The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s NEW Amazon #1 New Tennis Book Release, Preparing for Pressure.
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“I’ve lost confidence. How do I get it back?”
“Your positive performances are imprinted in your memory, so choose to re-live them.”
A re-occurring defining characteristic of champions is their strong software skills. There are many times in a professional athlete’s career when they’ve lost their confidence and had to reboot their motivation.
One solution lies in choosing to focus on past successes more than past failures. Failure is no doubt part of the learning process but revisiting past successes via- match video analysis is one method used to rekindle self-esteem. If you don’t already videotape tournament play and analyze your performance with an experienced coach, now’s a great time to start.
Past successes leave a footprint in the brain. Remind yourself of previous pressure-packed situations when you performed spectacularly. Go into detail. Where did it happen? What event? What round? How did I overcome the challenges? Why was I determined to fight? What was my inner dialog and mindset? This process stops the discouragement and replaces it with the realization that you’ve done it before and you’ll do it again.
Preparing for pressure comes from realizing that you have come through under pressure before.
