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Blog > advisor > The psychology of tennis
As we all know, tennis is a sport in which it is not just physical fitness, but above all psychology and mental fitness that decide whether you win or lose. Most tennis players are a slave to their emotions on the court. It is not unusual for the weaker player to win the match simply because he or she keeps a cooler head and doesn't let their own mistakes, external circumstances or the opponent upset them. Find out more in our new article!
The opponent in particular can sometimes throw you completely off balance so that you lose the thread and can no longer concentrate on your own game. No matter how superior your striking technique is, you can still have it. Some players are excellent at using little tricks and games to throw their opponents off their stride and gain a psychological advantage on the tennis court. For example, by tapping the ball endlessly before serving, as Novak Djokovic does.
If the opponent starts to get angry about this, even if it's only inwardly, he has already achieved his goal: the opponent is no longer fully focused on the match and may make more easy mistakes that further increase his anger and frustration.
“Winning Ugly: Mental Warfare in Tennis” is the title of a 1997 book by former tennis pro Brad Gilbert (with co-authors Andre Agassi and Steve Jamison) that has since become a classic. In it, he describes the tricks he used to repeatedly beat stronger players such as Boris Becker, John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors. Gilbert understood the psychological aspects of the game better than almost any other tennis player and knew how to use them to his advantage.
Whether you are a club player or a professional: if you think about a concept, are aware of your own strengths and weaknesses and observe your opponent carefully or, if you have met before, already know their strengths and weaknesses, you will create a good basis for a successful match.
As long as they are compatible with the idea of fair play, minor psychological tricks during the match are perfectly fine. Everyone has to decide for themselves and their own code of fair play how far they want to go. But why shouldn't you take a short toilet break and perhaps use it to its full potential if your opponent has just overrun you 6:1 in the set you've just finished playing? On the one hand, you can take a little more time to collect yourself and, on the other, you can interrupt your opponent's flow of play and perhaps make him think.
Sometimes professional players take an injury break just to have a short time-out, calm their heated minds and refocus on their own game. The opponent's muscles become cold, perhaps he starts to think about what the injury is and that you have to win against an injured player. This builds up pressure on the opponent, which in turn has to be overcome mentally. Many players, especially inexperienced ones, are completely thrown off balance by such pressure.
If the opponent gets angry, whether he lets his anger out or keeps it inside, he concentrates less on his opponent and his game and you have already gained a small advantage.
By observing your opponent closely, you can quickly find out what makes him angry and where his weaknesses lie. Some people get upset when the other player sits down for as long as fair play allows and uses up the full 90 seconds.
Prolonged eye contact before starting to serve, tapping the ball for a long time or stopping the ball toss are examples of tricks that can be used when serving to disrupt the opponent's concentration on the return. The opponent can, for example, raise his arm just before starting to serve, retie his shoes or turn around and adjust the strings on the tennis racket to cause a bit of unrest in the server. Other players, such as Serena Williams or Monica Seles at the time, disturb their opponents' concentration by moaning excessively loudly when hitting the ball.
There are many ways to gain a psychological advantage in a match that are perfectly compatible with the concept of fair play.
It is important to use such tricks strategically and not to overdo it. If you are aware of the fact that your opponent may be playing their own mind games, it is easier to see through their tricks and not let them infuriate you. Because no matter what the circumstances are and what your opponent is doing:
Concentrate on your own game and you'll be fine.
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