I recommend reading the Inner Game of Tennis for anyone looking for a clean approach on how to view the psychology of learning tennis, competing in tennis, other sports and even life. One area worth considering is the practice / play relationship. And that is something that I'm going to focus on today.
A player named Jimmy Connors, a great number one in the world, used to practice for short periods of time and train as hard as he could during that period. It would be intense focused drills and play for just one hour. He would jump rope for up to forty-five minutes as well. That was pretty much it. Can you imagine how good your game would be if you trained just a few minutes per day of concentrated effort. Several of our top juniors here at the club, Sean Pease, Joe Delinks, Regis Chang, Kara Pease, the Maxwell's, and many other players have trained here in Falmouth with short durations of focused execution. They achieved success in New England and beyond through their intense efforts. Now we are integrating the Etchfit program with short intense on court movement drills, and strength training specific for tennis, proper nutrition, and mental conditioning. All of these factors must be balanced together to allow for the most enjoyable and productive tennis experience.
If I had to boil it down to one ingredient most important to peak performance is playing like you practice. One has to play without fear and trust your shots. Your mind in play must be similar to that of practice--effortless movement, lack of score pressure and outcomes effecting timing and execution, not overly concerned about misses, quickly rebounding from any loss of momentum, staying aggressive when up, and taking time to get drinks, relax, and recover for the next point, and asking yourself to fight when down and then letting it go and allowing it to happen without getting in your on way and putting yourself down. Clearing your mind of only watching the ball and reacting in a confident relaxed manner is the only way one can achieve highest potential. The unconscious plays the game and the conscious is only there to encourage, ask, and watch as the inner self is allowed to "play."
Kevin Pease
A player named Jimmy Connors, a great number one in the world, used to practice for short periods of time and train as hard as he could during that period. It would be intense focused drills and play for just one hour. He would jump rope for up to forty-five minutes as well. That was pretty much it. Can you imagine how good your game would be if you trained just a few minutes per day of concentrated effort. Several of our top juniors here at the club, Sean Pease, Joe Delinks, Regis Chang, Kara Pease, the Maxwell's, and many other players have trained here in Falmouth with short durations of focused execution. They achieved success in New England and beyond through their intense efforts. Now we are integrating the Etchfit program with short intense on court movement drills, and strength training specific for tennis, proper nutrition, and mental conditioning. All of these factors must be balanced together to allow for the most enjoyable and productive tennis experience.
If I had to boil it down to one ingredient most important to peak performance is playing like you practice. One has to play without fear and trust your shots. Your mind in play must be similar to that of practice--effortless movement, lack of score pressure and outcomes effecting timing and execution, not overly concerned about misses, quickly rebounding from any loss of momentum, staying aggressive when up, and taking time to get drinks, relax, and recover for the next point, and asking yourself to fight when down and then letting it go and allowing it to happen without getting in your on way and putting yourself down. Clearing your mind of only watching the ball and reacting in a confident relaxed manner is the only way one can achieve highest potential. The unconscious plays the game and the conscious is only there to encourage, ask, and watch as the inner self is allowed to "play."
Kevin Pease
