I recently did a podcast with mental game expert Dr. Patrick Cohn. We talked on the subject of dealing with frustration while working on your strokes, which oftentimes has to do with perfectionism.

Dr. Cohn is a leading expert in the field of tennis psychology and you can find out more about his work at: http://www.sportspsychologytennis.com

Click The Play Button Below To Start The Podcast:

For more in-depth content on this subject and many other mental game subjects you can also check out my ebook “Mastering The Mental Game”, which I released just a few months ago.

 Click Here For Info On Mastering The Mental Game

Serena Williams beat Maria Sharapova 4-6 6-3 6-0 to win the 2013 Sony Open in Miami, Florida. Serena once again proved that she is the best player in women’s Tennis and her performance was really impressive.

To me the most interesting part about this final though, are the incremental improvements that Maria Sharapova has been able to make in the last couple of months!

Maria is a real role-model when it comes to continuously working on your game and enjoying the process!

Maria lost the previous 10 matches to Serena and in the most recent matches really did not have much of a chance at all against Serena. Nevertheless, she simply continued to work on her game and tried to get closer step by step.

She played phenomenal in the first 1.5 sets and was up a set and a break. Nevertheless, Sharapova could not quite keep the level of the first set and Serena started gaining confidence and playing better.

Have A Look At The Highlights Of This Incredible Match!

So What Can You Learn From Maria ?

Maria has one of the best attitudes in the game. Her mental toughness and attitude are about as good as can be and she loves competing as well as working on her game!

Lesson #1: Never Stop Working On Your Game

Maria has been on tour for a really long time but she still seems to love the game and everything about it. What’s her secret ?

Maria is all about improving and getting better. She is very process-oriented and not too outcome oriented. This kind of attitude is one of the biggest keys to long-term success and satisfaction in this game!

Just a few weeks ago I was out in Indian Wells filming the best players in the world during their practice sessions.

It was very interesting to see how focused Maria Sharapova was during her practice sessions. She usually picked a court that spectators could not access and spend lots of time working on tiny details in her game!

She was in constant communication with her coach, Thomas Hogstedt, and they were obviously fine tuning lots of little things in her game.

It became quite obvious to me that she loves this process of fine-tuning her game and that’s what makes intense practice sessions enjoyable!

During my time in Indian Wells I also saw several pro players that did not seem to be working much on their game. These players were simply hitting balls and rarely communicated with their coaches.

Usually that stems from the wide-spread idea that you are who you are as a player and major improvements are not possible in later stages of your career. In my opinion this is a devastating attitude that not only hinders your improvement but also takes the joy out of the game!

Lesson #2: Smart Goal Setting

During the Sharapova Williams finals match, the commentator from tennistv.com talked about Maria’s work with her coach Thomas Hogstedt.

Maria has been working with Hogstedt for a while now and she has improved quite a bit during this time.

Last year Maria already had a great season during which she got to number 1 in the world for a while and also won the French Open. Nevertheless, she did not do well at all in her matches agains the best players; mainly Victoria Azarenka and Serena Williams.

The reporter mentioned that Maria said she is satisfied with the development of her game in general, but she really wants to improve in her matches against the absolute best players like Serena and Vika.

I found this quite interesting to hear because Maria stated her goal as improving rather than winning against these two incredible players!

That is a really smart goal and to me again shows her focus on the process rather than the outcome!

Of course Maria wants to win against these players but I think she is well aware that it is a much smarter goal to try to improve against them step by step and let the winning take care of itself rather than trying to focus on the winning too much.

This way she does not put too much pressure on herself and gives herself the freedom to focus on incremental improvements. If she implements enough incremental improvements, the winning part will fall into place naturally at a later point!

So again overall I think Maria is an excellent role-model in regards to her attitude towards the game. She loves the challenge and does not focus too much on winning. This allows her to be super focused on improving and gives her lots of satisfaction!

Developing this kind of an attitude towards the game is a process and you need to take one step at a time in the right direction. If you also want to develop a long-term attitude that leads to success and enjoyment, click the link below to check out my ebook “Mastering The Mental Game”

It explains in detail the steps you need to take to get maximum success and enjoyment from the great game of Tennis!

I recently got to spend a week in Indian Wells in order to film the best players in the world with a super slow motion camera. What you can see with this kind of a camera is absolutely amazing and I am certain the footage that I will release over the next couple of weeks and months will help you play better Tennis!

In this post I want to share a few observations from the tournament with you and show you a few impressive videos.

