Why does my tennis game desert me when i least expect it?

Question

Last week i was looking forward to a two hour slot i had booked on an indoor hard court. I was playing against my flat mate. we have played three times recently and i have lost all encounters. 6 - 4 then 6 - 2 then 6 -4. All the games have been tight however.

I am a reasonable standard having played for about 15 years. I have a rating of 6 -2 (UK).

i went out bought some new balls and was , so i thought, really mentally ready. I stepped out on court and started knocking up, still feeling ok, the first set i lost 6 -4 having led 4 -3 - ok. i then lost the next two sets 6 - 0 , 6 -1 . I could not hit a ball in, all my touch had gone. my ability went from 8 out of 10 to 2 out of 10 in the blink of an eye. My body felt unresponsive and my feet just werent moving . it was like someone had removed my tennis ability CHIP from my head.

My self belief was gone completely.

How can this happen? I feel like a right idiot now!

Perhaps i need to learn to COMPETE rather than look to win or lose. And learn to BELIEVE in myself.

When i am playing WELL if i think about it now i actually forget myself completely. I just DO what i want with the ball without conciously thinking about it but i also KNOW that i have the shots. All i think about is each point in the moment i am playing.

As soon as i start looking in on myself i will start playing badly, almost like a beginner and all my shots desert me!

The problem is how to not get into thinking in the wrong way as thinking in the right way is almost a sub concious and therefore autonomic thing as in i dont make it happen it just happens.....hypnotherapy me thinks!

as for my opponent on the day in question id say i have the potential to beat him 6-4, 6 - 2 or similar most times as i have the game and the shots - however my mental state ruins my game.

In contrast my oponent is mentally as strong as an OX and very good at sportsmanship etc.

oh and the balls felt like hittiing small bags of wet cement!!!!

Answer 1

Worse still. No matter how good you get at tennis, you will never be as good as a brick wall!

Answer 2

There could be many factors contributing to why you capitulated.

Physical factors such as your relative skill in comparison to your opponent, your endurance, or injury/illness could be a cause, though you appear not to consider these a key factor, and I therefore will assume these not to be the driving reasons.

I think you hit the nail on the head though with your "tennis chip" theory.

The human body is controlled by the mind, and any physical action is a result of complex neural pathways firing in your brain to send messages to your body to run, jump, crouch, hit etc.

It would seem that your mind consciously, or quite probably unconsciously, decided to give up the ghost on chasing the game.

This could be as a result of what is known as conditioning.

If you have experienced similar situations, and failed to achieve the required result, your unconscious mind may say "hey body, chill out, we never win in this situation, so I am going to protect you from risk of injury or exhaustion by sending you confused messages so we can get the game over with"

It is a kind of defence mechanism which however hard you try consciously, will overawed by your more powerful unconscious.

This is a similar situation to that which smokers find themselves in for example. They think they want to quit, but something deep inside is telling them to do that would hurt them (in this case withdrawal symptoms etc).

Alternatively, and I would suggest more probably, it is as a result of a build up of anxiety and tension, which again may be as a result of previous experience, the "oh no, here we go again" factor, which could be causing you not to relax enough and therefore play naturally once you are in a losing situation.

You see this happening at all levels of sport, and it is controlling that 5% mental factor which makes champions stand out from the also rans.

If this is an issue you would like to address, I would suggest a hypnotherapist with an interest in sports psychology (or vice versa) may be worth visiting for a couple of sessions. It is amazing what confidence and relaxation can do to your game.

It is used by golfers, boxers, and professional football teams. Just take a look at any Sprint champion you care to name and tell me they werent self-hypnotised, or "in the zone" when they were waiting for the gun.

I did my back in years ago and would love to be hitting a serve full pace to a decent player.

So otherwise, my advice is chin-up, grin and bare it, and just enjoy the fact you can play!

Answer 3

WHEEEW!!

I thought I was the only one in the world with this problem. I just played this Sunday (warm up for an upcoming league) and I realized in practice that the guy was no way a good player. He had not one single correct stroke (I'm a 4.5 US player and pretty decent), and his service action was that of someone just starting to learn to serve. I thought it was a done deal......to soon.....

When we started, my game deserted me...I lost 6-0, 6-2...HOW?!?!? what was going on? his second serves were practically slow lobs into my court...his first serve was no better...but each time I just sprayed my return to some ghastly areas of the court.....the only thing was he could return everything (aka dinker)...so I was practically double faulting almost all the time...

When I went back, I gave it a thought and realized that the reason I had lost was not because I was bad, but because I made the stupid mistake of already winning the game in my mind based on what I saw of him....DANGEROUS ASSUMPTION...then I lost focus in the first few games and started to think "HOW CAN I LOSE TO THIS GUY"? the urge to show him how the game is played and blow him off the court just got the better of me and I was trying to hit each shot harder after each point I lost.....

So I can guarantee you....it's not that you're bad...it's just lack of focus...trying to show your game, or panicking and forgetting about your footwork in the initial spate of lost points. Feeling good before the match is ok..but think about what made you lose all those points....how was your opponent playing? was he a good player to whom you lost or was he an efficient "dinker" (who in all rights are very good players as they test your confidence to the limit)....were you focusing on picking spots and setting up points or focusing on hitting hard? there are a lot of things that go into a good match...if one of them is amiss....there can be big screw ups....

So, good luck on your upcoming matches..wish me the same....I'm practising a little to focus on not hitting hard but play with rythm and fewer mistakes...and yes, I've had such bad losses before and have also rebounded with some really good wins later...I'm sure it'll happen to you too....

Answer 4

I laughed when I examine his! 1st of each of the fact this would be a humour answer shows she isn't serious besides the indisputable fact that it does have undertones that she would not relish you observing different women persons and extra importantly your lack of ability to conceal you observing different women persons. i understand men seem at different women persons, as long as its no longer lecherous and truly appraising elegance such as you will a portray. I do think of this is threat loose. yet seem at it from her attitude does she look into different men and if she did how would you experience? What I do with my husband is that as quickly as we people watch we glance into women and men persons and cost them. It has exchange right into a pastime, if we somebody from in the back of and we wager how handsome and quite they're while they turn around. If i'm no longer interior the temper, my husband knows me nicely sufficient to appreciate the indications and refrains from observing women those that that factor. so you might maintain your head you may desire to start it as a pastime.

Answer 5

You are not near as fit as you should be. You might have a virus infection coming on. Leave it for a week or so and do some training exercises.

Answer 6

maybe ur opponent is just too good..

Answer 7

Don't expect it.