So, day 7 is here and we now complete the picture.

You will have come a long way in a week (or a bit longer if you stretched it out) and we are ready to round things off…..so here goes.

————————————–E – ENERGIZE – DAY 7———————————
Without energy you will never play better tennis or make it to the end of anything, so it’s important to spend time getting those energy levels right “up there”.

Are you eating right, getting enough sleep, hydration and exercise?

Are you sitting at a desk all day without taking regular breaks to re-energize?

There are so many factors involved here that it’s another topic by itself but the fact is simple adaptations to your lifestyle can have a massive impact on your energy levels.

Higher levels of energy mean you run faster & for longer, concentrate better, make better decisions etc etc and you know what many of the bad situations you are getting into are anyway………don’t you

Today, you are going to list them out because tomorrow you will make a start with the item at the top of the list and start to rectify it.

If you are not sure about what to do, start with these two.

1. Take a break every hour (set a timer) and get up, walk around for 20 mins drink some water and have a small healthy snack.
Do it even if you are working, this will make you more productive at work and if you are playing later…..WOW make a note of the difference!!!

2. Drop me an email to tennistransformation@gmail.com to organize a free 30 minute consultation (if spaces are still available) because energizing is just part of the performance strategy program that is within the mentorship……you get a FREE 30 min consultation to see how things work……so drop me an email asap.

CONCLUSION:

Here are the 7 days all in one place

P – Polorize  R – Realize  O – Organize  D – Defuse  U – Utilize  C – Criticize  E – Energize

Any of these past 7 days can make a big difference to your tennis and they all will make “a” difference.

Get started on this 7 day list asap (remember day 1??).  Devote 45 mins each day for the next week to completing the tasks……One per day & get to the end of the week and look back to see how monumental it’s been for you.

Good luck!

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.

I was at one of the largest tennis events in the veterans/seniors calender last week over here in the UK (just doing a bit of nosing around you know) and I ended up talking to several of the players during the frequent breaks in play because of the wet weather.

One guy (David) had won his first round 6-2, 7-5 and had just lost to the No 1 seed 6-2, 6-0 which on the face of it was expected but having watched the match should have been a lot closer.

He had break points in at least 3 games and was up 30-0 in many of his own games.

Now listen, the guy he played was very solid and hardly missed a ball he shouldn’t have missed but to only win 2 games was at best……disappointing.

When we spoke about it, he said the worst thing wasn’t the losing, it was the fact that he just didn’t feel he played well.

Now, this is so true for all of us isn’t it…..we all know deep down that we won’t win every match but we all feel better if we played well and up to the level we know we can play to.

I can honestly say that I have enjoyed some matches I have lost far more than some matches I have won (& won trophies)……..& I HATE losing!!!!  The ultimate is when I have played well & won BIG (11-9 final set, big tournament win still in my mind today……thank you very much).

Anyway, we sat & chatted some more & I asked him about his preparation (after all this is a big tennis tournament he would/should have been building up to).

He said he did the same stuff he normally does (1 doubles session, 1 lesson with tennis coach & 1 gym session per week), which is NOT how you should approach it by the way, but when I asked him how he had started things off he looked at me with that blank expression that I knew meant “no idea what you mean”.

And that’s the point, most players I know just recycle what they normally do over & over and hope things get better.  Sometimes they play well (normally in practise which just recharges the hope hormones), most times they don’t (in matches when they really want to).

What most players don’t know is that you really need to set the whole process up in the right way in order to see the results you want on a consistent basis regardless of what you end up doing afterwards.

So, what if there was a set of action steps you could take that would set you up to improve your tennis starting today?

What if there were only 7 of them & you could impact your game in just 7 days (1 per day)?

Would you use them?

Well there is, so if you’re ready I’ll begin.

Starting tomorrow

Watch This Short Video To Improve Your Tennis Volley

To learn how to use your new found volley skills & enhance your doubles game…leave your First Name & Best Email Address & we’ll send you the video “7 of the most asked questions in doubles“

Tennis Volleys: all tennis players should & need to volley and the good news is that it is technically the easiest shot in the game.

The big problem is that so many players spend all their time working on their forehands, backhands & serves (partly because the volley is seen less in the Pro game these days), that the volley takes a back seat and that’s not great because almost all club tennis involves the game of tennis doubles which should involve a lot of volleying to become successful.

Here are 3 simple tips to help you volley like Federer (Olympic doubles champ), Pat Rafter & Pete Sampras and to take your game to new levels.  

Tennis Footwork?

Important?

In the next 90 seconds I’m going to show you the first key reason why footwork for tennis is a critical success component.

Without great footwork (footspeed, balance, agility etc) Federer, Nadal, & Djokovic would not have won all of the Grand Slams (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon & US Open) over the past few years & would not be the major forces in the game of tennis that they are today!!

Check out the video below.

footwork4tennis.com -For more footwork videos & info

Being the best tennis player you can be IS NOT just about what you can do to others.

Being the best tennis player you can be IS about how much you can take out there on the court and still move forwards.

Now, I don’t know where I first saw that or even if I recalled it correctly but hopefully you get the point.

If you really understand that & take it on board you will do a lot beter than the players adopting this other more popular internal conversation.

Do I try to play my tennis forehand like Nadal?
Do I try to have a single handed backhand like Federer?
Should I try to have a tennis serve like Roddick?
What about a double handed backhand like Andy Murray?
Has Djokovic got the kind of tennis return & volley technique I should be using?

This thought process is flawed because you could have any combination of these players’ shots & still do great………however, if you had very little of the first statement you would really struggle to play anywhere near your best.

Winning tennis matches & your best tennis is achieved on a regular basis by what you do in the head & the mind….NOT whose forehand style you have.

Do you have a statement that defines your best tennis???

Also, there is a limited time offer on Beat All The Tennis Players You Want which is my best selling Special Report.  There are a host of bonuses that come with it at no extra cost so check it out if you want to know about game planning and matchplay with a purpose – before the offer ends!!