#1: Leg Strength Is Crucial

One of the most striking observations for me was how well almost all of the players at the tournament move around the court. They have incredibly strong legs, which we oftentimes don’t see on television.

Have A Look At Federer Playing Points In Super Slow Motion

Watching that clip I see incredibly strong legs and very efficient movement from Roger.

If your movement on the court is not what it should be, I highly recommend you start with a leg strengthening program!

Doing lunges on a regular basis can already do wonders for your tennis game.

Click Here For More Information: Lunges For Leg Strength

#2: Manage Your Intensity Level

I’ve talked about practice intensity before and it is a very important topic. During my week in Indian Wells I watched almost exclusively the practice courts and I saw many different practice intensity levels.

I saw three practice sessions from Roger Federer and I would say that in two of them he had rather low intensity. I also saw three practice sessions from Rafael Nadal and he had a very high intensity level in 2 out of 3 sessions according to my observations.

Have A Look At Rafael Nadal During A Practice Session In Indian Wells

Have A Look At Roger Federer During A Practice Session In Indian Wells

So what is the lesson to be learned here ? I believe it is very important to manage your intensity level according to what you are trying to accomplish! 

Very few recreational players seem to be aware of this. If you are always practicing with the same physical intensity, then you are really not maximizing your practice time!

Here Are Some Guidelines For Practice Intensity:

• If you are training to get fitter, it is obviously necessary to challenge yourself in regards to the intensity level.
• If you are trying to groove your swings and work on technique, then it is usually better to keep the physical intensity level rather low!
• The best practice intensity shortly before an important match seems to be individual. Nadal likes to have high intensity practices before important matches whereas Federer seems to prefer low intensity levels. If you are unsure you can always simply test it out. Generally speaking most students seem to do better in matches after at least breaking a good sweat during the pre-match practice session!

As usual let me know your thoughts and observations below. How intense do you prefer to practice shortly before an important match ?

Tennis is a game of errors. Even at the highest levels of the game, players usually hit more errors than winners and at the recreational level the amount of errors far exceeds the amount of winners!

Keeping this in mind, I believe it is unrealistic and foolish for players to get upset with almost every error that they make.

If you get upset when you make standard errors that are currently a normal part of your game, then essentially you are lying to yourself and not accepting the reality of your playing level.

This will in the long run, result in frustration, more errors, and can even kill your motivation to play the game.

By setting unrealistic expectations and acting accordingly on the court, most players try to send the message that they are usually much better and don’t make these kinds of unforced errors.

Unfortunately, the more often you lie to yourself like this, the more you undermine your self-confidence on the tennis court, the less you will enjoy the game and the more errors you will make!

Even in those rare cases that you meet your unrealistic expectations, will you only be satisfied for a very short period of time because players that have overly high expectations will usually find a way to readjust those expectations so that they will quickly be unsatisfied again.

The unfortunate part about this is that usually players with unrealistic expectations do not realize what they are doing. The expectations have been developed at a subconscious level over a long period of time and that makes it somewhat difficult to change them.

Oftentimes coaches and practice partners might tell you, that your expectations are out of line and that they are holding you back, but to you they seem realistic and therefore you will be reluctant to give them up!

The best players look at errors first and foremost as learning opportunities! This is part of a mindset that is primarily concerned with learning and enjoying the process rather than winning and short-term results.

So unrealistic expectations about errors lead to long-term frustration and more errors, whereas realistic expectations make room for learning from your errors and therefore making less errors in the long run!

Take Aways For Your Game:

So now let’s talk about how you can effectively go about adjusting your expectations and looking at errors as learning opportunities.

In general you need to be aware that realistic expectations are necessary for you to improve. It is very counter-productive when you set your standards so high that you cannot achieve them on a regular basis!

First of all you need to be aware that you spent many years on the tennis court building up the expectations you currently have about your tennis game. Therefore, developing more realistic expectations can only be viewed as a long-term project.

If your expectations are unrealistically high, then you need a system change rather than just a short-term change!

So What Are Good Expectations ?

If setting unrealistically high expectations for yourself is not the right way to go in order to maximize success and have a lot of fun along the way, then what are some good expectations to have regarding your tennis game ?

Personally, I believe that the only expectation you should have on the court is to try your best in regards to whatever you are currently trying to accomplish with your game!

So if you are working on your forehand technique for example, you could expect yourself to prepare as well as possible and try to execute the forehand with your new technique as often as possible. At the same time you don’t judge yourself by the outcome and instead only judge yourself by whether or not you tried your best in regards to executing your new technique.

