Keys to the Perfect Pre-Game Routine

June 29, 2015 | By Dr. Tom Ferraro
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If you’re at all serious about playing tennis to your fullest potential, then you must … I repeat … you must, come to each match with the proper mindset. And the proper mind set is not anxiety, self-doubt or dread. If you do feel self-doubt or a lack of confidence prior to your matches, you are reading the right article.

Any competitive player has gone through his or her share of losing. Losing will eventually produce emotional scars which include anxiety, dread and loss of confidence and usually the player and coach are clueless as to what to actually do about all this. That little 30 second pep talk you get prior to stepping on the court will not do the trick. So let’s spend some time talking about how to develop the right pre-game routine in order to create calmness, confidence and the belief that you will win.

The pre-game routine must start three days before the tournament. It must consist of physical, mental and emotional preparation:

Physical pre-game prep
The goal of your physical preparation is to rest and recover from all your training. Your goal is not to get stronger or get more fit. You goal is to rest and recover so that you begin to store energy for the match. You may not know this, but thoroughbred horses will only be walked around the shed row for the three days before a race. Many players get so keyed up and anxious before big matches that they go to the gym to work out in order to relieve themselves from anxiety. But all that does is result in fatigue which is not helpful to good tennis. So rest, nap and get to sleep early for the three days before big matches. During training, athletes need nine hours of sleep each night to fully recover from workouts.

Dietary preparation
Nutritionist Irina Belfer-Lehat told me that the best dietary advice for the three days leading up to an event is to load up on water and have complex carbohydrates like pasta and potatoes the day before the event in order to have access to more energy. Another helpful hint she gave was to have only sips of sport drink during the match and small bites of oranges, apples or bananas.

Mental pre-game prep
It is crucial to develop and rehearse a strategy for playing your match. This ought to be developed with the help of your coach and might include ideas like hitting to the baseline, playing aggressively, playing to the opponents weakness, or staying relaxed after a lost point. I called famed tennis coach Butch Seewagen who suggested, “I would always formulate a game plan, rehearse it mentally for the days leading up to the match and then stick with it during play.”

Another mental mindset is not to worry about the match that is coming up. You can spend some time rehearsing strategy but make sure that for the three days prior to the big match you use your downtime to go to the movies, hang with friends and generally distract yourself with pleasant and relaxing diversions.

Emotional pre-game prep
The proper emotional attitude is to be calm, relaxed, focused and with a belief that you are a talented player. Self-doubt, anxiety and low confidence emerge in most players over time because of inevitable losses. To counteract this you need to determine the best performance of your career and recall how you felt, who you played, how you closed out the match, how you focused, who was on your side, and what your level of confidence felt like. Your job is to reacquaint yourself with this memory and to internalize it during the three days prior to the match. We want you to imagine how you actually walked at that moment of triumph and to rehearse that manner of walking between shots in an effort to maintain and reinforce this belief in yourself. You can also put this attitude and sense of confidence to music which you may want to listen to over the three days and even on the way to the match. Many professional athletes use music coupled with positive self-imagery and positive self-esteem imagery as a way of entering the zone and remaining there throughout the match.

If you follow the physical, mental and emotional preparation and allow yourself to embrace confidence, you will have established a solid pre-game routine which will help you play better competitive tennis.

 


Dr. Tom Ferraro

For consultations, treatment or on-site visits, contact Dr. Tom Ferraro Ph.D., Sport Psychologist, by phone at (516) 248-7189, e-mail DrTFerraro@aol.com or visit DrTomFerraro.com.

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