Sports Psychology in Tennis: Win Matches from ‘The Zone’

Mastering Mental Toughness in Tennis

Even the most skilled athletes can’t make big improvements unless their mind is calm. Being calm allows the mind to focus on growth rather than judgment. This is the true basis of sports psychology. Many players who experience stagnant development get “stuck” because they lack mental toughness.

Tennis can be very frustrating and challenging, and we humans are emotional beings.

Emotions can cause problems for our bodies and minds. So, it’s crucial for athletes, especially tennis players, to understand basic sports psychology principles and how to remain composed during matches. As well as emotions, nerves also play a huge part in the game.

Let’s start with some simple facts about how your brain and bodywork. We’ll also talk about how emotions can mess up your game. Then we will discuss how to redirect your mindset and we’ll conclude how this relates to playing in “the zone.”

How Your Brain Works

A sports psychology article would not be complete without some simple facts about how your brain works. 

The prefrontal cortex, located behind your eyebrows, helps with thinking, reasoning, and making judgments. It’s responsible for higher-level thinking. 

The amygdala, a small almond-shaped area deep inside your brain, around the level of your eyeballs, is in charge of handling your emotions.

Here’s an interesting fact:

Only one of these brain areas can work at a time. So, if your amygdala is busy with strong emotions, your prefrontal cortex can’t work properly.

Emotions Sabotage The Mind

If you’re feeling frustrated because of mistakes, stressed under pressure, or overly excited after a great shot, a key part of your brain stops working until you relax. 

This is why players struggle when they get frustrated. It’s like shooting yourself in the foot, especially in tennis.

This brain hiccup is why some adults don’t improve or give up on tennis. It’s a shame because tennis has amazing long-term mental and physical benefits that beat many other sports. 

If you stop reading now and don’t learn more about sports psychology in tennis, knowing this about your brain alone can make a huge difference. It can help you improve and keep your cool on the court.

The Root Cause of Your Emotions

“But”, you may argue, “It IS frustrating when I make mistakes!”

You’re not wrong, but this is tennis. It IS hard!

So hard in fact, that it’s designed to allow for abundant errors and still afford either player a shot at winning. No one has ever played a perfect match, not even elite athletes who earn their living playing tennis. You know this, so what is going on here?

Fear, that’s what. The underlying reason for your frustration (and stress) is fear.

– Fear of losing
– Fear of not getting better
– Fear of rejection or being left behind

We play recreational tennis in part for fun and to socialize, but this also means we might worry about not fitting in.  Not everyone gets better at the same rate.

Plus, athletic people are often naturally competitive, so we feel pressure to keep up with others, and it can be stressful.

This stress can make us anxious in matches, fearing we’ll lose, and make our practices unproductive because we’re worried about looking bad or slow. If we let this fear take over, it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. 

It’s normal to feel stressed, and you can blame evolution for it. Our ancient ancestors faced real danger if their tribes rejected them. 

But even though times have changed, our subconscious brains haven’t caught up, so we still feel like we might die if we don’t keep up with our teammates.

The Good News

Now you grasp this part of sports psychology, you can practice controlling your emotions. 

Instead of seeing your progress as a measure of your value, think of it as a sign of growth. 

When you do this, you’ll improve faster, play better, and reach your full potential. This is because when your emotions are in check, your frontal lobe can work properly.

As a bonus, this is the perfect condition for getting into “the zone,” that calm state of mind known for delivering peak athletic performance.

Redirect Your Mindset

How can you control your emotions on the tennis court? First, let’s focus on what you should avoid; worrying about winning and the fear of losing. 

In tennis, a basic lesson from sports psychology is that stressing too much about things you can’t control, like the match’s outcome, is the fastest way to lose. 

You read that right, but it bears repeating.

You Cannot Control Whether You Win or Lose

There are many things that can affect a match or practice that you can’t control, and listing them all would take too long. The important thing is that focusing on these things is a big waste of your mental energy, and it will harm your success.

It’s much better to concentrate on what you can control: yourself, your mindset, your shots, your decisions, and your composure.

When you focus on these things, all your energy goes into playing your best game, and there’s very little room for self-doubt or powerful emotions.

In this situation, you have the best chance of success.

Brad Gilbert, in his book “Winning Ugly,” advises you to pay attention to what’s happening in the game so you can adjust your strategy. This involves thinking logically and problem-solving. 

