"The Best Tennis of Your Life" 50 Mental Strategies for fearless Performance by Jeff Greenwald
Some of the chapters that I love:
Chapter 1 "Find Pleasure in Pressure"
I used to feel a lot of pressure in a tight match - mostly because I always feel that my partner is better than me. However, I decided to put the comparisons aside. Now I love to serve for the match. I know a lot of players who crack under the pressure of a close match. But since reading this book I have learned to relax and raise my game under pressure.
Chapter 7 "Focus Your Attention on What Matters"
This chapter talks about wiping away distracting thoughts. Focus your attention on what you can control in the moment - your attitude, where you want to hit the ball and staying relaxed. I have played matches at other clubs that were noisy and had a lot of traffic and I found myself highly distracted. What I learned was that I just need to focus on my court and my opposition. I need to tune out everything else.This chapter reinforces the art of focus.
Chapter 19 "Establish Your Presence Before Serving"
This chapter has some great advice on not rushing your serve. It includes tips like bouncing the ball, deciding where you want to hit the ball, staying relaxed etc. I really hate to double fault. A double fault is giving away a free point. I play a lot of ladies with really great groundstrokes and volleys and the lamest serves ever! In fact when we are warming up I am thinking to myself uh-oh then we start to practice our serves and I think okay - I am winning her service game.
Chapter 48 "Never Give Up"
This chapter talks about the tricks your mind can play on you when you are losing. While your mind starts to tell you that the gap is too large to mount a comeback you need to ignore it. The advice they give in this chapter is so simple "play one point at a time." Dig deep and remind yourself of when you prevailed from a deficit in a match.
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