It’s no secret that confidence is the one defining factor of winners and those who remain at the top. Confidence seems to be the reason the ball drops in when it should not, that luck is on your side and that you can come back from behind and always believe in your ability to win. Have you ever wondered why players who have a great come-from-behind-win or who get over the line in a long, tough, tight battle tend to carry their momentum for a number of weeks or in tournaments afterwards? It all comes down to the magical feature named “Confidence” which, believe it or not, is all develope ..read more

  Sports are supposed to be fun. They are a recreational activity and they give a person the chance to use their body, and find zest and excitement in life. When the young tennis player starts out, they fall in love with the game and can’t get enough of it. But after a period of time, they become competitive, perhaps spotted by a coach, enter leagues and tournaments to play more seriously and, voila, the fun fades and gets replaced by work, anger, anxiety and stress. One of the most common questions I am asked by tennis players I work with is, “how do I go back to having fun on the court ..read more

  Tennis is such a globalized sport which means many things for a growing tennis player. It might mean traveling away from home at a young age, living abroad or meeting new people weekly at tournaments, and therefore the most essential skill is that of being able to adjust constantly.  Learning to accept being uncomfortable both on and off the court is key and this is often the challenge for most players. Whether it’s feeling homesick, learning a new language, dealing with new courts, eating different food or simply being immersed in a completely different culture players need to be ..read more

  I hear it all the time…a parent, coach, friend, or even the athlete themselves explain away poor behavior because “they are so competitive”. Or, “they don’t like to lose!” Now, in the most extreme cases, a player will get defaulted in a match. This happened to John McEnroe in the 1990 Australian Open in the fourth round vs. Mikael Pernfors, Serena Williams at 2009 U.S. Open semifinal vs. Samantha Stosur, and Novak Djokavic at the 2020 U.S. Open. Other examples of competing poorly happen when we observe broken rackets, verbal abuse and, generally, a player going ballistic. Google Nick Ky ..read more

  One of the great myths in sports is that great athletes are “dumb jocks”. This could not be further from the truth. I have been lucky enough to work with and know some of the best athletes on earth, and one thing they all have in common is keen intelligence. I’ve administered 100’s of full-length IQ tests both in graduate school and afterwards and became very good at guessing the person’s IQ before we get through five minutes of conversation. So I can pretty accurately tell what a person’s IQ is. There are many examples of great athletes with gifted IQ’s. When I first met Tiger Woods, m ..read more

  Every year I receive numerous calls from college freshmen who seemingly out of the blue have lost their feel, instincts and confidence. Their mental game used to be reliable but now they are experiencing anxiousness, anger and an unstable attitude playing for their new team. They can’t believe what they are experiencing: some describe it as becoming mechanical and tight. Others describe it as overthinking and over trying. After listening to their experiences, I usually ask them, “what has changed?” and, “when was the last time you had that feel of playing loose, relaxed and with ease ..read more

  Even though it’s rarely talked about, guilt is one of these hidden emotions that influences many athletes, whether they are amateurs or pros. Guilt is felt when a tennis player pities are weaker opponent, or when a player fails to win a match and chastises themselves with self-ridicule. If a player is guilty about making a mistake, they will get angry, ruminate, get distracted, feel deflated and be unable to get beyond their mistake. This is how guilt becomes self-punishment. Sometimes winning will make an athlete feel separate from their past identity or their family and this can produ ..read more

  In any sport, all the greats have one thing in common: an iron will to win. Tom Brady in football, Wayne Gretzky in hockey and Michael Jordan in basketball are all examples of players who were not physically imposing, but they all had that fire in the belly that makes for greatness. Roger Federer is a good example of someone who is not physically imposing but he keeps on winning. Tennis greats like Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg were all smaller than average, but they too had an amazing desire to win. The 39-year- old Connors’ performance in the 1991 U.S. Open is considered ..read more

  When watching professional tennis, there are so many great players to watch and emulate. Conversely, there are also other players not worthy of copying especially regarding the mental game. This article is not about calling out professional players that sabotage their games by disrespecting themselves, their opponents and the game by throwing rackets, smashing balls and verbal abuse. Rather it’s to try to understand what’s happening below the surface when a professional player, junior or everyday Joe implodes on the court. Think about this: how many times have you seen a professional pl ..read more

  We have all experienced it…that time when our game was just not clicking and you felt a little off. Maybe it was your serve? Maybe it was the forehand or volley? So what did you do? If you’re like most players, you went out to the courts with a hopper of balls and drilled serves until your arm felt like falling off. Unbeknownst to you, each serve you hit, your muscles were getting tighter and tighter, mentally you were getting more frustrated, and your serve was getting worse! Consequently, you leave the court in unhappy wondering if your serve will ever get better? Then the next day, w ..read more