The following post is an excerpt from the Second Edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible NOW available through most online retailers! Click Here to Order
DOES YOUR CHILD NEED MENTAL/EMOTIONAL TRAINING?
We often hear, “My child has trouble closing out a lead.” “My child plays terrific in practice but horribly in matches,” “My son can’t beat a moonball, pusher,” “My daughter can’t handle cheaters!” “My son has trouble focusing for the whole match!” Essentially, lacking the mental component consisting of the X’s and O’ of strategy and tactics and the emotional components comprised of the ability to navigate through performance anxieties that many athletes see as challenges. Often, these two components are intertwined.
Is a lack of Mental/Emotional training holding your child back from getting
the results they deserve?
TAKE THE QUIZ
The following questions can be used to determine whether your child is in need of mental/emotional training. It may be in your best interest to have the athlete complete this questionnaire (reworded from “My child to “I”) to assess their opinions. Good Luck!
- My child plays incredibly on the practice court but often falls apart in matches. Yes/No
- My child avoids playing full practice matches on most weeks. Yes/No
- In matches, my child’s focus is only on winning versus actual performance goals. Yes/No
- My child doesn’t apply proper change over and between point rituals in matches. Yes/No
- My child is unorganized in planning their weekly training schedules. Yes/No
- My child has not yet developed his/her secondary strokes. Yes/No
- My child has super high expectations and expects to perform perfectly every match. Yes/No
- We haven’t yet put together our entourage of hitters, teachers, and trainers. Yes/No
- My child hasn’t developed plans or patterns to beat moonball/pushers. Yes/No
- My child hasn’t developed plans or patterns to beat hard-hitting baseliners. Yes/No
- My child has problems managing their stress, anger, and mistakes. Yes/No
- My child hasn’t yet developed their “go-to” proactive patterns. Yes/No
- We do not understand or utilizes periodization training. Yes/No
- My child has trouble dealing with external and internal distractions. Yes/No
- My child doesn’t spot mega points and mini mega points. Yes/No
- My child doesn’t know the difference between a positive mega point and a negative mega point. Yes/No
- My child lacks confidence in his/her abilities. Yes/No
- My child has trouble coping with cheaters. Yes/No
- In matches, my child’s mind often wanders to the past or the future. Yes/No
- My child’s training has primarily focused on fundamental stroke mechanics. Yes/No
- My child wants to win so badly it affects his/her performance. Yes/No
- My child freezes under stress and plays “Not to lose” instead of playing “to win.” Yes/No
- My child’s words, “I want to be a pro,” don’t match his/her actions. Yes/No
- My child doesn’t know how to spot the opponent’s tendencies in match play. Yes/No
- My child hasn’t spent time identifying his/her mental game strengths and weaknesses. Yes/No
ANSWERS: If you or your child checked “Yes” to any of the above questions, you might want to consider adding mental and emotional training sessions to their lesson plans.
“Peak performance under stress is not reserved for the gifted few. Being mentally or emotionally tough under stress is a learned behavior.”
Frank Giampaolo. www.MaximizingTennisPotential.com
