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1.) Practice Improving Attention Skills…

The 1^stbarrier to mental toughness is when our concentration lapses.

Players can lose concentration during matches when they get distracted by external causes (e.g., sounds), or also when their naturally wandering minds start thinking about things not to do with the match.

It’s quite amazing that although being able to aim and maintain attention on a helpful performance target is such a foundational requirement to successful performance…

And although we are regularly told to “Pay attention” during our developmental years, we rarely actually formally practice it.

This is a little like expecting someone to get fit without doing fitness training!

Here is a super simple way that players can develop attention skills during the daily activity of teeth cleaning:

Step 1.) The idea is to see how long we can aim and maintain our attention on a sensory aspect of the activity…

So the sound of the...

During times when our actions aren’t matching our stated Purpose on a consistent basis, it’s great to complete this 4-question activity to help re-commit to helpful actions for the next time we are going on-court.

1.) Imagine you are attending your own retirement party from sport. If the party was to occur right now what would people important to you (e.g., your coach, parents) say about your involvement in tennis?

2.) Now imagine that the retirement party is occurring in the future. What would you like these people to say at this time about your sports participation?

3.) How does what they would say now compare to what you wish they would have to say?

4.) What’s the smallest, easiest action you could take in your next session to make it more likely they would say things that reflect what is important to you?

If you'd like a copy of the Retirement Party Activity, click here...

Recently I read Nick Saviano’s book ‘Maximum Tennis’ which had lots of great tips in it but in the book when he told the story of losing after having 3 match points during his 1^st ever Wimbledon performance he gave some poor advice regarding what we should try to do when it comes to thinking about possible match outcomes during matches.

The advice Nick gives is among the most common ways I see coaches and parents accidentally hinder player mental toughness development.

You can check out the advice and what I think we should do instead in my latest ‘Mental Toughness Made Simple’ video. 

We can take many lessons from the amazing run that Naomi Osaka is currently on in the Slams. But there is one that stands out more than any other for me...

1.) Compete Your Hardest When Your Opponent Is Trying To Finish You, As This Is When It's Most Likely They'll Play Their Worst

As we saw in the final stages of the women's tournament, finishing close matches is hard, even for the best. And it was this fact that allowed Karolina Pliskova and Petra Kvitova to get back in their matches against Serena and Osaka. 

These 2 recoveries were my favourite efforts of the tournament. To do this, the key is to recognise the difficult thoughts that will surely arise when our opponents seem likely to finish us (e.g., Pliskova remarked that her head was 'already in the locker room' against Serena), and commit to taking actions that increase the chance of success on just the next point (and practice repeating these steps over and over.

2.) Choking is Rarely Fatal, So How Players Recover From Getting Tight Is Super Important

All players tend to get tight at least occasionally when finishing sets and matches...Federer struggled big...

With the Australian Open qualifying event underway, Mentally Tough Tennis consultant Pat Flynn advises on what players should focus on and commit to during points...

He also reflects on his consulting role this week involving new coaching rules that are being experimented with for the 1st time in a Grand Slam this week.

Check out Pat's video above :)

If a player's tendency to compete poorly stems from listening to the difficult passengers that often get on our bus during matches (or maybe even trying to kick them off the bus), this activity called ‘Thanking the Passengers’ is very helpful when practiced regularly.

Step 1.)

As soon as a player recognises that they’re no longer committing to helpful actions during a match (such as your strategy or helpful cues), they should scan their mind for any difficult passengers commenting on the situation.

Step 2.)

Typically we find that the nervous passengers say things like “you’re going to mess it up/don’t lose from here/don’t miss”, the frustration passengers say “that’s not good enough/that’s not fair”, and the helpless passengers say “there’s nothing you can do”. When players notice what their difficult passengers are saying (or yelling), they should simply thank them for their...

Amazing as it sounds, everything players need to know about developing mental toughness can be learned in a 2 min story about a bus driver...

Given that a break of serve would have almost certainly resulted in another Nadal Slam victory...who would have thought that when Novak Djokovic walked up to the line to serve at 7-7, 15-40 in the 5th set of their Wimbledon semi-final a few months ago that he would wake up regaining his #1 ranking by early November...

After all, in that moment he must have been experiencing significant self-doubt given that he hadn't won a Grand Slam for more than 2 years (which probably included the prediction that he would likely lose the match)...And he must have felt frustration at having just double faulted at 15-30 and earlier twice coming within 2 points of victory (0-30 on Nadal's serve).

But what happened next was that Djokovic cracked a Serve + 1 combo to force a Nadal error, followed by an ace. This gave an insight into what was to come in the minutes and months that lay ahead... And how Djokovic had regained the mental skill that had provided the foundation for him...

The 8^thDay of the Australian Open showed how even the best professional players aren’t immune from hitting the mental wall.

First it was Dominic Thiem winning a total of 4 more games when leading Goffin 7-5 6-6 (4-4 in tie breaker)…

Next it was Istomin who, since shocking Djokovic, had continued his impressive display with a 3^rdround victory and was then leading Dimitrov 6-2 6-6 from which point he won only 3 more games…

And next, Bautista Agut had fought his way back after losing the 1^stset against Raonic 6-7, to win the next 6-3 and find himself at 4-4 in the 3^rdwith several break point chances to serve for a 2 sets to 1 lead…He won only 1 more game from that point…

And finally, with Nadal stumbling as he neared the finish line Monfils suddenly found himself back in the match with a big chance to take it to a 5^thset serving at 4-3 30-0 in the 4^th…He failed to win another game.

Together this group of players (Thiem, Istomin,...