Plan and prioritize

Whether it's practice or a match, we have moments when things don't go well and we have moments when things go great. When things don't go well in practice, we as players have to make sure that our play in practice doesn't carry over into our match. How do we do that you ask? You have to learn how to manage your time and how to compartmentalize your thoughts and your emotions the moment you step onto the court to the moment you leave the court. If you had a great practice, then it's as easy as pie. When practice was a struggle after a long day or weekend, you need to put things into perspective. Think about your day and when it started, all the way up to how it ended. Then if you throw in the fact that the first half of the practice was a bit challenging, you can't put all of the blame on yourself after a long day. Why, because the energy and effort is not always all there throughout the entire practice. Knowing this, we must leave the drama behind us and move on. As a player, you can't bring everything in your life into a practice or a match. It's not a healthy way of life to do so. Once you step onto the court, you have to temporarily forget about everything else in your life and focus on what you are here for at this moment in time, which happens to be practice. The court should give you the opportunity to escape from reality for the couple of hours that you have to yourselves. Take out your frustrations on the ball if you're having a hard time letting certain things go. You can't allow negative things to defeat you and affect you in a way that doesn't allow you to be at your best when you need it most. Once the practice is over, then you can worry about what you have to do next. I know it's not easy to do, but like everything else in life, it takes practice and time to develop.

The power of positivity sounds corny, but it works and it's a proven fact that positive thoughts and confidence in yourself help raise your level of play throughout the course of a match. If you're going into a match with negative thoughts and not feeling as if you can win the match you're going to play, you might as well not even show up for the match. Any given day or night you are capable of performing well. You have to be aware of what is happening each and every point and navigate your way through the match from start to finish. If it ain't broke, don't fix it! Only make adjustments to your game and the pace of the match when you have to. Leave the "should've, could've, would've comments to your opponent(s).

One good way to help yourself going into a match whether you're feeling good or not is to plan your attack before you play your match. Visualize and think about the shots you're hitting and how you're going to win the point before you start each point. Don't get too elaborate with your schemes. Keep it short and simple while you are talking to yourself or with your partner if you're playing doubles. An example would be if you're playing singles, serve out wide on the deuce side, hit the returnees shot to the ad side of the court. For doubles, serve up the "T" and have the net player poach. I found that once I started planning out my attack before matches, I played some of my best matches. I would go into matches telling myself, go after your first serves on the deuce side of the court and serve and volley off of the kick serve out wide on the ad side. This simple game plan put me at ease going into matches and allowed me to only have to worry about the placement of my serve when executing my plan of attack. Long talks break up your rhythm while you are playing well. You don't want to over think your plan of attack when things are going well for you and/or your partner. Stay in your zone. Only switch your tempo up if and when you can feel the momentum switching. You don't want to throw too much stuff at your partner. Just give them one or two things to focus on. You have to remember that your partner is dealing with their own demons throughout the course of a match as well. Your partner can become overwhelmed and lose focus. Which in return can cause them to become annoyed with you and not be able to perform at a level conducive to winning. Try not to allow yourself to get too excited when things are going well for you. Pump yourself up, but remember to stay in your lane(don't act outside of yourself) and stay focused on the task at hand. Only focus on what you can control. Don't allow your opponents antics and bad line calls make you lose your focus. Those are things you should already be expecting going into the match anyways. It's unfortunate, but it's a part of the game. If you prepare yourselves for these matches with the situational tennis you play and execute in the drills during practice. You will be ready for whatever your opponent(s) throw at you in a match. Wilson Kanandi said, " to be the best, you must be able to handle the worst." It's a grind and it has to be that way. Wars are won before they've begun. Plan accordingly and be ready for battle.

Always believe,

Shaun.