5 WAYS TO BOOST YOUR GAME AND START 2020 BETTER






TRAIN WITH A PURPOSE

It always surprises me just how few players actually prepare for tournaments in a coordinated way. Perhaps the belief is that training before tournaments should basically continue on as before and that, hopefully, things should just “fall into place.”

If you don’t train with a specific purpose, great results will most certainly be elusive. Here’s a suggestion for your training just before tournament time.

 Before each tournament, select one topic to focus on in practice and master that topic!

Plan your next "work-on" and include it in your 
practice sessions before each tournament.

Imagine if the topic you decided to improve on before the tournament was the Serve, particularly the wide serve. If you gave yourself 2 weeks to work on the wide serve how good do you think that particular serve would be in the following tournament?

 Now, imagine for the second tournament, you decide to work on your ability to create a wider backhand cross-court ball that would pull your opponent off the court and set up a weak half-court ball that you can attack on your next shot.

 You’ve added a stronger serve (you have the wide serve now) and a more effective backhand (more angle cross-court). Sure, it’s slow progress but over time you can see how the improvements keep accumulating.


LEARN TO ACCEPT LOSING

Tennis players, in general, are fairly demanding people. We’re all striving for perfection. However, the fact is that in tennis, even if you win the match, you still lose a lot of points. 

During Novak Djokovic’s most dominant year at number one in the world, his winning point percentage was only 54%. That means his opponents won 46% of the points against him that year!

In tennis, you lose points, games and sets all the time. Your balanced reaction to these moments will dictate whether you win or lose matches.

Losing is very much a part of competitive tennis
and adopting losses as part of your journey and coping 
is important mentally.


REACH OUT FOR HELP

By all means, train hard. But I would suggest to you it’s even more important to train smart. That means reaching out to someone for an analysis of your game.

This advice may involve your technique or the strategy (or lack of a strategy) you employ during matches. 

Today, you can access knowledge more easily than ever before. Reach out to an expert for advice on your game. This could be by asking an experienced coach to give you feedback or by looking for the information you need online. 



ADD THIS TO YOUR PRACTICE

In my opinion far too many players are training wrong. They are trying to train in a repetitive way (500 balls) in an effort to “groove” their strokes and ultimately grow in confidence.

That’s not how it works. The confidence gained in that way can disappear very quickly. It’s a false confidence!

 Here’s my suggestion: Avoid predictability in your practice and add unpredictability, decision-making, shot selection, and stress. It’s that simple!


IMPROVE YOUR MINDSET

It’s easy to get lost as the year progresses. The results you wanted to achieve at the beginning of the year are forgotten in a haze of practice, tournaments and sometimes injury time-outs.

Improvement often means new changes. Establish performance and fitness goals to help keep you on-track the entire year.


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