Mental Training – How as a Coach You Can Help
By Kawaljeet Singh
(India, Director of Coaching Delhi Lawn Tennis Association)
Players at every level experience great variations in ability caused by mental attitude. Some people play very well up to the point of winning a match but then upon reaching that point just fall apart. Others compete effectively against players they know they can beat, but play poorly against superior competitors. Most tennis players have choked in tense situations lost their temper or had their minds wander and the results are not encouraging especially in the junior tennis. The importance of mental attitude in tennis performance is widely recognized.
It is often we talk about talent and potential and praise a player of 14 years & under for his/her stroking abilities, movements and sportsmanship ----- How many of us really look in to the mental side or the mental attitude of a child of that age? May be the answer is very few of us ---- When the same player plays in a higher age group then we start talking about his mental toughness and one often hears comments like they are mentally weak, or they are mentally not tough, they have no focus or lacks concentration. All this we talk when a player is 16 or plays 18 & under. To answer this question we have to go back in the players’ early life where they spent hours of training building basic strokes or movements and player have gone through training system to reach this level and is considered as talented child. But let us be very frank have we ever worked on or drawn any mental training program for this child to work on along with their basic strokes. Perhaps very few Coaches work on mental training with the players.
We coaches definitely play a vital role in building mental toughness in a player. As a coach have you or your trainees made efforts in creating the right atmosphere and attitude from the beginning in the training of a player for achieving maximum performance.
As you all know there are so many factors, which determine attaining mental toughness but in this topic with my experience and in my opinion I would like to suggest the following factors coaches can use to help their players develop mental toughness through their training along with mastering their strokes.
1. SELF CONFIDENCE:
Genuine self-confidence is the fundamental building block on which the rest of the mental training program depends. Coaches should start building this component by helping players realize or improve their inner knowledge of being accepted unconditionally
•
•
•
•
By knowing that they are loved and are important in the eyes of people who are important to them.
Coaches should make it clear that each player is equally admired and respected, regardless of bad losses or failures.
Coaches should emphasize more on the development of strokes, techniques in fact on overall development than for results in the beginning.
The self-confidence starts with your daily lessons how you deal your students in particular your statements can play vital role on a player’s confidence.
2
•
•
•
•
Positive words from a coach builds confidence, negative and critical statements never allows your students to grow self confidence and restricts them from communicating their feelings freely with you.
As a coach you have to win your pupils heart, a handshake and all other communicative skills will help you both working closely.
Players need continual feedback, as they master a specific skill, or the focus will move on to something else- that too will pass, but you should never stop showing appreciation and approval.
Believe honestly that you are working with some of the most beautiful jewels in God’s creation. This way you are contributing to their self-confidence in an optimum manner.
2. COMPETITIVE ATTITUDE DEVELOPMENT
As a competitor you need an attitude that carries you through slumps in your game, some time the losses pile up and tennis becomes no longer fun as it used be in a competitor’s life, but you need to keep going. As a coach you look forward to see your player the excitement of being down match point and winning the match or putting 100% efforts till the last point is played, you do not want to see the fear of losing the match in your players, but always look forward to see the competitive spirit in your students. You always look for the “never say die attitude” in your trainees. This is what you as a coach have to inherit in your trainees from the beginning. There can be many things to develop competitive attitude, coaches should carefully consider the following three primary expectations that cause problems for competitors.
A. EXTRA-ORDINARY EMPHASIS OF WINNING.
There is no question that championships or prize money are determined by wins. The inevitable question,” did you win?” follows every player. However, too strong an emphasis on winning keeps many from playing confidently at crucial moments ---- consider all the things that could go awry on any one point: a bad bounce, a lucky shot off the tape or a superhuman effort by opponent. If you judge success by wins but cannot control the outcome of the match, fear of losing will undermine a player’s performance. Therefore it is important for us coaches to prepare our trainees that success needs to be based on something besides winning if “big points” are to be played with genuine confidence.
B. PLAY WELL.
We have often heard this – It does not matter if you win or lose as long as you play well. This attitude seems to offer more potential than the focus on winning. But this demand only playing well can undermine a player’s confidence. So it becomes important for us coaches to guide the players to choose tournaments where they can win and increase great amount of self confidence by winning and plan for tough tournaments where the emphasis of playing well and giving their best attitude well can be developed.
