Successfully compete in matches - achieve greater success with the "big picture" and analytical thinking

After our mental expert Stephan Medem you important tips in his last blog post, "Training World Champion and Match Loser," on how to successfully transfer your good performance from training to match, today we're focusing on the match situation itself. Steph explains in his latest video blog how you can avoid getting tense during a match, concentrate on your strengths, constructively analyze mistakes, and ultimately complete the match with more enjoyment and success.

It's "just" a tennis match - enjoy and have fun!

Many people feel genuinely anxious before a match. They're afraid of losing, afraid of not being able to perform at their (good) training level, afraid of who knows what. Steph offers some almost "philosophical" advice here, saying that a match is simply a game, and its outcome has absolutely no bearing on world events.

Visualize the "big picture" to put the importance of a match into perspective. Once you have this "big picture" in mind, the match's significance becomes less pronounced. This should automatically reduce the fear of losing and allow you to enjoy the game.

Why do we often think negatively during a match? 

To begin with: the so-called "ball-in-time" duration amounts to just 23% of the total time you spend on the tennis court during a match. Conversely, this means that you spend three-quarters of your time in the match "thinking.".

And if we're honest with ourselves, this kind of thinking is very, very often negative and emotionally driven. Now, replace this thinking with analytical, constructive, and performance-enhancing thinking . Analyze why you hit your forehand out of bounds earlier, instead of negatively impacting yourself with phrases like, "Of course I'll hit the fence with my forehand again..." and setting the downward spiral in motion.

Therefore, use the time between rallies constructively by analyzing your game both tactically and technically.

Do you have any questions for Steph? 

Then simply use our form and receive a response from our expert.

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