Mental Focus For Serving
How many times have you stepped up to the service line without a target or type of serve in your mind?
Maybe you were frustrated with your play on the prior point and rushed through your service routine. Or maybe you were too worried about losing the game or set that you forgot to focus on the current serve.
Likewise many players “go through the motions” of the tennis serve without mental focus or intensity. If you do this, you lose a good opportunity to get your mind clear before you serve. When you go through the motions of the serve without mental focus, you skip some very important steps you need to prepare yourself for the serve.
“When I bounce the ball more times because I am not clear of the option to do; serving to the T, serving outside, or serving to the body, I’m not thinking a lot of times. So when I decide, I serve.”
~Rafael Nadal
The mental aspects of the routine as just as critical as the physical steps you take to prepare for a serve such as you set up. Mentally, you have to get clear in your own mind about the plan and type of serve you want to hit.
Indecision about the serve you want to hit will undermine your confidence to hit a good serve.
Most good tennis players use a routine to help them prepare and plan for the serve.
Your routine should include the basics such as:
- Picking a location
- A type of serve
- Committing to your plan of action
I call this the planning stage of the routine.
Once you are clear of the plan and committed to the plan, it will help you execute your best serve without doubt or hesitation. So take just five seconds to get your mind clear on the plan for each serve.
Related Tennis Psychology Articles
- How Top Tennis Players Use Goals to Improve Play
- Helping to Improve Motivation in Tennis
- Djokovic’s Mental Game Keys to Tennis Success
- Download our a FREE Tennis Psychology Report
*Subscribe to The Tennis Psychology Podcast on iTunes
*Subscribe to The Tennis Psychology Podcast on Spotify
Improve Your Mental Game for Tennis
Tennis Confidence 2.0
“Tennis Confidence: Mental Game Strategies for Tournament Players” is an audio and workbook program to help tennis players, coaches, and instructors improve the mental game of tennis is just 10 easy to learn sessions. Tennis Confidence: Mental Game Strategies for Tournament Players Audio and Workbook program is ideal for any junior, collegiate, and tour professional player. Tennis coaches and instructors would also be wise to teach the strategies “Tennis Confidence.”
Tennis Confidence is a complete mental training program developed Peak Performance Sports. You learn the same strategies Dr. Cohn teaches his tennis players to help them improve mental toughness and consistency – from managing unrealistic expectations to coping with perfectionism.
Read more about Tennis Confidence Program>>
I agree with Patrick. Fear, anger, and doubt are some of the fastest ways to take away your fun of playing tennis or any sport. It does not matter if its at the amateur or professional level. These are some of the first things that I assist my clients to gain a mental control over.
Todd Stofka