These expectations will give you the best possible chance of improving your forehand as quickly as possible and enjoying the process at the same time!

For most players it is a long process to get to the point where you simply judge yourself by whether or not you prepared well and tried your best to execute the way that you wanted to execute. Nevertheless, it is a very worthwhile path to pursue!

We are all very used to judging ourselves by the outcome of whatever we are doing. Nevertheless, everybody can take small steps in the right direction and as a result enjoy the game more!

Concrete Action Steps:

#1: Write Down Expectations That Make Sense For Your Game

I highly recommend you spend 15 minutes to write down what you think are realistic/healthy expectations for your tennis game. Then go ahead and compare that to what you currently expect of yourself.

Most people will realize that there is a disconnect between these two.

As mentioned before I try to expect only the following on the court: Try my best to execute those things that I focus on (like hitting up on my serve for example or executing a certain game plan) and then accept the outcome with ease

#2: Consistently Remind Yourself Of The Expectations You Want To Have

The only way to achieve real change in your subconscious mind is having a new and different experience on the court. This experience can usually be initiated by consistently reminding yourself of what you want to expect and what you don’t want to expect. 

Personally, I try to guide my thought process in the following direction: “All I care about today is executing my game plan and working towards whatevery I currently try to accomplish. If I focus on that and not the results, then I will improve and play better in the long run!”

Once you do that on a regular basis and start to realize that you feel better on the court with this mindset, you are well on your way towards creating a new subconscious belief system!

Improving and making less errors will then take care of itself!

Most of you know that feeling when you are frustrated on the court and everything seems to be going against you. During really bad times you might even consider quitting Tennis or at least that thought has crossed your mind.

With this post I want to help you develop long-term satisfaction on the tennis court. Whether or not you are satisfied on the court more often than not depends mostly on the attitude that you have towards the game as well as the expectations that you put on yourself.

Every tennis player has a certain base level of satisfaction that results from your attitude towards the game and not from your playing level! 

The ultimate goal is to get into a frame of mind where short-term results really don’t affect you much anymore and instead you fully enjoy the process on the tennis court!

Usually a player with a bad attitude will quickly find a way to be dissatisfied again once he reaches a higher level of the game. Players that are generally satisfied on the court on the other hand, remain that way even when they go down a level due to injuries for example!

The Satisfied Player vs. The Unsatisfied Player

For my upcoming ebook “Mastering The Mental Game” I put together a graphic where you can compare the attitudes that generally characterize satisfied tennis players to the attitudes that generally characterize unsatisfied tennis players.

Let’s Have A Look At An Excerpt From The Chart

 So the real key for long-lasting satisfaction on the tennis court is developing as many of those attitudes that characterize the satisfied tennis player as possible!  Nobody is perfect of course and some attitudes will be more important to you and some less, which is perfectly fine. The key is taking steps in the right direction!

One really important aspect to think about in my opinion is the idea that solving problems on the court is fun and that is one of the primary reasons we play Tennis. Many players subconsciously hope for less problems on the court and that attitude will not result in long-term satisfaction!

Action Steps For Your Game:

Developing the right attitude and mindset realls is a continuous never-ending process. In sports psychology the focus oftentimes tends to be on short-term mental strategies like visualization and positive affirmations.

Even though techniques like visualization and positive affirmations can certainly be helpful, they are not the secret to long-term satisfaction and success on the tennis court. That can only be achieved by developing the attitudes of the satisfied tennis player!

Here Is What You Can Do For Your Game:

• Spend a good amount of time reviewing and thinking about the satisfied vs. unsatisfied tennis player chart
• For every attitude think about where you see yourself in that regard
• Print out the chart and put it in your tennis bag for regular reviews
• Consistently remind yourself to focus on the right attitudes while on the court for the next several weeks
• Try to thrive on solving problems on the court. That’s the fun part!

Allright. So much for now. Focus on the process and the enjoyment of solving problems on the tennis court and you will have more fun and success!

Most of you have been told before that you should stay calm between points and control your body language. Nevertheless, very few tennis players actually accomplish this task and many even believe that it is better to let your anger out.

Frustration is everywhere on tennis courts around the world and one of my primary goals as a coach is to help my students get rid of that frustration and enjoy the game more, regardless of their playing level.

So why should you remain calm in the first place ?

I see two primary reasons, why it is so important to stay calm and follow a routine between points:

Reason #1:

Sports science research has shown that, if you act confident between points and display positive body language, you are much more likely to feel that way and if you act unhappy and display negative body language, you are much more likely to develop more negative emotions!

