Why you choke in tennis and how to fix it

Name your choke. Then use the fix that matches it.

Key facts

1
In Beilock's experiments, choking appeared in golf putting but not in alphabet arithmetic, and self-consciousness training removed it where dual-task training did not.
Beilock & Carr, "On the Fragility of Skilled Performance"
2
Explicit monitoring, attending consciously to a skill that should run automatically, is the dominant route to choking for well-learned strokes.
Beilock & Carr
3
Distraction, where worry floods working memory, dominates for less automated tasks and can hit high-working-memory performers hardest.
DeCaro, Thomas, Albert & Beilock (2011)
4
The yips run on a continuum from a dystonia-driven type to an anxiety-driven type, with mixed cases, and are documented mainly in golf.
Clarke, Sheffield & Akehurst (2015)

Why it works

Route one is explicit monitoring. Pressure makes you attend consciously to a skill that should run on its own, and the skill breaks. It's the main route for well-learned strokes like a grooved second serve. A technical cue such as "get the wrist snap right" is this route in one sentence.

Route two is distraction. Worry floods working memory and there isn't enough left for the task. It dominates for newer, attention-heavy tasks, like a return position you've just changed. "Relax" treats arousal and ignores where your attention went.

The yips are a third thing, on a spectrum from a neurological, dystonia-driven type to an anxiety-driven type. They show up in tennis serves and tosses too. For a truly dystonic case, "just relax" is the wrong prescription.

What survives pressure is automaticity built under pressure. Practise with consequences: start service games at 30-40 with a second serve only, play from 4-4, and put scored games at the end of a tired session.

The line to say on court
“Nerves are the dial. Choking is where the attention went.”

Drill: Stakes versus no stakes

15 min · with a partner

Hit ten second serves into the deuce box with no score and no consequence. Count the ones that go in.
Hit ten more, each played as 30-40 in a game your partner scores, with a consequence for a double fault. Count again.
Next week, repeat with an external target said aloud before each toss. Compare the gap between the two counts.

Number to beatNo more than 1 serve lost from no-stakes to stakes, ten each

More drills like this: mental game

Faults and fixes

Fixing technique mid-match

Technical cues send you down the self-focus route.

FixKeep technique for practice. Use targets in matches.

Using "relax" as your only tool

It does nothing for distraction and is wrong for a dystonic yip.

FixUse your routine plus an external cue. See a coach if the problem persists.

Practising only with no score

Your automatic stroke has never met pressure.

FixAdd a consequence, then add fatigue.

Questions players ask

What should I think about on a pressure second serve?

A target, in words, then your routine. The target is an external cue, and the routine is the one tool that counters both routes to choking.

Does telling yourself to relax help with nerves?

Sometimes. It treats arousal but ignores where your attention is, so it does nothing for distraction and is the wrong advice for a dystonic yip.

Can tennis players get the yips?

Yes. The yips are documented mainly in golf but also appear in tennis serves and tosses. If a toss problem survives a routine and a target for weeks, it may not be nerves, and a coach should look.

How do I practice for pressure?

Add consequences. Start service games at 30-40 with a second serve only, play from 4-4, and finish tired sessions with scored games.

What this doesn't cover

Which route dominates for a given player in a given moment is unsettled. There are no reliable tour numbers here for how serve speed, toss height or double faults shift on break points. Yips prevalence estimates in golf vary between reviews, and nothing here is a diagnosis.

Sources

Beilock & Carr, "On the Fragility of Skilled Performance"
DeCaro, Thomas, Albert & Beilock (2011)
Clarke, Sheffield & Akehurst (2015): review of the yips
Frontiers (2025): yips in golf

MindWhat to do between points in tennisBetween points, run the same short routine every time and end it with one thought about the target, not your body. Pros use about 18 to 20 seconds of the 25 the rules allow. Release the last point, breathe, decide your plan in target words, then run the same ritual into the toss. Don't just tell yourself to calm down.MindHow to play big points in tennisPlay big points by taking less risk, not more. The score tells you which points matter: break points, set points, tiebreak points and 15–30. On those, serve to the body or a proven target, hit into the bigger part of the court and run a pattern you've rehearsed. By one estimate, an average tour break point swings match-win probability by about ten percentage points.Serve and returnHow to hit a reliable second serve under pressureHit your second serve with the same swing as your first, more brush and one proven target. Slowing the arm to be safe removes the spin that gives you net clearance, so you get a slower ball with less clearance and a returner stepping in. Top-50 men win about 57.5 % of second-serve points, against 73.6 % behind a first.MindIs momentum real in tennis, and how to stop losing streaksMomentum in tennis is hard to prove: many streaks look the same as runs generated at random from each player's serve-win rate. That doesn't make momentum fake, it makes your eye a poor instrument for it. After a slide, the next point is close to independent, so don't change everything. Run your full reset and change one thing you can name.