Quantcast
nodot nodot
Tennis Warrior
July 2013 Article

Tennis Warrior Archive

Send a message to Tom

Get Tom Veneziano's book The Truth about Winning! at Amazon.com

Tennis Server
HOME PAGE

Do You Want To Be A Better Tennis Player?

Then Sign Up For A Free Subscription to the Tennis Server INTERACTIVE
E-mail Newsletter!

Tom Veneziano You will join 13,000 other subscribers in receiving news of updates to the Tennis Server along with monthly tennis tips from tennis pro Tom Veneziano.
 
Best of all, it is free!

Tennis Features Icon TENNIS FEATURES:

TENNIS ANYONE? - USPTA Pro John Mills' quick player tip.
 
TENNIS WARRIOR - Tom Veneziano's Tennis Warrior archive.
 
TURBO TENNIS - Ron Waite turbocharges your tennis game with tennis tips, strategic considerations, training and practice regimens, and mental mindsets and exercises.
 
WILD CARDS - Each month a guest column by a new writer.
 
BETWEEN THE LINES - Ray Bowers takes an analytical and sometimes controversial look at the ATP/WTA professional tour.
 
PRO TENNIS SHOWCASE - Tennis match reports and photography from around the world.
 
TENNIS SET - Jani Macari Pallis, Ph.D. looks at tennis science, engineering and technology.
 
MORTAL TENNIS - Greg Moran's tennis archive on how regular humans can play better tennis.
 
HARDSCRABBLE SCRAMBLE - USPTA pro Mike Whittington's player tip archive.
 
TENNIS EQUIPMENT TIPS.

Tennis Community Icon TENNIS COMMUNITY:


Tennis Book, DVD, and Video Index
 
Tennis Server Match Reports
 
Editor's Letter
 
Become a Tennis Server Sponsor

Explore The Tennis Net Icon EXPLORE THE TENNIS NET:

Tennis News and Live Tennis Scores
 
Tennis Links on the Web
 
nodot
Tennis Warrior Banner


 
Green Dot
 
Tennis Warehouse Logo
 
Green Dot

 
nodot

 
Does your tennis opponent control your mind?

Tom Veneziano Photo
Tom Veneziano

A few weeks ago I had a discussion with a player who played in the Women's leagues. She told me of a situation that just happened to her where her doubles partner gave up in one of the matches. She explained that there had been some tension between her partner and one of the opponents because of some questionable line calls.
 
They were in the third set with the score tied at 4-4. Her partner was serving. When one of her serves, which appeared to be in the court, was called out, an argument pursued. Nevertheless the line call stood. Her partner was furious and mentally lost it! The next shot she angrily bashed the ball everywhere but in the court.
 
The girl telling me the story tried to calm her partner down, but to no avail. Her partner continued to recklessly slam the ball throughout the rest of the match. Needless to say, they lost the match.
 
I guess the logic here is, "I'll show them, I'll lose the match and teach them a lesson." Of course, this is inane, irrational thinking because when players become entangled in their emotions none of their reasoning makes sense.
 
The player who was distressed with her partner's anger asked me what I could say to help players learn to let go of failures and controversies like what had just occurred. She told me that years ago she decided that tennis competition would bring out the best in her and not the worst. She was dead set on enjoying her tennis.
 
Unknowingly she had answered her own question. My answer to her was that I could do nothing unless that player made a decision to change, just like she made a decision to bring out her best. I have produced numerous articles, books and CDs that address this problem, but making the change comes down to one fact and one fact alone. When players are ready to make that change they will.
 
Players have come to me and said, "My mental attitude is terrible, can you change it?" Can I change it! Sorry I cannot. Only you can. What they really want is for me to wave my magic wand and presto! a Champion's mind develops.
 
This seems to be the a prevailing attitude. Players want to shift the responsibility for learning tennis to a coach or a training camp or the latest high-tech technique to get the job done. Parents often think if they will just send little Johnny to an academy like Nick Bollettieri's, their son will be a star.
 