You’ll find it’s much easier to do this when you stop worrying so much about “winning.”

Reach Your True Potential By Playing In “The Zone”

Have you ever gone to a place you usually drive to, like school or work, and when you got there, you couldn’t remember the drive? It’s like your brain was on “auto-pilot,” and you weren’t thinking much. 

This is what people call being “in the zone.”

You’re using your instincts and focusing on what’s happening right now, just like when you calmly brush your teeth.

Tennis is definitely tougher than driving for most of us, but driving is also pretty complicated, right? 

You use all your senses, handle many things at once, and make quick decisions while driving to avoid accidents. You need to pay attention to the road, and traffic, and follow the rules.

Even though driving is complex, we often go into this “zone” mode behind the wheel. We might even chat with passengers without stressing about every little thing we do.

It’s ironic, isn’t it? Errors on a tennis court can hurt or damage your ego or score. But driving errors can hurt or kill you or someone else, or at the very least damage or total your car. 

Given that you can drive with a quiet mind, it stands to reason that you can learn to play tennis that way too.

The Art of Staying Present

You’ve learned what it takes to have a calm mind and how it affects your performance. You know that having a growth mindset helps you control your emotions and stay focused. This calm state is what helps you get into “the zone” and stay there.

But sometimes, you might need some extra help. Here are a few more ways to keep your mind calm on the tennis court. These are listed in no specific order.

Bench Your Feelings

We’ve talked about emotions and how staying composed is crucial. But here’s the truth: you’re human. Even the toughest folks sometimes feel emotions, especially the tricky ones like fear-based stress and frustration that we mentioned. 

You can’t completely stop them, so you need to learn how to handle them.

One method involves noticing these emotions without getting too absorbed in them. You can visualize placing them in a tennis bag and leaving it on the bench, to be addressed after the match, sort of like setting them aside for the moment. 

Another approach is to create some distance from these emotions and imagine them passing by as if you’re watching a parade from your house.

Sensory Engagement

One important and not-so-well-known thing about sports psychology is that you can calm your emotional or wandering mind by engaging your frontal lobe with your senses. Between points, you can do these things to regain composure:

Breathe: Pay attention to your breath going in and out. Feel your stomach and shoulders moving as you breathe.

Listen: Stop and listen to the sounds around you. Try to identify where each sound is coming from, even the subtle ones like the A/C indoors or traffic noise outside.

Feel: Hold a ball and squeeze it. Notice how your hand and arm muscles tighten and relax. Feel the ball’s texture, seams, and every detail you can.

Watch The Ball

In his book “The Inner Game of Tennis,” Timothy Gallwey advises not just looking at the ball, but watching it so closely you try to see its seams when your racquet hits it. This not only helps with your technique but also gives your mind something positive to focus on, keeping it clear and in the moment.

In his book “Inner Tennis: Playing The Game,” Gallwey goes further and suggests that you also pay attention to the ball’s path and how it moves across the court. If you’ve ever played tennis, you can understand how doing this consistently can become quite engrossing.

Check out our article on how to overcome a losing streak for more great tips.

Set and Execute Process Goals

Setting small, achievable “sub” goals is a way to reach a bigger main goal, like having a successful tennis match or a productive practice. These are called process goals and are used by tennis players who know about sports psychology. 

They are things you can completely control on your own.

For example, let’s take an overhead smash. You might know how to do this shot, but you often miss it because you rush or panic. 

You might have noticed that if you remember a few important things—like turning, swinging up, and keeping your weight forward — your body takes over, and you make the shot nearly every time.

These three steps become your process goal for hitting overheads, and that’s all you have to think about when facing a lob.

Can you see how focusing on just 2-3 simple and controllable aspects of most of your shots improves your chances of success by keeping your mind on the ball and staying emotionally neutral? 

Setting and achieving these process goals helps you stay focused and calm, which is what you need to play in “the zone.”

The Mental Edge: Harnessing the Power of Sports Psychology in Tennis

Incorporating sports psychology into your tennis journey is a game-changer. By strengthening your mental resilience, you’ll find yourself more focused, composed, and ready to conquer the challenges on the court. 

Take the next step in your tennis evolution by diving deeper into the world of sports psychology. Practice mindfulness, set process goals, and remember to stay in the moment. 

With these tools, you can unlock your full potential in tennis and gain the mental edge that sets you apart from the competition. It’s time to revolutionize your game and elevate your performance.

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Article by Sarah Cormier