Quantcast
nodot nodot
Tennis Warrior
October 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

 
Who's in Charge on the Tennis Court? You or Your Emotions?

Tom Veneziano Photo
Tom Veneziano

A player's struggle will always be between the emotions and the mind. The mind must maintain control of the emotions, or else the emotions will dictate to and control the mind. With emotion at the helm a player's perception becomes distorted. He (or she) overthinks, overanalyzes, becomes confused, confounded and discombobulated. He is an emotional wreck!
 
The concept of "mind over matter" is the foundation in every area of life. When your mind is in control, you will operate and function on thinking. When your emotions are in control, you will operate and function on reacting. If you miss a shot, you react; if you lose a match, you react; if you receive a bad line call, you react; if your partner misses a shot, you react; if everything does not go your way, you react. You are an emotional wreck!
 
Reacting does not mean you are throwing tantrums. Reaction can be ostentatious and overt, or simmering and seething inside. The reacting I am talking about is the inner frustration, silent and subtle. That feeling you experience inside is from the emotional sting of the negatives, mistakes and failures. That feeling is what causes you to begin to doubt yourself, overthink and inevitably overplay. What once were simple strokes, now become mind-boggling hazards. You are letting your emotions dictate to your mentality.
 
Now what? Your only hope is to choose a plan to recover and recapture your mental control. This is where 'The Refocus Technique,' gate one of the Mental Toughness Sphere, comes in handy. My audio CD, "The Refocus Technique: Controlling Your Emotions in Tennis" clearly delineates this entire mental process of "the next shot is more important than the last mistake." Forgetting your mistakes and moving out of the Emotional Sphere and back into the Mental Toughness Sphere is the pathway of victory in tennis as well as life.Ê
 
"The next shot is more important than the last mistake" is one phrase you can repeat to yourself between points to begin the stabilizing process. Once stabilized you can serve or return serve and begin the point. You are overriding your unreliable emotions with steadfast thoughts.
 
Marya Mannes, an American writer, once said, "The sign of an intelligent people is their ability to control their emotions by the application of reason."
 
Change a few words and you have, "The sign of intelligent tennis players is their ability to control their emotions by the application of thought."
 
You must constantly practice thinking your way out of negative situations on the tennis court, not emoting. The Refocus Technique is designed to snap you back to OBJECTIVE REALITY, stabilize your mentality and shut off those SUBJECTIVE EMOTIONS. "The next shot is more important than the last mistake."
 
If the negatives, mistakes or failures still continue to haunt you, here is a visualization technique from Matt Fury's book, "The Unbeatable Man." Although this book was about wrestling, the mental principle still applies. Matt mentioned a situation when he was young where he visualized a wall between himself and the negatives. No matter how many negatives were thrown at him, each negative would bounce off the wall and could not get to him.
 
You, too, can visualize a wall between you and that emotional inner voice that keeps whispering to you about the negatives, the mistakes and the failures. Once the wall is up, visualize those negative thoughts bouncing off and putting you back in control.
 
The battle for control of your mind is an ongoing struggle between your mind and your emotions. You must have a mental plan in place to keep your emotions in check. Do NOT allow your emotions to take control of your mind. Why? Because every sport is a mental game. If you lose control of your thinking, it will be a long day at the courts! Control your emotions and you will inevitably control your game, your opponent and the match.
 

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.
 
SAI Team Tennis Tournament Tickets
 
Dallas Open Tickets
 
Delray Beach Open Tickets
 
ATX Open Tickets
 
BNP Paribas Open Tickets
 
Miami Open Tickets
 
Credit One Charleston Open Tickets
 
US Men's Clay Court Championships Tickets
 
Wimbledon Tickets
 
Infosys Hall of Fame Open Tickets
 
Atlanta Open Tickets
 
Mubadala Citi Open Tennis Tournament Tickets
 
National Bank Open Women's Tennis Canada Tickets
 
National Bank Open Men's Tennis Canada Tickets
 
Western & Southern Open Tickets
 
Winston-Salem Open Tickets
 
US Open Tennis Championship 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