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TennisOne Lessons 
Mental Toughness David W. Smith, Senior Editor TennisOne There are many definitions for mental toughness as it applies to tennis. Some might say it is the resistance to choking. Others might define it as solid concentration or not easily distracted. These would certainly be in the right ballpark. However, mental toughness is much more than what those definitions might infer. Through years of coaching and observing thousands of players, young and old, I prefer the following definition: Mental Toughness is a conditioned and positive response to adversity. If you look at every competitive match, any set that has something riding on it, these matches all offer adversity. Whether it is the match itself or the points within the match, there is potential conflict riding on every stroke. Certainly, there are variables that add or detract from the severity of pressure each match or point contains. Match variables could include whether or not an opponent is recognized as a threat or what the match means for the player (or for their team if it is a team match). If it is a tournament, variables include the round the match is being played in, seeded players, next round opponents, and others. Pressure point variables include what the game or set score is, points that are played in tie-breakers, points played after “momentum shift” points (more on Momentum Shifts later!), and certainly game and match points carry significant pressure. Because of these variables, Mental Toughness can be used to describe how well a player reacts and responds to such variables.
It is always interesting to watch how players play under many of the diverse scenarios. Some players almost always play great when nothing is riding on the outcome of the match. However, give the match some extrinsic reward and these same players crumble from the moment the first serve is struck. An excellent example of this behavior can often be witnessed when players put some monetary value on the outcome of a match. I seldom encourage betting on the outcome of matches. However, when money is sometimes the reward—no matter how much or how little—the real mental character of each performer is often revealed! (Golfing is notorious for this practice! Those of you who have played golf and played perhaps a simple betting game such as skins can relate to this pressure! A three foot putt can feel short or long depending on how much is riding on a make or a miss!) Sometime when you play a singles or doubles match put a little wager on the match to test this theory. It can be as innocuous as having the losers buying the winner a soda or sandwich. Note how the character of each player changes compared to playing a simple social match. It can be a noticeable difference, or it might be so subtle that little change is detected. However, this little test can reveal a great deal about players and their state of mental toughness! The truly mentally secure players are often the ones seen as not being affected by the added pressure of a bet. Some players might actually play more focused and intense. Some might quite literally, fall apart at the seams. This kind of pressure is most revealing. However, there are other kinds of pressure that tennis players encounter from different situations. Sometimes, the worst kind of pressure is encountered when you are about to play someone who you know you should beat. (And especially one in which the audience knows you should beat) This type of match sets up expectations which sometimes make players focus on the aspect of winning instead of playing each shot, independent of the expected outcome. When this happens,and the underdog scores a few points, self-doubt and the fear of choking can take root in the player who is expected to win. How to Condition the Response A conditioned, positive response to pressure can be learned. In fact,I have not seen a single player who was not capable of developing Mental Toughness. I have though witnessed players who were not successful at developing Mental Toughness. Some of these players where members of my own teams and had developed phenomenal strokes, incredible serves, lightning fast feet, and terrific agility. On the practice court, they can drill with the best players, hit 100 mile-per-hour serves, and hit targets with ground strokes off the ball machine… But they rarely win matches.
