Tennis Resolution for 2012:

Make ONE of my shots significantly better by practicing it for 500 hits / month outside of regular matches, either with a pro, on the ball machine, or against the wall (serves can be practiced alone on a court).  There is no substitute for time on the court.  Focus on one shot and then focus on a particular aspect of that shot.

For example, concentrate on getting more spin on your forehand.  Do not worry about hitting it in, after all, that is not the goal you’ve set in this example.  Do that relentlessly and over the months you will see it improve slowly in your matches and eventually, the ball will start falling in with more spin.  Remember, you cannot improve if you do not accept that initially you will be terrible at it.  Just keep going.  Keep track of how many balls you hit every month, and total that at the end of 2012.  You should have hit at least 6000 practice shots on that one shot and will hopefully see a difference.  If not, go see your pro and find out if you are practicing it correctly, then get back to work in 2013!

Dr. Allen Fox at Marina City Club

 

The famous sports psychologist, Dr. Allen Fox, gave a seminar and book signing for the tennis players of mcc on November 30, 2011 from 6-8pm in the Galaxy Room.  This event had great attendance with almost 40 people coming out to hear what Dr. Fox had to say about handling your emotions on the tennis court.  Dr. Fox signed copies of his latest book, Tennis: Winning the Mental Match.

Dr. Fox raised three primary concerns tennis players have from the mental side of tennis:  choking, anger, and tanking.

Anger turns out to be the easiest one to control.  A player must tell himself before he starts that nothing that happens on that court will make him angry, and he will usually succeed in controlling that emotion.

Choking is virtually incurable, but accepting that everyone, even the best players on earth, choke, makes it easier to accept in yourself.  Accepting that you are not a bad person because you choked will make you less likely to do so in the future, but will certainly not eliminate this common and persistent problem.  Also, realize that just because you choked once, does not mean that you will choke every time.  There will be more opportunities if you keep trying to win.

Finally, tanking, or giving up, is difficult to control.  Tanking relieves stress by taking you mentally out of the match, but a cost-benefit analysis reveals that rationally this is an unhealthy choice.  Once you realize that the benefits of trying outweigh the momentary relief of stress, the player may make the choice to “gut it out.”

Many more insights came from this talk and from reading Dr. Fox’s excellent book.  If you would like a copy, Gene has several copies left for sale at the tennis desk for $20 each.  They make great gifts to the tennis players in your life this holiday season!

Biggest forehand return ever?

Maybe, you be the judge:

Neurofeedback Peak Performance Training for Tennis Players!

For those of you seeking help with peak performance anxiety / relaxation techniques, please let me know as I am now practicing neurofeedback (biofeedback eeg) and helping athletes deal with match play difficulties.  If you “practice well” then fall apart in matches, give me a call and I’ll tell you more about my program, a non-invasive training technique to help you self-regulate your mind and function in a more optimal manner on the court and in other intense situations.

See these videos / articles for more details on how this amazing technique can make you better and more powerful in your life:

Brain Machine ‘Improves Musicianship’

Olympic Gold Winner Says Neurofeedback Helped

Neurofeedback for Peak Performance