Dominating Tennis

Mental tennis drills: routines, nerves and big points

4 drills105 minutes in all1 you can do alone
  1. 1

    The four-phase reset

    10 min · Alone or with a partner
    1. Use ten consecutive service points with a partner, or ten first-serve attempts alone. After the previous point or ball finishes, release it with one exhale and return to your serving position.
    2. Settle your breathing and choose the intended serve target. Keep these phases brief enough to leave time for your service motion within the applicable limit.
    3. Run your familiar ritual: your practised bounce count and last look, then the toss. Keep the same order without adding time to reach a fixed duration.
    4. Count every attempt, including faults and skipped routines. Count whether all four phases happened before the toss, with serve or point outcome separate. Finish all ten for a score; a partial block doesn't count toward the number to beat. Eight of ten is an authored practice aim.
    Number to beat
    8 of 10 consecutive serving attempts with all four phases run before the toss
    Why it works · MindWhat to do between points in tennis
  2. 2

    Stakes versus no stakes

    15 min · With a partner
    1. Use the same balls, deuce-side target and familiar routine in both blocks. Hit ten second serves without a score. Your partner counts attempts and serves in, regardless of who would win the point.
    2. Start each of ten further attempts as a new simulated 30–40 second-serve point: a fault loses that simulated game. Your partner calls the score and counts serves in. Keep the target and routine unchanged.
    3. On another visit, use a spoken external target cue in both blocks and try to beat your no-score minus scored gap. Alternate block order across visits. If you stop early, a partial block doesn't count toward the aim.
    Number to beat
    Training goal: no more than 1 serve lost from no-stakes to stakes, ten each
    Why it works · MindHandling pressure in tennis: attention, routines and practice
  3. 3

    The slide answer

    20 min · With a partner
    1. Play a scored practice set. After three consecutive losses, mark one reset opportunity before the next point. Count once per losing run; restart the loss count after you win a point.
    2. Complete your reset and name one adjustment before the next point. When serving, leave time to strike within the applicable limit. When receiving, be ready at the server’s reasonable pace.
    3. Use a short cue, such as body serve, higher over the net or return cross. In this practice task, say it before play without delaying the next point.
    4. Count reset completed and adjustment named separately; both are needed to score the opportunity. Keep missed resets in the total and the next-point result separate. The four-opportunity score counts only after four opportunities.
    Number to beat
    4 of 4 three-point slides answered with the full reset and one named change
    Why it works · MindIs momentum real in tennis, and how to stop losing streaks
  4. 4

    The big-point board

    60 min · With a partner
    1. Before play, choose one serve target with an intended next shot and one return plan. Agree how your partner will count the reset and any change prompted by the incoming ball.
    2. Count the first ten points whose pre-point score is 30–30, 30–40, 40–30, deuce, or a set or match point. Count each point once, including repeated deuce points, errors and double faults. These are practice triggers, not a ranking of model leverage.
    3. Before each selected point, reset and name the plan within the normal pace of play. Afterwards, award one process tick only if you reset, named the plan before play, and can describe keeping it or adapting to the actual ball. Missing or unclear checks earn no tick. Count shot execution and the point result separately; an early ending may leave no next-shot decision.
    4. The process ticks are a score only after ten selected points. If the match supplies fewer, a partial block doesn't count toward the number to beat; do not rescale it to ten. Start a new block after the tenth point.
    Number to beat
    8 of the first 10 selected points with a completed plan-and-reset check
    Why it works · MindHow to play big points in tennis