4 Steps to Achieve More Emotional Control
You now know why you should have more emotional control on the court. Now let's talk about how you can actually do this and make a permanent change.
Mentally tough players like Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova have specific in-between point rituals that help them control their emotions and stay mentally tough.
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In order to develop one, I recommend studying some great players like Nadal, Lleyton Hewitt, Sharapova or Serena Williams.
Here are a four steps you can take in-between points, or develop your own ritual:
- Turn around towards the fence
- Take some deep breaths (extremely important)
- Keep your eyes on your strings
- Finally, think about your strategy for the next point
Now, challenge yourself to play an entire set in which you stick to your ritual 100 percent between points.
That's all there is to it. Extremely simple and extremely effective. The first thought you probably have is, 'Well that sounds too easy. I can play one set sticking to my ritual after every point without a problem.'
The truth is this: developing a ritual is pretty easy. Sticking to your ritual for long stretches of time is the hard part and an entire set is already very long for most players.
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I have asked hundreds of students the following question: Do you think you can play an entire match without any negative body language or loud talking, simply playing each point and following the same in-between point ritual?
Most of my students will say that yes they can easily do that. So I put them to the challenge and most are surprised they can't make it through one game without complaining about a bad shot or letting their shoulders hang.
The players that accept the challenge will usually have a real awakening when they finally manage to play an entire set calmly, following their ritual in between points.
Once you manage to do this a few matches in a row, which is extremely hard, you realize tennis is a lot more fun and you also play much better. Many players even start to feel real inner peace on the court for the first time in a really long time.
In theory, it sounds simple but in real life it is extremely hard to follow-through with this. Start with one set, then challenge yourself for an entire match, then tournament and so on.
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