Posts Tagged ‘ tennis ’

ROB POLISHOOK, MA, CPC How many times have you heard the   following from a coach, parent, or teammate? “If only he played to his potential”… “If only she could play matches like she plays in practice”… “If only he wouldn’t get tight during crucial points”… “If only she would just let herself go and...
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by Rob Polishook, M.A. The Australian Open Tennis Championships 2010 I’m still recovering from my 4:30 am live viewing of Roger Federer and Nikolay Davydenko. What a match!  What mental swings!  These mental swings are really potent, and yet so many of them get swept under the carpet by commentators espousing that “players” don’t...
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Lack of Mental Toughness Costly by Stephen Walker, PhD, CC-AASP – Boulder, Colorado We assume that those who play on the world stage at the highest levels of sport have schooled themselves mentally to keep their wits about them in the toughest of situations.  Perhaps we assume wrong. Yesterday’s Semi-final in the women’s US...
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By Larry Lauer, PhD, CC-AASP “I wouldn’t want to coach her, she is a head case!”“He will never be a great player. He is so mentally weak.” Have you heard coaches, spectators, television and sport talk commentators mutter these words? I certainly have heard these jabs at very capable professional and amateur athletes, and...
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During his press conferences in the end of year Masters in Shanghai in 2006, Roger Federer finally explained the one major thing which turned his career around, from the early years when he regularly lost to the top players such as Lleyton Hewitt, who at the time was the number one player in the...
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There are three main principles of the Inner Game – quieting the mind, non-judgment and trusting the body. The player must first learn to apply them in training. And when he experiences these effects in training he knows what to look for in the match. He then plays the inner game – how to...
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Jeff Cooper posted this article at About.com. It discusses some tips to help you maintain control and excel in some common tennis scenarios. It’s a short article but the tips it contains might be well worth your time. It will take you less than two minutes to read the entire article.
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“As for Federer, he desperately needs a coach, and perhaps some sort of mental conditioning as well.” This quote came from an article in The Science of Sport. It’s well written and takes a look at the 2007 French Open final between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer including the mental aspects of Federer’s loss…and…Nadal’s...
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Here’s a quote from an article in The Sheboygan Press on Roger Federer. In 2003, 21-year-old tennis player Roger Federer was the No. 5 seed at the French Open. He was confident, and thought he had a chance to get to the finals. He was dumped in the first round by Luis Horna of...
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