Remember your first tennis tournament? Were you nervous? Did you perform well?

Or have you avoided tennis tournaments because of how you feel when you think about entering them? Fear, nervousness, anger?

I remember my first tournament as an adult. I was nervous and played poorly until I got my nerves under control.

To paraphrase the Bard “There is nothing scary, but thinking makes it so”. Whatever your feelings about a tournament, it is your ‘thinking makes it so’.

If you think of a tennis tournament as a way for you to be publicly embarrassed, you’ll play below your best.

But if you think of a tournament as just another match, perhaps followed by another match, you’ll be much more relaxed and able to play your best and enjoy yourself.

A number of my students are playing in their first tournament this weekend – The City of Fernandina Beach Spring Singles Tennis Tournament.

When I was done writing up my pre-tournament email to my list of students, I realised there are some good fundamental tips that could help all tennis players entering a tournament. So here they are.

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My Zen Tip for your first tournament is to focus on process, not outcome. Focus on HOW (process) to play your best, not the SCORE (outcome).

For example, instead of focusing on future focused outcome thoughts such as

“Oh dear, it’s my first tournament, I don’t want to look stupid”

“oh oh, I’m x-x down, don’t screw up”

“I’m x-x up, I HAVE to win this game!”

Focus rather on present time process thoughts such as

“move your feet”

“loose wrist, follow through”

Or our favorite go to present time standard

“Bounce, Hit”

Stay in the present and focus on process and you’ll have a good time and play well.

Enjoy.

Paul

My picks for the possibly exciting games for the first round:

Djokovic / Troiki – Djokovic hasn’t been at his tempestuous best, and Troiki can hit a good ball. I see Djokovic through in 4.

Bagdatis / Clement – Clement is no slouch, but Bagdatis has been getting better and better. Watch his cross court backhand passing shot for perfection, beautiful! Great shot maker, but a bit slow around the court. Bagdatis in 4.

Hewitt / Mathieu. Watching Hewitt is great. He’s such a fighter, and getting better and better after coming off his injury. I see him meeting the Fed in the third round and it being a good to great match. Hewitt in 3 or 4. He likes to get a feel for his shots.

Gulbis / Chardy. Gulbis is ALWAYS entertaining to watch. He’s like a combination of McEnroe and that crazy eastern European guy I can’t remember the name of. He’s got crazy good shots and ability, but his head gets in the way. Once (if) he gets his head straight, he’ll be top 10. This one could go either way, depends what mood Gulbis is in, but I give it to him on form coming into the Open. Gulbis in 4.

Nadal will breeze through to the ¼ finals. Nalbandian and Murray are the ones to watch out for. Mardy Fish (US) could also make a good play for the quarters or even semis if he keeps up his good form. He had Federer on the ropes but failed to deliver the final blow in the Toronto (or was it Cinncimati) tournament.

Federer is often mentioned as the best watcher of the ball onto the racquet in tennis. But you can’t be a good tennis player without watching the ball well – lots of other players do it well too.

Watching the ball is such an essential fundamental, but it is not really practiced. Normally the coach just says “Watch the ball!”

The simplest way to trick yourself into watching the ball is Timothy Gallwey’s bounce hit exercise. It’s super simple and it works really well. All you have to do is say “bounce” when the ball hits the ground, and say “hit” when your racquet hits the ball. You’ll probably notice your timing is a little off when you first start this exercise, but after a while you’ll notice more balls go in as your timing improves.

Here’s a super slow motion video of Almagro and his lovely one handed backhand from the 2010 French Open Quarter Final against Rafael Nadal. Straight arm at contact out in front of the body, and watching that ball all the way onto the racquet

Check out my 15 milliseconds of fame in the paper…I’m in the top left.

Autographed copies available for (Dr Evil voice) one meeelllion dollars….

Local Tennis News - Yulee Fernandina

Tennis String News – I’ve been testing the Unique Big Hitter poly strings.

They’ve got rave reviews as being as good as or better than Luxilon, which is the most popular poly with the professionals.

I’ve got to agree! They’re great. Lots of pop, tons of spin, and good feel too. They’re not as hard as the Babolat Revenge and Hurricane Pro and most other stiff polys, which is good news for the shoulder and elbow.

Let me know if you want to give them a try.

“Those who do not find time for exercise will have to find time for illness”. Your thoughts create your experience. Think “Tennis = health”

Whatever you think of the shot coming at you…you’re right! “Oh oh!”, “Difficult!”. Don’t judge, just observe and respond.

Exercise: When do you take your eye off the ball? Most amateur athletes blank out or blink when contacting the ball. Pros don’t. Do you?

#1 secret to life and tennis: Be here, now. Be present. Here, now. Not then and there. Be here and now. Try it. You might be surprised.

USTA Futures pro tournament at the Plantation – free entry for the first week. I’m definitely going! http://bit.ly/cnh4k

You’re playing against the ball, not your “opponent”.