Bigger Better Tennis - Paul Dale

The Paradox of Winning: Why You Need to Accept Losing to Play Your Best By Paul Dale | The 3AM Method When Fear of Losing Becomes Your Biggest Opponent Every competitive player knows the feeling. You step onto the court, field, or into the arena, and suddenly your body feels different. Your shoulders tighten. Your movements become calculated rather than instinctive. Your mind races with thoughts about your opponent's ranking, their recent victories, or that crushing defeat they handed you last time. This mental tightness is the silent killer of peak performance. It transforms fluid, confident players into hesitant versions of themselves, trapped in their own heads, playing not to lose rather than playing to win. The Weight of "What If I Lose?" When players get mentally tight in matches, they're rarely thinking about winning. Instead, their minds are consumed by a single, paralysing thought: "I could lose." This fear creates a vicious cycle. The more you...

Why Practice Champions Crumble in Competition  (And the 3AM Training Method That Fixes It By Paul Dale | The 3AM Method   Here's   something  most coaches need to understand: Every practice session that prioritises comfort over adaptability is, in effect, training players to fail when competition demands instant performance.   We're  approaching tournament preparation all wrong. Players  don't  need more stroke repetition in perfect conditions—they need systematic exposure to the unpredictability that defines competitive tennis.   Your next tournament breakthrough  doesn't  come from perfecting technique in comfort. It comes from mastering what I call the 3AM Theory.   The Tournament Preparation Problem (You've Seen This)   Picture this: Your player dominates practice sessions with flawless strokes and confident execution. Perfect rhythm, clean contact, impressive power. Then tournament day arrives...   First round. ...