Tennis Footwork

We are near the end of the game changing week now…..if you missed any of the previous steps just go here for the previous post and follow back from there.

Before I go on, I just need to tell you that David (the player I told you about at the beginning of this whole story) who in a way inspired me to put out these posts, has been running with this sequence from the time of our chat at the tournament & is raving about the results….he says it’s really cleared things up for him and allowed him to focus & push his game on with big improvements already.

With that said let’s move onto the next 2 steps, which were actually 2 big ones for David & I’m sure they will be for you too.

—————————————-U – UTILIZE – DAY 5——————————————
One of the biggest things tennis players ignore & miss out on is the ability to UTILIZE the resources around them.

Sometimes the most potent forces to move forwards with are right under their noses and they miss them because they just aren’t looking for them.

For example, 2 players I know (mums) freed up some time to go and make team practise by sharing some child care duties.

They both had kids of about the same age but it was only after I suggested that they might want to share watching over the kids for the 2 hours of drills that they were able to make practise every other week.

To be honest, the kids got on great so it was an easy job…….they were happy & we ended up with 2 happy tennis playing mums who got in 2 hours extra which they didn’t have before.

Now, this is just one simple example that happened but I want you to think about situations where you could utilize a situation or relationship to move your game forwards.

I threw a few ideas around with David & he sorted out some regular treatment from a physio in exchange for some accounting (which is his line of work)…….Get the idea?

Think about it because there are always a few things that could enable you to move your game forwards that were not in play before.

—————————————C – CRITISIZE – DAY 6————————————–
Today can be an almost spiritual experience for many players and was for David

I want you to CRITISIZE and even vent anger about all of the major hurdles you face between where your game is right now and where you want it to be.

Now, while some folks will say “you should never be negative about stuff”, in my experience getting these things out in the open and talking about them has a powerful motivating effect.  All you need to do is to start talking and the “magic” will begin to happen.

Whether you have a mentor (who can give you qualified advice about what to do next) or you just have a friend, it’s a powerful experience because some of the most determined people in the World get that determination from a situation they stand against.

Think about some of the most powerful movements in history & you will see what I mean.

By the way, if you are interested in mentorship and online performance strategy sessions, then I do have a few spaces left in my diary.  The players I work with on this basis have been super pleased with the results they have had (even if at first they weren’t sure about the power of it).

It doesn’t matter if you have a “conventional” coach because this is in many ways different.

Just drop me an email to tennistransformation@gmail.com tell me a bit about yourself & your tennis and we can organize a free 30 minute consultation session where we can decide whether we would be a good fit for each other.

Tomorrow, we will wrap things up and tie up all the loose ends so keep an eye out for that post.

Following on from day 1 & day 2 I have decided to provide the info for two days today – days 3 & 4.

Don’t be tempted to jump ahead though, just follow things in their order.

Ok, let’s go!!

—————————O – ORGANIZE – DAY 3——————————-
An easy way to improve your tennis in a short period of time (even just a a day) is to be more productive, so, today you need to sit down & look at what you do……a bit of brainstorming.

Write down the patterns to the way you go about your practises etc…….are you doing things regularly that are clearly not the best use of your time or even a waste of time?

Are there things that you could just be doing more efficiently?

Just because you’ve always done things that way doesn’t mean they’re right does it?

You may not be on the tennis court every day but are there things that you could be doing that could push your game forwards?

Brainstorm around what you have written, come up with ways to ORGANIZE your time & try them out to see how they work.

We all have the same time available to us every day (24 hours) but I bet with the exercise today you find that you get a bit more out of your 24 hour period than before……..and that adds up over time
—————————-D – DEFUSE – DAY 4————————————
Today you need to look at the negative things impacting your game.

What is the no 1 thing harming your game right now?

I don’t just mean a bad shot (which is what most people say)….it could be a destructive behavior on court, a lack of fitness or even a bad situation at home that you carry onto the courts with you.

Whatever it is, it’s time to identify it & defuse it because part of the skill of moving forwards is identifying & dealing with what’s holding you back……..not things that are progressing slowly (like that developing backhand) I mean things that are acting like anchors and stopping you moving forwards………it’s no good having a Ferrari if you drive it with the handbrake on!!

I have never come across a player who couldn’t identify at least one thing that was holding them back and in most cases there are more than one.

Resolve them asap.

Take time today to identify them & an action plan to DEFUSE them.

Hope that helped….next time is all about your resources, so stick around!!

Now that you have got started & POLARIZED yourself from all the other players who just talk about playing better tennis, we need to get onto the next stage and the next hurdle that often trips players up.

You should now have your list of things to work on (have you done it???) but there’s still one thing that often stops players in their tracks.

There’s one thing that’s linked to your task from yesterday (day 1) & that’s………………not deciding or knowing what to start with.

Make a decision and stick to it.

The sooner you REALIZE that making a choice and getting going will get you to where you want to be quicker……the better!!

Whether it’s working on getting a better serve, your fitness or working on your self doubt in tight matches, today is the day you pick one of them and get going with it.

Don’t worry about whether it’s the “best” choice or not…..let me put it this way.

ANY choice you make is better than making NO CHOICE!!

You have until midnight today to decide……no exceptions.

So, we have the first 2 elements in play now – Polarize & Realise.

Tomorrow we will look at the analysis of your weekly schedule and how that affects your game.

Ok, so you know about my little chat with the player and about his frustrations at not playing his best tennis in matches from yesterday (your best tennis in 7 days background), well today we will look at day 1 of the 7 day process of setting yourself up to play your best tennis because it’s not just a case of getting on the court and doing what you normally do or playing as much as you can and seeing what happens.

Now, as you should know I really like my players to see the “big picture” of things because this is the only way you will see big improvements over the long term.

Much of the tennis info out there is so narrowly focused on stuff like stroke mechanics that most players don’t see how everything fits together and they struggle to make the gains they should be making.

The way I have set this up for you is in a way that you can just set things up, run them & repeat the process over & over as you get better……..That’s the beauty of a good high level performance strategy, you can just rinse & repeat it because…….it just works!!

Each of the simple action steps I’ve included can be implemented in a 24 hour period and can be cycled over and over for as long as you want and remember, these are the high level strategies that will apply to YOU as much as they will apply to Federer, Nadal or Djokovic.

I use them & have used them with every level of player from junior beginner to touring Pro…….because they work!!

What you do at ground level to fill in the gaps is very much an individual thing, but remember without this high level structure your results will be limited.

———————————————————P – POLARIZE – DAY 1————————————————–

Today you start out with just one simple thing.

I want you to polarise yourself from 97% of the rest of the tennis players out there (and maybe even from some of your tennis buddies) by taking action.

You are going to get on the road to making your best tennis a reality…….Yes, you are going to………Get Started.

So many players wait until they have the “perfect” situation in place before they begin their road to improvement.

“I’m gonna lose a few pounds before I start my fitness program” or “I’m just going to have a few more lessons before I join that ladder league” etc etc.

This isn’t a train station where the trains only leave at set times…………Just Get Going!!!

The sooner you get started the sooner you will be playing the tennis you know you can play.

What have you been delaying until now?

What do you need to do that you know will have a massivively positive impact on your game?

Get started on compiling a list of the things you need to do in your game…….today, even if you are not able to get on the tennis court (another big excuse for players).

It may not be perfect (nothing is by the way) but by commiting to something & taking a step forward today will probably be the catalyst you need for big, game-changing results……..Take Action.

Tomorrow (in day 2) I will show you what to do with the list you compile today so you need to get it done.