Tennis is at its heart a competition. And sometimes in competition, you lose ... and lose badly.
Losing sucks. It hurts. It can make you feel like you want to give up, particularly if you played particularly poorly.
Of course, we all know that losing is also the basis for learning.
Uh huh, right. And nothing will get the blood boiling quicker than when someone tells you that right after you walk off the court from a 6-1, 6-2 beat down.
Here's the thing though, after suffering a bad loss - one in which you played really poorly and feel like you don't even know how to play tennis worth a crap - you need to allow yourself to wallow for a bit, but then pick two things you wish you could have done better and prepare a plan to improve those aspects of your game.
Don't allow yourself to wallow, then wallow a little more, then go to bed, wake up and wallow still more, until eventually your mind is distracted by work or bills or what have you and finally the match becomes a distant and thankfully forgotten memory. This is what most of us do, and while this approach won't cause any major emotional problems to develop, it also doesn't help us get over the match mentally or, more importantly, help us to improve so that the same thing doesn't happen again and again and again until we finally get used to losing.
Pick two things - just two - and narrow the focus as much as possible. If you couldn't return worth a hill of beans, try to figure out which type of return gave you the most problems and make a plan to practice that return. If you were having trouble with your volleys, think about the specific issues you were having. Was it mostly the forehand volleys that were a problem? Where were you at on the court when you were mis-hitting them and what types of shots from your opponent were giving you troubles? Then get a ball machine or a hitting partner and practice those specific scenarios.
If you aren't sure how best to properly practice to improve your weaknesses, hire a teaching pro to go over these specifics you have identified. Or search on YouTube for tennis drills you can do on your own.
And on that note, I'm headed over to YouTube to look for videos about "backhand return from the deuce court" and "second serve spin" :p
Losing sucks. It hurts. It can make you feel like you want to give up, particularly if you played particularly poorly.
Of course, we all know that losing is also the basis for learning.
Uh huh, right. And nothing will get the blood boiling quicker than when someone tells you that right after you walk off the court from a 6-1, 6-2 beat down.
Here's the thing though, after suffering a bad loss - one in which you played really poorly and feel like you don't even know how to play tennis worth a crap - you need to allow yourself to wallow for a bit, but then pick two things you wish you could have done better and prepare a plan to improve those aspects of your game.
Don't allow yourself to wallow, then wallow a little more, then go to bed, wake up and wallow still more, until eventually your mind is distracted by work or bills or what have you and finally the match becomes a distant and thankfully forgotten memory. This is what most of us do, and while this approach won't cause any major emotional problems to develop, it also doesn't help us get over the match mentally or, more importantly, help us to improve so that the same thing doesn't happen again and again and again until we finally get used to losing.
Pick two things - just two - and narrow the focus as much as possible. If you couldn't return worth a hill of beans, try to figure out which type of return gave you the most problems and make a plan to practice that return. If you were having trouble with your volleys, think about the specific issues you were having. Was it mostly the forehand volleys that were a problem? Where were you at on the court when you were mis-hitting them and what types of shots from your opponent were giving you troubles? Then get a ball machine or a hitting partner and practice those specific scenarios.
If you aren't sure how best to properly practice to improve your weaknesses, hire a teaching pro to go over these specifics you have identified. Or search on YouTube for tennis drills you can do on your own.
And on that note, I'm headed over to YouTube to look for videos about "backhand return from the deuce court" and "second serve spin" :p
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