So regardless of where you are in a match and what your current internal state is; by acting confident and positive between points you push yourself more towards a positive internal state and by acting negative between points you push yourself more towards a negative internal state. As a result, it really makes no sense to “let your anger” out and leave your shoulders hanging!

Now you might be asking yourself: How can I act confident when I am not playing well ? In order to act confident between points even when you are playing bad, you need to be able to put Tennis into perspective and have a strong inner belief that you will soon come back to normal form.

If on the other hand you have a strong belief that your self-worth depends on your tennis performance, then it will be really difficult for you to act confident when you are not playing well!

Reason #2:

If you let your anger out between points by screaming or throwing your racket, it takes much longer for you to calm down and as a result you will not be properly prepared to play the next point!

Taking a deep breath and controlling your body language simply gives you a much better chance of being well prepared for the next point and that’s why it is so important to follow your in-between point ritual, no matter what the score is!

Now some of you might ask how did John McEnroe manage to do so well despite his negative outbursts ? In my opinion McEnroe is simply a rare exception with an unusual ability to go from a negative state into a positive state. Possibly he could also have done even better with more emotional self-control.

One Exercise For More Emotional Control

Ok. So now that we talked about why you should work hard on positive body language and controlling your emotions, it’s time to talk about how you can actually do this and make a permanent change.

Before you are ready for the exercise, you need to develop a good in-between point ritual; unless of course you already have one.

Mentally tough players like Nadal and Sharapova have very specific in-between point rituals that help them control their emotions and stay mentally tough.

In order to develop one I recommend studying some great players like Nadal, Hewitt, Sharapova or Serena Williams.

Here are a few things that I recommend for in-between point rituals:

• Turn around towards the fence
• Take some deep breaths (extremely important)
• Keep Your Eyes On Your Strings
• Finally Think About Your Strategy For The Next Point

Ok. So now that you have a good in-between point ritual, i’ll let you in on the most effective exercise I know for developing emotional control.

Here Is The Exercise/Challenge:

Challenge Yourself To Play One Entire Set Where You Stick To Your Ritual 100% Between Points!

That’s all there is to it. Extremely simple and extremely effective. The first thought you probably have is: Well that sounds too easy. I can play one set sticking to my ritual after every point without a problem.

The truth is this: Developing a ritual is pretty easy. Sticking to your ritual for long stretches of time is the hard part and one entire set is already very long for most players!

I have asked hundreds of students the following question: Do you think you can play one entire match without any negative body language or loud talking; simply playing each point and following the same in-between point ritual ?

Most of my students will say that yes they can easily do that. So I put them to the challenge and most of them are surprised that they cannot even make it through one game without complaining about a bad shot or letting their shoulders hang for example.

Those players that accept the challenge will usually have a real awakening when they finally manage to play an entire set or even match calmly, following their ritual in between points!

Once you manage to do this a few matches in a row, which is extremely hard, you realize that Tennis all of a sudden is a lot more fun and you also play much better. Many players even start to feel real inner peace on the court for the first time in a really long time!

In theory it sounds simple but in real life it is extremely hard to follow-through with this. Start with one set, then challenge yourself for an entire match, then tournament and so on!

Are you up for the challenge ?

 Click This Link For All The Info On My New Ebook: “Mastering The Mental Game”

With Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys, America has two developing young stars that are climbing up the WTA rankings. I believe great times are ahead for both of these girls and in this blog post I want to give you a quick overview about their respective game styles, strengths and weaknesses, and also make some predictions about how successful I think they can become.

1. Sloane Stephens

Sloane climbed to a career high ranking of number 17 in the world after reaching the Australian Open semi-finals earlier this year. At 19 years old (as of February 2013), she possesses phenomenal athletic ability and lots of confidence in her abilities as a tennis player!

Check Out Sloane’s Game In These Highlights From Brisbane 2013

Game Analysis

As you could see in the video Sloane is a phenomenal athlete, which is her biggest strength on the tennis court. She has a very good backhand and can hit lots of winners with her forehand when she has enough time.

Nevertheless she has a huge swing on her forehand and as a result the stroke is vulnerable when opponents manage to put pressure on it.

She tends to play a bit too defensive from far behind the baseline and makes up for that with her athleticism.

