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?
Is a lack of Mental/Emotional training holding your child back from getting the results they deserve?
- My child has problems managing their stress, anger, and mistakes. Yes/No
- My child hasn’t yet developed their groups of 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 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 may want to consider mental and emotional training.
Peak performance under stress is not reserved for the gifted few, it’s the “software’ that needs to be developed along with the athletic hardware. Simply put, being mentally or emotionally tough under stress is a learned behavior.