What is this player missing that others, who might possess less natural ability, have? You know the answer: Mental Toughness. So how do you learn Mental Toughness…because, after all, I said it can be learned? It starts with how you practice. Do you create adversity and overcome it in every practice shot? No? Well, most people don’t. How can you add this element to your practice? The practice techniques that help build mental toughness include counting consecutive shots and the use of targets. All the areas of practice should be thought of as “mentally conditioning” for the mind. They not only help you increase your stroke production, they will also make you a more mentally tough player. How to Take the Response into a Match The ability to add mental toughness aspects to your practice will undoubtedly translate into a more mentally tough match player. But there is more. As you become better prepared for your matches, you will find it difficult to accept defeat. My favorite coaching phrase is: “The harder you work, the harder it is to fail.” Certainly, any hard work you perform will make the goal of that hard work much more valuable to you. However, don’t confuse the simple concept of “hard work” as being the gist of the lesson. Otherwise, you might find yourself discovering another phrase: Lesson in futility! Working hard on faulty form will only make changing that form more difficult when you realize that the faulty form is limiting you. Tennis mechanics at every level must be clearly understood so that you will be working “hard” on the very form that will give you the best results. Once you have put in the hard work, the next step is implementation of proper form and strategy in competition. How often do we see tennis players working on specific shots or strokes in practice only to completely abandon those things in competition! It is no wonder that one of the first books on the mind in competition was a book dealing with the mental side of tennis! Back in 1972, Timothy Gallwey’s The Inner Game of Tennis was a revolutionary revelation in dealing with sports psychology. So popular was Gallwey’s book and approach that over 700,000 books were sold around the world! I highly recommend that tennis players today, pick up a copy of his book if its not already in your possession. In Gallwey’s book, he describes “Self 1” and “Self 2”. Self 1 is our controlling voice, the critic. Self 2 is the self who performs. Gallwey says, “The more you trust self 2, the better you will play.” When we let Self 1 dominate (our games and our minds), in competition, we open ourselves to all the variables that tend to destroy our mental toughness. Those variables include:
Notice all three of these variables center around the player’s ego. When a player is concerned with his ego, tanking and anger are the first to show their ugly heads! I have used a phrase for years as a general statement to developing better mental tennis: “When we play and practice not to satisfy our ego but to satisfy our goals, we allow our best tennis to emerge.
Think about this phrase. If we are concerned with our egos, we are concerned with what others think about us. If, however, we are concerned with our goals, we are then focused on things related to our development as a tennis player. If we lose a match, ego-centered players will look for excuses. Goal-centered players will look for ways to learn from the loss. The ego can sometimes be used to help reach goals. When we want to prove something because of our ego, we then almost subconsciously recognize the value of goals. Tournament Tennis Playing tournament tennis is an absolute must for any player wanting to improve their mental toughness. The reason for this is that there is no other method that replicates the pressure and importance of playing a tournament match. In most tournaments, if you lose a match, you’re done. This kind of pressure is hard to emulate in practice. The closest I have come to matching this pressure is through team challenge matches. Challenges present a similar pressure due to the fact if a player loses, it usually costs him a position on the team ladder. Challenges that determine whether the winner will play varsity or junior varsity are especially pressure-packed! In addition to the pressure created by playing tournament tennis, players who attend a variety of tournaments gain the advantage of observing many other players competing. A classic example of this importance was when I first moved to Arizona and took over the coaching of one of the top-ranked juniors in the state. Justin was ranked number 4 in the 16’s of the southwest division of USTA. Even though Justin had played in most of the tournaments within Arizona, he had never ventured outside of his USTA section. During his junior year, I took Justin to California to play some of my former players who I had coached prior to my move to Arizona. While in California, I had Justin play a kid named Robert. When a sweaty Justin returned from his match, I asked how it went.
