off and play consistent, high-level tennis… However, I didn’t let this stop me.
After graduating college, I have been on a mission to find the cause for the inconsistency and how to fix it so I could play consistent tennis. After years of studying mindset, performance, and psychology from the best experts, and through testing different mental tools with myself and other players, I finally found answers…
The potential to play consistent tennis is already within you and I hope that excites you. How do I know this to be true? Because you’ve had days where you (or the players you support) have shown real consistency, even if it was just for a few balls in a row. If you realize that the potential is within you to execute the correct technique, timing, and footwork, then what is causing the inconsistency? It has to do with focus. Why? The performance formula from Timothy Gallwey explains it well and helped to open up my perspective:
Performance = potential – mental interference.
At any given moment, your potential is a constant factor, but through practice, you can increase this. Mental interference is the variable in this formula, so that is the exact cause why players lose focus. To give some clarity, mental interference can be divided into nerves, doubts, distractions, and indecisiveness. This is where the mind starts to think. It can also subconsciously reflect in your body without thought. This mental interference usually shows up as a subtle tightness in the body. This can happen for a split second, and boom… your timing is off. Besides timing, there is something else that happens when you (or your players) experience mental interference.
Earlier, I shared how we all have days where our backhand or serve feels off, right? It feels like you’re just not able to hit certain shots. Let’s pretend that is true… It would mean that your potential would have suddenly decreased to some degree. However, we’ve seen that is not true. Your potential is always within. So, where does that bring us?
It means that this mental interference is not only causing your focus to be off, but it also creates a distorted perception about what you believe is possible. Studies show that you can change your mindset, even if you’ve struggled with some type of mental interference for years! This means that you have a lot more potential to be unlocked, no matter what level you play. I
Practical Tip
Instead of hitting more balls or fixing your mechanics (which are critical), I invite you to focus less on the result and observe your focus. Are you getting distracted, are you losing trust, doubting your skills, or are you worried about missing or losing? The most important step is awareness. Bring a pen and paper and take notes based on what you observe. Hope this helps!
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