Playing instinctive and spontaneous tennis is your key to
better play. In order to play instinctively you must learn
to put yourself on automatic. What stops most players from
doing this? The answer...FEAR! FEAR of missing, FEAR of
mistakes, FEAR of failure. This is true for everyone, even
professionals. Fear of missing is a battle we all must
overcome. If you would like to play on automatic and win
the battle of fear here's a few pointers.
First, practice going for your shots in your practice matches
whether you miss, fail, or lose. In other words, give yourself
the freedom to go for your shots. Stop trying to mentally
control every little move you make... let yourself go. Just do
it!
Second, if you're going to adopt this attitude you must not
fear missing. You cannot give yourself the freedom to go for
your shots if you are spending all of your time trying NOT
to fail. Give yourself the freedom to go for your shots and
if you miss...accept it. Failure is part of success. In fact,
failure and success are the same...the only difference is
success gets up and keeps going.
You must learn to deal with your failures by taking
responsibility for them. One of the main reasons this is so
difficult is because most players do not practice dealing
with their mistakes properly. They're too busy being angry or
rationalizing their mistakes, instead of just accepting them
and moving on. What do you do?
If you ever hope to play instinctive and automatic tennis you
must consistently practice these two mental habits.
- Give yourself the freedom to go for your shots.
- Learn to deal with your mistakes and failures by accepting
them and moving on.
Simply said - GIVE YOURSELF THE FREEDOM TO GO FOR YOUR SHOTS
AND IF YOU MISS...ACCEPT IT!
