When I’ve experienced a good warmup, I’m much more focused and effective early on in my match. This leads to less stress, diminished errors, and greater enjoyment in my matchplay. So, what makes a good warmup and how do we ensure we get what we need?

I’m guessing that if you’ve played tennis for very long, you’ve had the frustrating experience of serving a beautiful T serve, only to have it called out by the opponent. In fact, I would presume you may have experienced this more than once. Not only is it frustrating when your great shot is called out, these calls can muster an eruption of irritation and disappointment, especially on a serve. It can be very tempting to argue about it with your opponent in the heat of the moment. But is this wise?

How many times have you been on the tennis court when you hit an amazing, low-percentage winner that left everyone, including you, in disbelief? What was your reaction? Did you own it? Or did you tell everyone you just got lucky?

Double fault! How does that term make you feel just from reading it? For me, it musters the most negative thoughts: blame, pressure, failure, disappointment. It makes me feel tense, annoyed, frustrated, and under the spotlight…

Court Thought: Cultivate your self-coach to assist you when under pressure and squelch the inner-critic that can ruin your game.

Do you come down hard on yourself when you make an error on the tennis court? Does the inner-critic dominate your thoughts when you’re playing? Or do you have a friendlier self-coach with a kinder voice, one that accepts mistakes, is encouraging, and helps you to move on?