Overcoming Nerves And Fear On The Court

You wait patiently, if a little nervously, for your match. There are butterflies in your stomach, but they aren't too bad. You feel a little jittery - a small electric thrill of anticipation. Eventually the time arrives. It's match time. Your heart starts pounding in your chest. The butterflies seem to have somehow grown in size, and possible grown claws. Your legs feel heavy, your hands may even be shaking slightly. You look across the net at your opponent, and his game is intimidating. You begin to wonder how you're going to handle his forehand. The doubts, at first little whispers in the back of your mind become louder, grow stronger. By the time the first point is played, your carefully wrought game-plan seems a paltry thing - by the time a few games have played you're no longer even thinking about game plans.

Does this story sound familiar? Do you find nerves interfering strongly with your ability to play tennis to the best of your ability? If so, read on to find out exactly what those 'nerves' are, and what you can do to combat them.

5 Habits To Improve Your Mental Game

Today's update is at the request of viva_la_albert over at /r/tennis/.

I vividly remember an incident during a Stefan Edberg match many years ago. Edberg was the victim of a bad line call. He walked up to stand underneath the umpire's chair, stuck out his bottom lip and with a sharp outward breath blew his hair up a little bit. Edberg then turned around, walked back to the baseline and played the next point. "That," the commentator deadpanned, "is a Swedish tantrum."

Below is Tactical Tennis's short list of five ways you can improve your mental attitude on the court and become a better competitor....

Technology And Tennis: How And When Equipment Has Changed The Game

We see it in news articles about tennis. We hear it from the mouths of commentators on the TV. Tennis stars of years gone by lament about it. What am I talking about? The effect of technology changes on the game of tennis. Graphite frames? Mono-filament strings? We've come a long way from wooden rackets strung with natural gut. Which brings us to the question of today's article on Tactical Tennis:

What technology has really changed in the last forty years, and what effect has it really had on the game?

Part 3: Why Can't Michael Llodra Break Through?

Welcome to Part 3! We finished Part 2 with a big question: if a 6'3, athletic serve and volleyer is our best hope for serve and volley to return to the upper echelons of the game, why not Michael Llodra? He's 6'3. He's fast. His volley technique is superb. He has a world-class slice backhand and isn't afraid to chip and charge on second serves. His service motion is good, and his serve has garnered praise from his fellow pros. So why can't he break through? At 32 it isn't a question of him peaking.

So what is holding Llodra back?

Part 2: Why A Serve And Volley Player Can Succeed

Welcome back to Tactical Tennis for Part 2 of our Serve and Volley series. In Part 1 we looked at the decline of serve and volley tennis in the last decade. Included in the reasons were equipment, technique, adaptation of returners to faster serves, and the longer time it takes for a serve and volley player to mature compared to a base-liner. There is a decided dearth of serve and volleyers in the top 100: for the year end rankings of 2012 on-again off-again serve and volleyer Radek Stepanek is ranked 31, and the only pure serve and volleyer Michael Llodra is 53. Stepanek is a spry 34 years old, and Llodra will be 33 next May.

The future looks bleak. Chris Guccione showed promise, but at 27 he is now ranked 567 despite his formidable serve. Devin Britton won the NCAA Singles title with a mostly serve-and-volley game in 2009 and while his ranking is on an upwards trajectory at 402 in the world, his rise has hardly been meteoric and he's confessed in interviews to not believing pure serve and volley tennis is viable at the pro level. Is Britton correct?

Can a current professional player be a consistent presence in the top 10 in the world as a genuine serve and volleyer?