Montauk Pioneer - August 8, 2008

One of the most important aspects of tennis is mental toughness. While people practice their ground stroke, their serve, and their volley, they rarely practice being mentally tough. Simply put, mental toughness is the ability to stay focused and intense throughout the ups and downs of a tennis match. This includes the ability to concentrate on the ball and execute your strokes. Secondly, it is the ability to focus on every single point and not fall asleep for a point or two. Thirdly, it is the ability to shrug off your own mistakes and the great shots by your opponent. Possessing this mental toughness will win you many points during the match. In addition, your intensity will discourage your opponent. Bottom line, being mentally tough will win you as many matches as having a huge serve or a huge forehand.

Whether you execute a shot or not depends a lot on whether you focused on the ball and your stroke. If you believe you are going to make the shot, you most likely will. If you are hesitant or unsure of your shot, you will most likely miss it. Over the course of a match, this concentration is the difference from being consistent and being erratic.

Concentrating on every point is also extremely important. Taking time between points and getting your mind geared for the next point is one way to maintain your concentration. Every point is a grind, and being mentally prepared will cut down on unforced errors. This is crucial to being a good player. Instead of being fixated on all the great looking winners you hit, be more focused on reducing your unforced errors. This form of thinking helps Nadal win (think Wimbledon). When you don't over-hit and stay consistent, your opponent feels overwhelmed and will start over-hitting, making more unforced errors and giving you more free points.

If you are making mistakes or your opponent is hitting a lot of winners, you have to be able to not let it bother you. You have to be able to shrug it off and move on to the next point. Whatever happened last point or last game is in the past. Staying focused on the current point and not on past points will lead to more consistency and put more pressure on your opponent. The worst thing you can do is to start over-hitting, which will lead to unforced errors. Instead, you should slow things down and focus on the next point.

Tennis matches are usually, if not always, decided by who breaks down first. By staying mentally tough every point, you are letting your opponent know that it's going to be a long day and that you will not break down. By not giving away free points and by fighting for every ball, your chances of breaking down your opponent increases. This is, in essence, what mental toughness is. Next time you are on the court take some time to think about your focus and preparedness. Chances are, your game will improve and your results will reflect that.