It is also important that we coaches must see what we speak with our trainees before and after the match. Comments like this some time can really affect a player’s confidence. How could any one miss such an easy shot? Even a two-year old could play better!! As a coach one has to be very careful and in my opinion one has to watch even his words during practice sessions to take the best from a trainee.
C. MAXIMUM EFFORTS:
3
The expectations centering on winning, playing well, and fairness can handicap a player in many situations in particular when you do not have control how other people are going to act and you are limited with your success with their attitude. The key concept has to be maximum effort. Teach trainees to be patient, healthy and enjoy tennis potentially limiting their frustrations. Giving it your best effort is the important attitude one should try to build in the trainee’s mind. You may play well you may win, but not necessary. But efforts are the only criteria where success lies with in your control.
3. CONCENTRATION AND RELAXATION TECHNIQUES:
In mental training program parents, friends, coaches and players themselves play important role. A parent will often say their child played well but will be eager to know whether his son/daughter has won or lost. And so on. A coach no matter what encourages his trainees with the give your best attitude, but will often repeat a player’s past wins and so do friends who want you to win most of the time. So in this way the mental training program is a general approach, which will decrease the tendency to become nervous, angry, or bored. No matter how much you as coach are helping your players in mental training programs, you will find them doubting their own ability –especially in critical situations and you see them becoming tense and play poorly. This is the time when they have to control their emotions and the best way you as a coach can assist them, is through concentration and relaxation techniques. One cannot expect wonders from the exercises you have never tried before, the effectiveness is only through a lot of practice. One technique may work for several minutes, and then you may have to switch to and other to deal with the problem at hand.
Though there are many methods of learning concentration and relaxation techniques coaches should emphasis the following five techniques which can be great help to your players during competition:
(i) BETWEEN POINTS BREATHE DEEPLY AND FOLLOW THE MOVEMENT OF YOUR BREATH. As long as you breathe deeply and concentrate on the breath, you will automatically relax and maintain concentration. When the break between points is over, then focus switches back to the ball. Teach this art of breathing to your students during practice sessions, as it requires lot of practice.
(ii) VISUALIZATION: Teach students to practice a few moments of positive visualization. You are in total control especially, before serving or even have some moments before return of serve. This whole process can be practiced during the match i.e. for instance you hit a down the line shot and miss it- instead of feeling negative visualize a good shot which you were hitting in practice or picture a great player’s beautiful down the line shot. To stay focused throughout the match positive visualization will definitely help you in giving best performance.
(iii) FOCUS ON THREE IMPORTANT SPOTS AS EACH POINT IS PLAYED: THE BALL COMING OFF YOUR OPPONENT’S RACKET, THE BALL BOUNCING ON THE COURT, AND THE BALL MAKING CONTACT WITH YOUR RACKET: Or teach your students with more easy way by using the “hit-bounce-hit” works much better than trying to follow the entire flight of the ball.
4
(iv) FOCUS ON THE POINT OF CONTACT BETWEEN YOUR RACKET AND THE BALL UNTIL THE BALL CROSSES THE NET. This relates to looking up, most of the juniors do this mistake they look up before they hit the ball when it is still five or six feet away. This ruins the concentration on the ball and also changes the position of the head and body.
(v) REPEAT A PHRASE OR SING A SONG TO YOURSELF QUITELY BETWEEN POINTS: It can be anything, as long as it is repeated over and over until the next point is ready to begin. Just say any phrase you like or any song may be sung, as long as you keep singing it. But this has to be done very quietly in respect to your opponent.
4. SELF-TALK: Generally competitors talk to them selves before, during and after competition. This self-talk has the potential to either assist them in meeting the pressures of competition or can lead to self -destruction. Teach trainees to distinguish between positive and negative self-talk. Positive self-talk directs attention to the present.
5. GOAL SETTING: A strong mental training program is tied together by well-defined, measurable goals.
Ask students to write down their goals. Goals should address different stages and periods. As a coach you must guide trainees sometimes, one gets frustrated when they do not achieve set goals so it is important to ask students to make short term goals or even they can drop the goal for sometime and work on a different goal. No matter which goal you select, emphasize trying.
Give a goal your best effort, but in the final analysis “let it happen.”
Normally trying plays an important role in competitive events. But some goals may not be reached no matter how hard try, for reasons out side your control. Ask them not to struggle too much as this some time creates serious problems. In these situations they have to create new goals and continue trying hard.
Ask players to maintain daily routine on mental training starting for few minutes everyday and then before every match and after the match visualization self positive talk and trying hard will definitely help you becoming better mental tough on the circuit.
