Teresa Merklin

If you want to play like a champion, you have to practice like a champion. The very best players in Senior Adult tennis work on their mental fitness during their training sessions. The good news is that the techniques they use can be easily replicated by any recreational player who sets their mind to it.

First, the best players in Senior tennis arrange practice matches. While some less competitive players also do that, it is not uncommon to find some people who only step onto the court to play a match when the result matters. Practice matches are important.

Additionally, the best players in Senior Adult tennis try to play matches under similar conditions as the setting for their most important matches. That includes rehearsing their mental preparation prior to stepping onto the court. In addition to warming up their body, they also warm up their brain. Starting a match in a mentally relaxed state with the optimum amount of mental energy is key to getting off to a good start in every match.

The very best players in tennis also use techniques to inject stress and adversity into their practice matches. For example, players could play a set with only one serve, so that any serve missed is a double fault. Another way to ratchet up stress during a service game is to revert the server's score back to love if a double fault occurs during the game. Similar penalties can be imposed for certain types of unforced errors.

There are good techniques for creating tension, even during cooperative rally drills. For example, the exercise that requires two players to hit 100 consecutive groundstrokes that bounce behind the service line gets more difficult as the players approach that goal. It is even better if there is a penalty, such as sprinting a lap, that is imposed on both players if one misses.

The top-tier players also work on their psychological response to on-court adversity during their practice sessions. When something "bad" happens, they intentionally recognize the negative emotional cue. That enables them to go through their own personal pattern of processing it. That typically involves deliberate actions to support relaxation and refocus.

The very best players in Senior Adult tennis are not emotionless robots. However, they usually possess a heightened sense of self-awareness of their emotional triggers. They have developed systems of processing the adversity that inevitably arises during a match so it does not negatively impact their matchplay. Some of the best players can actually harness that energy for increased performance.

If you want to play like a champion, you need to practice like a champion. Mental fitness training is critical for high performance in tennis in both off-court and on-court settings. Every tennis player, regardless of skill level, can improve their mental fitness if they just set their mind to it.