Bigger Better Tennis - Paul Dale

Stop Chasing Confidence. It's Not Important By Paul Dale | The 3AM Method Bad week of practice. Lost your last two matches. Feeling shaky when under pressure in matches? Everyone's advice? "Start working on your confidence!" Yeah. But will that work? The Confidence Trap Here's the problem with chasing confidence: You've often been through periods when your confidence is high and you go into matches feeling as good as you've ever felt—but eventually the same problems in your game surface, and the downward mental spiral begins again. It's circular. "I'll perform well when I feel confident" → "I'll feel confident when I perform well." You're stuck. And those pre-match confidence checks? "Do I feel confident? Am I ready?" That's like checking if you're relaxed every five minutes. The checking itself creates the problem. What If Confidence Is The Wrong Target? Here's a different way to think abou...

MAKING YOURSELF IMPOSSIBLE TO BEAT By Paul Dale | The 3AM Method The three words that matter Prepare. Prepare. Prepare. Everything else is noise. But most players prepare for matches the wrong way. They practice their weapons. Their power. Their serve. They prepare to dominate. Then the match starts, and they can't survive long enough to use any of it. The ancient general who understood tennis Sun Tzu never played tennis. He lived 2,500 years ago in China, advising rulers on how to win wars, where losing meant entire kingdoms would cease to exist. The book, based on his war strategies, " The Art of War ," is still a bestseller today. Not only has the plan for winning a war remained unchanged, but winning competitive sports has also remained the same. He wrote something that every tennis player needs carved into their racquet: "You cannot lose if your defence is strong. You can win if your attack is strong." Read that again. Both matter. Equally. H...

This video deals with the biggest problem for competitive players worldwide: combating mental issues during matches. Paul gives you four steps to better identify and manage your mental struggles during competition.

Successful coaching requires the coach to understand the students and what motivates them. This video explains two forms of motivation and their strengths and weaknesses.  We look at the Task and ego-motivated mindsets and how they affect the player in practice and in competition.

, You may have been looking at competition all wrong. Maybe competition should not only be about throwing the "kitchen sink" at your opponent to try and beat them down. Even if your strategy leans towards all-out offence: relying on a big serve and a dominating forehand, introducing some subtlety to your game might produce surprising results. After all, why would you want to play an opponent at full strength? Wouldn't it be better to neutralise their strengths first before playing them?  While that may seem overly simplistic to most, reducing your opponent's effectiveness is possible and entirely necessary if you want to reach the top.  STRATEGICALLY SMART "The first job of any army is to  make  themselves  unbeatable first" You must have a plan before every match that addresses your opponent's strengths and weaknesses; otherwise, you're inviting trouble. Without a plan, every match could be a battle because you could be allowing for the best version...

"Most practice sessions before competition  often  revolve around  perfecting strokes  and gaining confidence." The biggest misconception among players and their coaches is that practice sessions should create a sense of comfort. Most practice sessions before competition often revolve around perfecting strokes and gaining confidence. However, relying on comfortable practice conditions and seeking to develop confidence during practice sessions will later hinder performance in real match play. In this article, we will explore the significance of making practice uncomfortable and focusing on mental toughness, decision-making, and adapting to unpredictable situations to achieve success on the match court. The Illusion of Comfort: Many advanced players approach practice sessions intending to make their strokes feel good and comfortable. They believe that by grooving their strokes in ideal conditions, they will automatically transfer that confidence into match play. Unfor...