THE PRINCIPLE
 
Stop relinquishing control of your mental attitude or your tennis game to others. The player in the story who totally lost it and gave away the match, completely turned over control of her game and her mental attitude to her opponent.
 
Players should think twice before they lose their poise on the tennis court and give control of their mental attitude to an opponent, the failures or any adversity. Is that what you want? Do you think that is a winning formula? Do you think you will play better when your opponent takes control of your mind? Seems like you have handed over a superb advantage to your opponent on a silver platter of your anger. Guess what? It is an advantage that you created!
 
Somewhere all great players must learn to take control of their mental attitude. In the "Roger Federer Story" by Rene Stauffer, Roger made this astute comment. "Before, when my coach told me that I should calm down, that seemed impossible to me," he said in 2004. "I simply had to get rid of this tension and these demons in my head. No one could help me. It had to come from me."
 
You have volition. You decide. You make the choice to take control of your own mental attitude or your opponent most certainly WILL!
 

Green DotGreen DotGreen Dot

Tennis Warrior Archive

If you have not already signed up to receive our free e-mail newsletter Tennis Server INTERACTIVE, you can sign up here. You will receive notification each month of changes at the Tennis Server and news of new columns posted on our site.

This column is copyrighted by Tom Veneziano, all rights reserved.

Tom is a tennis pro teaching at the Piney Point Racquet Club in Houston, Texas. Tom has taught thousands of players to think like a pro with his Tennis Warrior System.

     

In Tom Veneziano's book "The Truth about Winning!", tennis players learn in a step-by-step fashion the thinking the pros have mastered to win! Tom takes you Step-by-step from basic mental toughness to advanced mental toughness. All skill levels can learn from this unique book from beginner to professional. No need to change your strokes just your thinking.

Audio CDs by Tom Veneziano:



 

nodot
nodot
Google
Web tennisserver.com
nodot nodot
The Tennis Server
Ticket Exchange

Your Source for tickets to professional tennis & golf events.
 
Terra Wortmann Open - Halle, Germany Tickets
 
Wimbledon Tickets
 
Infosys Hall of Fame Open Tickets
 
Atlanta Open Tickets
 
Hamburg Open Tickets
 
Mubadala Citi Open Tennis Tournament Tickets
 
National Bank Open Women's Tennis Canada Tickets
 
National Bank Open Men's Tennis Canada Tickets
 
Cincinnati Open Tickets
 
Winston-Salem Open Tickets
 
Tennis In The Land Tickets
 
UTS - Tennis Like Never Before Tickets
 
US Open Tennis Championship Tickets
 
Laver Cup Berlin Tickets
 
Erste Bank Open - Vienna, Austria Tickets
 
Dallas Open Tickets
 
BNP Paribas Open Tickets
 
Miami Open Tickets
 
Laver Cup San Francisco Tickets
 

 

Popular Tennis books:
 
Winning Ugly: Mental Warfare in Tennis-Lessons from a Master by Brad Gilbert, Steve Jamison
 
The Best Tennis of Your Life: 50 Mental Strategies for Fearless Performance by Jeff Greenwald
 
The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey
 
Most Recent Articles:
 
October 2022 Tennis Anyone: Patterns in Doubles by John Mills.
 
September 2022 Tennis Anyone: Short Court by John Mills.
 

 

 

 

"Tennis Server" is a registered trademark and "Tennis Server INTERACTIVE" is a trademark of Tennis Server. All original material and graphics on the Tennis Server are copyrighted 1994 - by Tennis Server and its sponsors and contributors. Please do not reproduce without permission.

The Tennis Server receives a commission on all items sold through links to Amazon.com.

 

Tennis Server
Cliff Kurtzman
Editor-in-chief
791 Price Street #144
Pismo Beach, CA 93449
Phone: (281) 480-6300
Online Contact Form
How to support Tennis Server as a Sponsor/Advertiser
Tennis Server Privacy Policy