Maintaining your Mental Edge

Stay with your game plan. Maintain the strokes and strategy that you feel comfortable with. If you need to adjust you strategy, relish the opportunity.
Use positive phrases to maintain concentration and focus such as: “let’s go, right here,” and “I love this challenge.” Always think momentum is on your side. Visualize yourself winning the match. Raise your intensity level after winning points
Relax when the inner critic comes knocking. Don’t let the game with yourself be harder than the game with your opponent. Diffuse the inner critic with a smile. Turn the inner critic into your powerful positive inner coach.
Keep your eyes focused on specific targets in between points, such as your strings, the ground, where you want to hit the ball. Avoid looking around and adding distractions to the equations.
Breathe deeply and rhythmically to maintain physical relaxation between points. Make this a routine. Players tend to constrict their breathing under stress, remember to exhale as you contact the ball.
Keep your head and shoulders upright during points to project a powerful positive presence. Sell yourself on the court. Walk the walk.
Closing out a game, a set or a match is like every other point in the match. It requires total focus and intensity. Trust your game, stay in each point, and enjoy the challenge and you’ll be on your way to maintaining the mental edge.