How do i "move on" while going through a down in tennis?

Question

I often find that when im playing tennis, i hit maybe a few poor shots in a row and then i start to get annoyed with myself and then my game basically goes down the drain and usually end up losing a game i should have won easily. I then usually play every game after that poorly with no spirit

Also when i am playing doubles (often) my partner my begin to play some poor shots consistanly, this makes my head go down and stop me playing 100% due to the fact that we lost maybe 1-2 games or a set maybe due to partner errors.

I have a club tournament tomorrow, doubles, and i really need to sort this out!!!

Please help me!

(sorry its so long just thought it would be easier to answer if it was more detailed, definate best answer involed)

Answer 1

I think you almost answered yourself with "I then usually play every game after that poorly with no spirit".

If you can concentrate on the next point, not the one you just played, you're ahead of the game. Too often, players get upset at themselves (or their partners) for losing a point and just fall apart afterwards. Now, of course the point is important, BUT you gotta remember, the next point is just as important.

If you can keep your focus up for every point (think: Every point counts), keep the mentality that you are trying to win every point.

Try this:
Keep a positive attitude, towards yourself as well as your partner. Worse thing to do is to look or sound discouraging, you need to encourage your partner, not make him feel worse.
Set an example by trying your hardest despite what the score is.

The match is not over after one point, but it takes more mental toughness than a game or two to win a match. Get positvie and get "head tough" to keep the mentality up.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

Answer 2

This may sound funny at first, but I am serious that if you give it a chance it will work. First it depends on your personality type, if you are a person that needs a stern and firm coach to get you going then this will work for you. If however you need constant postive reenforcement and to be nurtured out on court, this will not work for you. Having said that, I once coached a player that would need a swift kick in the butt every now and then to get going on court. Since I don't do that kind of thing, I had him wear a large rubber band around his wrist. Everytime I saw him play a really stupid shot, like a drop shot from 4 feet behind the baseline or trying to rip a winner down the line on a deep ball, or missing a sitter volley...I would yell out "snap" and he would pull the rubber band tight then let it snap down on his arm. It actually helped with his mental focus and he would remember when he played a dumb shot. You don't "snap" after every error, only when it was an egregious error like double faulting for a second time in a tie breaker, hitting a 2nd serve return 8 feet long on break point, hitting the back fence on an overhead etc...You should only have 1 or 2 snaps an entire match. When you have 5 or more then you need that help with your mental focus. Maybe this can help you with a very difficult problem to overcome.