That kid is tough! He beat me 6 - 1” Justin said between breaths. “Was he your number one kid?” he asked. Justin learned a valuable lesson at that moment. As good as Justin was in his USTA section, there were players—by the hundreds—who could not just beat him, but beat him badly. Justin returned to Arizona with a new mindset. He now had a much better grasp of what he must do to be a better player. And it wasn’t that Robert or any of the other players who Justin played while in California, were that much better. In fact Justin had all the shots they had. Yet, in the mental tennis department, Justin was more or less a beginner. In reality, the players in California had hundreds, if not thousands, of players who were competitive all living right in their own backyards. Justin was one of only a couple dozen truly competitive players in Arizona at that time. Players who recognized this discrepancy were the ones who indeed traveled to all parts of the country to gain competitive experience. Improvement Roller coaster For almost every individual, improvement in anything is seldom a steady, progressive state that can be measured in equal, incremental steps. If anything, improvement in most skill-related sports occurs in consistent inconsistencies! Tennis is no exception. In fact, tennis is probably one of the least likely sports in which players can expect to see some essence of steady improvement. One day, a player can be playing so well, they can’t believe they can possibly lose. On another day (oftentimes sometimes on the very next day!) players can experience their worst performance ever. The amount of variance between these highs and lows is usually controlled through a player’s mental toughness. In other words, players who are mentally tough don’t seesaw between these two playing descriptions quite as far. The mentally toughest also don’t stay down very long. And finally, the mentally tough player does not allow bad days to affect them as long or as deeply as a mentally weak player does. Cycle of Improvement Improvement must be recognized not in a subjective acknowledgement of indication, but in qualitative and quantitative measurements. These values for improvement include:
It may seem obvious, but this issue of continued improvement can be measured primarily by a player’s ability to utilize consistent and reliable swing patterns. If there are flaws in a swing pattern, in form or in footwork, the ability for a player to hit “more consistently” in each of these areas I just mentioned, will be diminished. Thus, it will be critical for every player to work towards this quality. In tennis, this procedure is often referred to as a “roller coaster” as it quite adeptly describes the issue of how most tennis players experience improvement. The “Cycles of Improvement” that follow this pattern of tennis playing, are founded on the concept of consideration. Consider that when a new stroke is first attempted, the body must coordinate many unfamiliar or uncomfortable patterns. Any player who has been playing tennis for any period of time will recognize that change is difficult. One of the whole objectives for this book is to eliminate, or at the very least, diminish the need for making changes. Of course, if a player has indeed been playing tennis prior to reading this book, then change is inevitable! So, assuming that change is needed, almost every single player will go through a challenging period: Trying to keep from doing what is comfortable—yet wrong—and do that which is right, however difficult and uncomfortable. Not only are these changes difficult and uncomfortable…they will be relatively unsuccessful for some period time! This pattern of adjustment will be an ongoing experience. The good news is that as players come nearer their Advanced Foundation, both the difficulty and the frustration will diminish. Yet, all players must understand that improvement and perception of success will rise and fall like our proverbial roller coaster. Some days you will find tennis easy and flowing, other days it will feel forced and unfamiliar. This is common, even for advanced players. Beginners often look at advanced players as think, “wow, these guys are so good, how can THEY have a bad day playing?” Yet, even for advanced players the PERCEPTION of how they are playing—to themselves—can reach peaks and valleys similar to those experiences any other level of player might experience. Remember that as players become more proficient, the EXPECTATIONS rise for those individuals. No longer are advanced players simply satisfied in getting their serve in or hitting the ball over the net! These players now look to do more with the ball. This means greater chance of failure…unless the player has developed progressive strokes as they themselves develop. (Which is another reason why and Advanced Foundation is so very important.) As progressive strokes become mastered, the chance of failure is diminished. Conclusion It should be noted that the more an individual focuses on trying to become more mentally tough by simply being conscious of it in competition, the more likely they will not only fail at becoming more mentally tough, but they will often create perpetual failure because they are constantly looking at each point as a pass-or-fail situation. Being mentally tough does not mean you won’t miss or make mistakes. However, a person who focuses on the tools in developing mental toughness through experience and drills will find they respond to adversity with more positive and productive responses. In addition, players who train for mental toughness as described here tend to allow themselves to play tennis in an unconscious zone more often. They also are better able to adapt and give themselves a chance to come back when playing someone who is playing well or is also “in the zone.” In a nutshell, becoming mentally tough is like having a crystal ball that reveals a positive outcome. If a player knew they would have a positive match before hand, they would indeed play with a confidence to know that even if they are behind, they can come back. High mentally tough players tend to not be overly concerned with being behind or even missing any number of shots. It’s as if they know they will eventually win…so why worry? Mentally weak players crack when they miss shots or fall behind. They press, they panic, they get mad, they choke, and they don’t look like players who can fight back. They tank and they get angry. Mentally tough players may show some response, but in most cases, they give the appearance that it is just a matter of time before they make their move. You need to remember this. Train for mental toughness, then let it happen!
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