Strengths:

• Physical Ability
• Mental Toughness
• Very Good Backhand
• Good At Finishing Points At Net
• Excellent Defensive Skills

 Weaknesses:

• Huge Forehand Swing
• Forehand Return Of Serve
• Defensive Mindset
• Second Serve At Times Too Weak

My Prediction:

Sloane Stephens certainly has the potential to become a Grand Slam winner and even become the number 1 player in the world at some point. In order for that to happen, I believe she needs to learn to play more aggressive and stay closer to the baseline! 

For those of you interested in more detailed information on Sloane’s game please click on this link: Sloane Stephens

2. Madison Keys

Madison at just 17 years old is ranked 82nd in the world as of February 2013. In 2007/2008 I was part of her coaching team at the Evert Tennis Academy and at the time I was already convinced that she will be a future Top10 player.

Have A Look At Madison’s Huge Game In These Highlights!

 Game Analysis

As you could see in the video Madison is an athletic player with tons of firepower. She likes to play aggressive and has a huge serve that I think will soon become one of the biggest weapons on the WTA Tour!

Her backhand is also excellent. She hits winners down the line and oftentimes steps in to take time away from her opponents.

The one slight weakness in her game is the forehand. She hits a solid forehand and can hit plenty of winners with the shot. Similar to Sloane Stephens though, she has a huge swing and can get into trouble when someone puts pressure on her forehand!

Mentally she is also very tough and driven towards her goal of becoming the best she can possibly be!

Madison Keys is extremely gifted physically. Compared to the best players in the world though, she does not quite move as well as she needs to yet. This is of course no surprise at just 17 years of age. She has plenty of time to improve that movement and I am certain she will do just that!

Strengths

• Great Athleticism
• Huge Serve
• Great Backhand
• Mental Toughness

 Weaknesses

• Forehand Is Vulnerable Under Pressure
• Movement Can Still Be Improved

My Prediction:

Madison has it all. Lots of firepower, a great serve and a great attitude towards the game.

I believe Madison has the potential to become a multiple Grand Slam champion and world number 1 player! (I must admit I am slightly biased since I worked with her)

For those of you interested in more detailed information on Madison’s career and game please click this link: Madison Keys

Conclusion:

Both of these girls have a very bright future ahead of them and I think all American tennis fans can be very excited about the upcoming future!

Sloane as well as Madison could certainly end up winning several Grand Slam titles. I think it will be slightly easier for Madison because it is more natural for her to play aggressive and she has bigger weapons with her serve and backhand!

The Aussie Open are already underway and I am sure a lot of you are excited to watch the first Grand Slam of the year. The players are rested and excited to play again. Last year Djokovic won the historic final against Rafa Nadal who is unfortunately not playing this year due to his injury problems.

Before I tell you who my favorites to win the tournament are, let’s have a quick look at a nice preview video for the Aussie Open!

This time I will take a closer look at my Top 3 favorites for the men’s and the women’s draw.

The Men’s Draw

On the men’s side I believe Novak Djokovic is the clear favorite to win his third title in a row in Australia. Djokovic has consistently played the best Tennis throughout 2011 and 2012. He had to play a lot of tough matches in the past two years, which led to very few below average performances.

If everybody is fit and in good form, I believe Djokovic is the best player right now and since he had enough time to rest and prepare, I pick him as my favorite to win the tournament!

Djokovic’s game is almost complete these days. He improved his serve, which was at times a liability and he takes the ball extremely early. Winning at the highest level in men’s Tennis requires that you play with a lot of risk and don’t make many unforced errors. Djokovic has been the best at achieving this over the last couple of years.

His backhand is probably the best two-hander that I have ever seen and he also returns very well. He has gotten tougher mentally, which at times has been a problem for him. Last but not least, his forehand is more consistent now as well and that makes him really tough to beat!

Djokovic In Great Form Against Haas in 2013

In my opinion, Andy Murray has the second best chance to win the Australian Open title this year!

Hiring Ivan Lendl as his coach was certainly one of the best moves Murray made over the last couple of years. Lendl has given him the confidence that he sometimes lacked and he also plays more aggressive now.

His movement is absolutely superb and in my opinion the best on Tour. Over the last couple of years he worked hard with his fitness coach Jez Green and has improved his maximum strength values by quite a bit.

Winning the Olympics and his first Grand Slam title at the US Open last year have probably also given him the belief that he can now win a lot more Grand Slam titles.

Murray Playing Well In His Finals Win At Brisbane 2013

Roger Federer is only the third favorite to win the title this year in my opinion. Federer of course can still play at an unbelievable level but I do consider him somewhat of an outsider compared to Djokovic and Murray!

