BECOME A MENTAL GIANT IN MATCHES


The number one question I get asked whenever a player needs help with something is how to improve the mental side of their game.

Many of us are excellent in practice, but transferring those great strokes into real-life matches can be difficult.

So, here are my suggestions on improving your mentality in matches and becoming a mental giant during competition.

The "Ego" and the "Task" motivated player

As a coach, I used to love the hard worker. I felt that I had the suitable material to mold a future champion if given a young player who worked hard. But often, these hard-working players, I call them Task motivated players, never fulfilled the potential I thought they had. The good results I expected just didn't materialise.

Task-motivated players worked harder and longer than anybody else but often lack the ability to clinch close matches and will sometimes lose to players who don't work as hard or train as well as them.

So what's going on?

I began to call these other players (the non-hard-working players) Ego motivated players. They are motivated only by winning and by prizes. They play for rewards and good results.
They only care about what was happening today; they wanted to win today and didn't care about tomorrow.

Do you see the problem?

During a tough match, a Task-motivated player tells themselves that they've done really well in this match and can see the improvement they're making. If they don't win today, they're sure that in he future they will be winning these close matches.

The Ego-motivated player tells themselves, "To hell with tomorrow; I'm not losing this match"!

Guess which player is more successful in competition?

As coaches we need to develop more ego in the Task motivated players. We need to remove the "tomorrow" mindset and replace it with a "today" mindset. Here's how we do it.

If you're not doing it already, introduce more points into your practice. I've taken this idea to extremes and probably play points for 90% of my lesson. 

I want to include pressure, decision-making, and unpredictability throughout my sessions. Playing points is an ideal way to constantly introduce the player to all three of these elements.
Playing points is a great way to work on building ego in a task-motivated player.

You have to have a strong desire to win, and
the will to win is something that can be trained.

The words you use

I want you to stop being a "tomorrow" person and start changing how you think to become a today person.

You're in trouble whenever you believe that "hard work pays off" and "Work hard today and good things will happen," Both phrases hurt your results, particularly in close matches.
And the problem is that our society teaches us this "tomorrow" mindset, and our parents reinforce it to us constantly growing up.

But can you see how both phrases encourage you to believe that the goal is to work hard now for a reward that should automatically come later (tomorrow)?
Here's the problem with that scenario.

Many players think of today as a stepping stone to success later but often get stuck permanently in that "tomorrow" mindset.

From now on, be careful of the way you talk on the court. 
Whether you're a coach or a player, start to think "today" and avoid the tomorrow mindset. 

The Emphasis on winning

During training sessions, I often say to players, "You're not here to practice; you're here to win." I'm also fond of asking players for the score during points so that they understand it means something to me. 

And I'm often "guilty" of telling a player, "You must win this (the point or the tie-break)," as they start points during my training sessions.

I'm trying to change the session from a relaxed stress less environment to one of stress with an increased commitment to winning points.

Avoid the mindset that there is always "tomorrow." 
to obtain winning results. Teach them the winning 
habit each day in practice so that it becomes natural.

CHANGING THE ENVIRONMENT

This commitment to winning can also carry over into everything you do. Players need to understand that if it's a sprint they are about to do, then they should be trying to be first to finish. They need to be comfortable competing and trying to win in everything they do.

Today's champions are already winners,
but champions can be trained and developed.

By making these 4 changes to the way you practice, you will quickly become a mental giant and begin to thrive in competition. 


Location: Bangkok, Thailand

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