The Challenges of a Perfectionist Tennis Player

You're listening to the Tennis Psychology Podcast with Mental Game of tennis expert Dr. Patrick Cohn. Do you want to improve your mindset for tennis? Then join us on the Tennis Psychology Podcast.

Are you a super committed, determined player to do your best out there? Even though you're following mental strategies that I've been teaching you in the podcast and the videos, you you're still struggling to play your best tennis? Hi, I'm Dr. Patrick Cohn. I'm going to answer a question today from a tennis player who feels like he's doing everything right, but it's just not happening for him on the tennis court. You're listening to the Tennis Psychology Podcast.

Want to quickly improve your mental game for tennis? Visit www.SportsPsychologyTennis.com today and download a free ebook titled Six Unforced Mental Error Errors Tennis Players Make Between Points.

Here's the question that I received from Mac. Mac said, if you're very committed, determined and talented player, following mental strategies with the inclination to be a perfectionist, but suffering with confidence and doubt issues, how do you manage not to try too hard in matches? All this causes me to tighten up and make mistakes as a result. How do you just get lost in the match and enjoy it without thinking about consequences? Mac, great question. What that says is you are somewhat of a perfectionist, being very goal oriented, very committed, very determined. You're working on your mental game, for example. All of that is really, really helpful to help you strive to get better in practice. But often when I work with perfectionists, there's a lot of challenges that go with perfectionism when you're actually playing in competition. So the good news is you're great at improving your game and you're probably a great practice player. The bad news is you have some of the challenges that are associated with perfectionism. Those include very high expectations, fragile confidence, thinking too much about outcomes, worrying too much about what others think, maybe fear of failure, anxiety, tension for example, and being over analytical and self critical out there. Those are just some of the challenges associated with perfectionists and that's what's sabotaging you out there. The other one that you mentioned is you said I'm trying so hard, how do I not try so hard? The question you have to ask yourself is is why are you trying so hard? Why is that tennis match so important to you? Do you have to play perfectly? Do you have to play up to the best level that you played in a practice match, for example, or when you're drilling with an instructor? Often that's your downfall is because you want it so badly and you want to play well so badly that it creates those unrealistic expectations about how you should play out there. So how do you not try so hard? Big question. Because it includes a lot of different areas. If you're worried about the consequences, and you said in your question that you're thinking too much about consequences, which means you badly want to win, you badly want to win big, or you badly want to impress others, whatever it may be. If you're into consequences, then it's very hard for you to play in the moment and get in the flow of the match. So outcome thinking is one of the nemesis of the perfectionist player. So how do you be less outcome thinking? Let's start from that perspective. I'm sure you've heard of one point at a time, you got to play one point at a time, right? But not too many people define what that means to play one point at a time. So I get really small when I'm working with tennis players one on one about what that means to be in the moment, be in the here and now. Essentially, once that last point is over with win, lose or draw, you got to get to the next point. And that happens with your routine. And what you're doing behaviorally and physically between your routine and certainly mentally is checking in with yourself, assessing that point quickly, but then moving on. Next, to be in the moment, you have to think about your performance cues. Focus. For example, what do you need to focus on? Or what are the small things you want to focus on that's going to help you execute your ground strokes well? You need to watch the ball carefully on the other side of the net. You need to anticipate. You need to move quickly to the ball, set up early, think about your target and where you want to take the ball to, and then swing freely. Go ahead and let it rip. Focus on the target, let it rip. Maybe focus on one cue that you want, like take the ball early, for example. But it shouldn't be a mechanical cue because that's all done in practice. It should be something like good tempo or maybe the feeling of hitting it solid. Stay general with that. It could be the trajectory that you want on your shot. It could be the depth you want on your shot, could be the height or the trajectory, as I said. So those are the things that are going to help you stay in the moment. What should be more important, getting to the ball early and setting up or what the scoreline is going to be at the end of the match. I think that's creating a lot of havoc for you and not allowing you to get into that flow. Get into the moment. As you said, just get lost in the game so that you can have more fun out there and put perform your best as well. So as far as not trying so hard, I think it comes to the outcome and really why you want to win so badly. So I would start there and ask yourself what's so important about that. Stop caring about what others think about the scoreline. Stop trying to expect that you're going to play your best tennis every single match. Hope that helps. If you have a question, jump over to peaksports.com click on contact Us and I'll include your question in a future podcast or video. In addition, you can check out our one on one mental coaching programs@peaksports.com we work with junior tennis players from 12 years up to senior players as well. Collegiate, professional, senior amateurs, whatever it may be. Thanks for your question and good luck.

Thank you for listening to the Tennis psychology podcast with Dr. Patrick Cohn. Discover the secrets to superior tennis confidence by visiting www.SportsPsychologyTennis.com for practical mental game strategies to improve your tennis game.