The Mental aspect of concentration is a vital tennis mental skill that has to be maintained on a high level during the whole match duration.
So what is concentration?
Concentration is the ability to focus on the main task at hand and switch the lights off the unimportant targets.
A lot of bad consequences can happen if it is lost momentarily so you probably know that or experienced it on the court and you don’t want it to happen anymore.
Here i present you some approaches that’ll help you levitate your concentration and maintain it.
>> Follow these tips:
#1 Focus on the process, not the result.
#2 Direct the positive thoughts during the down time.
The “down time” is generally one third of the total match duration and the other 80 % of the match is spent in mental thoughts (worrying, regretting, becoming angry, breathing..) other than hitting the ball. Without the proper state of mind, these activities are a menacing source of distraction that’ll blow your concentration away.
So you should train your mind on letting your positive thoughts dominate over the negative ones.
#4 Goal-Setting
Successful players set specific goals before entering the court.
To make these results valuable, they must be performance related and not result related.
It’s better to set a goal as (I’m going to attack the short balls and get to the net than “Positively action over which you have complete control” than to say I have to win 6-1 6-2 which represents a goal that you have no control over.)
By writing down these goals, you’re diverting your mind from creating excuses.
#5 Visualize your game plans
Visualization is a powerful concentration booster, by “feeling” and “seeing” yourself performing specific game plan successfully, your motor response becomes a lot easier and your body adapts to what he wants to accomplish.
#5 Have a project for each goal (plan what you want to do tactically for each next point).
#6 Work on routines
Top notch players have their own distinctive rituals that they developed in practice sessions, and so you should have yours.
These routines are short sequences of actions that allow you to set a consistent concentration before every point (e.g. “bouncing the ball 5 times before each serve, glancing at the target at the service box, visualizing the action…)
You can also develop a routine after making a mistake to be able to forget about it, rehearse what you should have done and prepare yourself for the next point.
#7 Switch on / switch off
Jimmy Connors quoted “I do not care about the next point, the game or how a call could reverse a game. Instead, I try to distract myself and turn my thoughts away from the pressure of the situation. In other words, I let my mind wander. I could watch in the crowd to see if my kids and Patti are there or spot the TV cameras, I’ll go behind to wipe my grip, I’ll play with my cords, all I’m doing is putting my mind at ease so that once I look up to start the next point, I’m ready to play, ready to handle things with a mental attitude as fresh as possible.
So what you need to do is imagine that your concentration is controlled by a volume control, which allows you to adjust the intensity of your concentration from bottom to top so that between the points your mind relaxes but is always aware of the match situation.
The most important part of the ON / OFF and VOLUME CONTROL methods is when to turn on or increase the volume. What is needed is a trigger mechanism that allows you to concentrate before the next point.
#8 Practice under bad conditions
Practicing under bad conditions will drive the negativity and distractions away and counteract the mental floss that is looking for excuses for why you’re playing bad.
By doing so, you train your mind on analyzing the facts put in front of you that you cannot change and make you search for solutions to adapt your game style and mentality to the adverse conditions.
