National 60 Hardcourts - Recap...

Just got back from the National 60 Hardcourts in Palm Springs.

I still can't believe I'm going to type the following words.

I won the singles...

Here's the link to the singles draw.

And I've had a couple of days to reflect on how it happened, what were the things I did well, and what were the things I definitely want to improve upon.

And what's good for me is exactly what's also good for you.  

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With the Gold Ball after the match with one of the 

all-time great guys out there on the Senior tour, 

Hugh Thomson.  

Mission Hills Country Club, Rancho Mirage, CA

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It doesn't matter what skill level you're at right now at this moment in time.  It's the same stuff for everyone if you're a competitive tennis player, whether that means you're playing national or local tournaments, league matches, or even competitive practice matches.

The 2 areas where I'm going to spend some time in the near future is a focused and organized off court training program based mostly on strengthening my legs, and I want to continue to work on the mental part of the game.

Let's start with the mental side of tennis...

I was originally seeded #3, but the #2 seed dropped out at the last moment and the tournament director moved me up to #2.

I'd never been seeded that high in a national tournament before.  I automatically felt pressure that I had something to lose.

I'd been seeded #3 in last year's National 60 Indoors, but for whatever reason, that didn't really bother me.

And whatever the reason is (and there are way too many reasons to list them here), but we can all individually come up with 101 reasons why we put pressure on ourselves simply not to lose.

And so for my first 5 matches last week (Rounds of 64, 32, 16, Quarters, and Semis) I felt that I was playing not to lose.  Not really to that degree of total fear, but I didn't have that feeling I've had in the past when I'm playing someone who is seeded higher than I am where I felt there really was nothing to lose.

I played some decent tennis, and believe me, I'm not discounting the quality of my opponents at all, and in fact, all of them are national level players who can do some major damage if you ever take them lightly.

But the common demoninator is the fear to lose.  It doesn't matter what reason you come up with, it's nutty and real and can consume you to a point that you want to almost look for an excuse to not win.

In my quarterfinal match, I played the nightmare player who can run faster than half the guys half his age, can get everything back with just enough pace to get the ball by you but not enough pace to where you can borrow that pace for your own strokes.

You have to generate good high quality stroke mechanics, because if you don't, you will find a  way to lose.

You can call him the classic pusher, because he'll help you find a way to lose, and his strokes look like you should be in control, but lots of the time you're not.

And if you ever for one moment go to that place mentally where some voice is screaming at you that you just can't lose to this guy, guess what, it's over, and you'll look for the nearest bridge.

Very physical because of all of the movement, retrieving, and bending / stretching low for short yet wide angle shots.  A mental torture chamber...

After losing the 2nd set, I went to get new balls for the 3rd set, and Tommy Tucker, the renowned tennis professional at Mission Hills simply said to me as he walked by me, "Keep working...".

And those simple 2 words told me to keep the nose to the grindstone, don't let the frustration of not being able to totally control the match become a potential excuse, and live in this moment right now.  Do not think about the consequences of losing.

"Keep working"...

And that's the way some of these matches have to go some times against certain players and on certain days.  Some matches you really have to just grind through without thinking of the future.

I won the 3rd set 6-1 and felt really satisfied that I had not given into the frustration that I could have heaped on myself.

Find a way to stay in the moment between points.  What's your next move for this upcoming point?  Forget the result of that last point, take some deep breaths, and just "keep working"...

And that was really what I hadn't done in my prior matches when I was manufacturing some pressure to not lose.  I hadn't had that workman like attitude which will eliminate those thoughts of losing or the consequences of losing.

That inner voice that wants to tell you a million and one negative thoughts.  You MUST practice a different voice, a positive voice, keep it extremely simple and clear, and practice it on and off the court.

Stop making a scene.  Stop drawing attention to yourself when you lose a point by shaking your head like how could this happen, and just stay quiet out there.

You just cannot play your best tennis with a sort of negative voice constantly reminding you of potential bad consequences and/or a never ending stream of self critical accusations ("You're such an idiot, that was the dumbest shot ever tried in this game. etc., etc.).

And once I got to the finals, I relaxed knowing that I really didn't have anything to lose, and consequently found that "keep working" mindset early in the match and never really thought of the consequences of winning or losing.

And that's the mindset I want to keep working on because the finals was fun.  It was hard work for sure, but the key for me is to be able to take each match with a mindset that has nothing to do with the consequences of winning or losing.

Pretty idealistic?  Maybe, but there really is no other way if you want to preserve your sanity.

Practice this a ton because this is not a skill that you can read about and then simply turn it on during a match.

If you haven't pick up a copy yet, check out my detailed lesson on the mental skills of the game where we focus a lot on a very specific between points routine that will help you prepare to play the next point to the best of your ability.

Brent's Tennis Mental Skills Lesson

OK, and the other area of my game that I'm going to focus on is strengthening my legs, especially my hamstrings and my glutes.

The balance is to be able to strengthen for the long haul, durability, but retain quickness and speed.

I'll keep you posted on my progress.

As Lynne Rolley, the Berkeley TC professional, told me recently, the first thing to do to improve anyone's tennis is what you do off the court in the gym.

I know many of you already spend lots of time off the court training for your tennis. but if you're not, start now.

OK, hope this finds you well.  Keep moving forward out there, and don't ever give up...

Brent

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