Federer at his best can of course still compete with these guys but it gets tougher and tougher for him to play at his best. I think he made a really good move in shortening his schedule for the 2013 season. He is no longer too concerned with regaining the number 1 ranking and therefore focuses on being ready for the Grand Slams.

At the end of the day though Federer is 31 years old and Djokovic and Murray are 6 years younger and in their absolute prime. At 31 it is simply a little bit tougher to play that many high-level matches in a row and also he might be just a bit slower than he was 5-6 years ago and that can be devastating when you are fighting for really tiny edges on the court!

Federer Hitting Some Shots At The Aussie Open 2013

The Women’s Draw

On the women’s side I also believe there is a clear favorite in Serena Williams. Serena dominated the second half of 2012, winning Wimbledon, the Olympics, the US Open and the year end championships in Istanbul.

It appears that Serena has regained some of her old strength since she hired french coach Patrick Mouratoglou. Rumors have it that she is also dating Mouratoglou. Either way the two managed to get Serena to play at her absolute best at the end of 2012.

Serena has always had a strength advantage over her competition and maximum strength is one of the most important factors in high level Tennis these days. That being said, Serena was not always in great shape throughout her career and strength alone will only get you so far. Nowadays she seems to move really well around the court and that makes her almost unbeatable in my opinion!

Highlights Of Serena Winning Her Fifth Wimbledon Title in 2012

If Serena is close to her year-end 2012 form I believe nobody can beat her in Australia!

The second best player after Serena is Victoria Azarenka in my opinion. Azarenka has continued to improve over the last couple of years. She moves extremely well and hits phenomenal groundstrokes.

The one thing that she lacks though is a great serve. Her serve is average; neither good nor bad. If she wants to beat Serena in great form she needs to serve a lot better in my opinion. Off the ground she might have a slight edge over Serena but Serena outserves her by a big margin!

Azarenka Highlights Against Perbak In Brisbane 2013

Maria Sharapova is ranked number 2 in the world right now but in my opinion she is quite a bit behind Williams and Azarenka when it comes to her chances for winning in Australia this year. 

Sharapova had a very good year in 2012. She continued to improve and had consistently good results. Nevertheless, I think Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka have quite an edge over her when they are in good form.

Sharapova basically lacks two things when it comes to beating Serena and Vika in the Grand Slams. She does not serve well enough for her height and and at times still struggles with too many double faults.

And just as importantly, she cannot move as well as Williams and Azarenka due to her height. If you cannot move as well you need to play super aggressive, which she tries and does a good job off but usually that is not enough.

Maria Hitting On Rod Laver Arena In 2013

Overall I must say that men’s and women’s Tennis are both at a great time with several great champions competing for Grand Slam titles. It should be a great tournament and please let me know who your favorites to win the tournament are!

2013 is here and I am sure a lot of you have some New Years Resolutions regarding your tennis game. In this post I would like to give you some ideas about how you can make these happen and achieve your tennis goals in 2013.

Most people fail with New Years Resolutions and the reason in my opinion is quite simple. The typical new years resolution regarding your tennis game goes something like this: This year I really want to improve my forehand, my backhand or whatever it is you struggle with. I have been struggling with this shot for so long and now is the time to finally make some changes.

Unfortunately this is usually where the planning ends and of course these resolutions will in most cases not be met.

So What Do You Need To Do To Make It Work ?

The most effective way I know is to install a system that basically forces you to work on whatever you want to improve on and then you also need to add an element of accountability to make sure you follow through with your plans!

So what could this look like in practice ? Let’s assume you really want to improve your forehand in 2013. Instead of just having that thought in your mind and continuing with your regular practice routine of for example taking one lesson a week and hitting with your buddy 2-3 times a week, you need to install a permanent change in your practice system.

Assuming that you usually play with your practice partner 2-3 times a week for 2 hours, a meaningful change would be to practice the first 30 minutes of all of these sessions by yourself, working on your forehand.

So in order to make sure you follow through you tell your practice buddy to show up 30 minutes later on all of these sessions and that way you have the court to yourself for that time and are somewhat forced to practice your forehand.

The next thing to do is to add an element of accountability. This could involve either your practice partner or your coach. Tell that person specifically about your plans to improve your forehand and ask them to check on you on a regular basis.

Allright. That was one example of how you can make your tennis goals come true in 2013.

The important point to keep in mind is to make permanent changes that force you to change your practice routine instead of just telling yourself that you will work harder on your forehand this year!

What are your tennis goals for 2013 and how will you make them happen ? Please comment below and I will give you my thoughts on your plans!