Fix Your Mental and Physical Tennis
First published on 9-09-2009. Bookmark & share
by Randy Lynn Rutledge - a previously certified USPTA Tennis Teaching Professional
( Note: retired in good standing, but stopped making USPTA dues payments )
( Note: retired in good standing, but stopped making USPTA dues payments )
This article is about successful tennis.
The body and mind of a tennis champion must be maintained at levels well above those considered to be normal for the general population. All tennis skills must be programmed so that execution will happen automatically. All non-tennis activities should enhance mental and physical readiness. Indulgence in anything which could compromise mental or physical readiness must be well timed and limited.
I love watching tennis players who have reached the top level of the sport. Before any tennis tournament has started, I cannot, honestly, say that I have ever hoped that any one player will hoist the winner's trophy. It is the TENNIS that I love. Tennis is a mental and physical contest between opposing players, or teams.
In my opinion, the trophy for winning the final match of a tennis tournament should always go to the player who has best prepared mentally and physically to be able to select and execute appropriate tennis arsenal elements according to the changing needs and demands of the present moment, throughout each point of every game, set, and match.
Much planning and preparation goes into any athlete being able to reach the top level of a sport. Being able to reach the top requires a balance of mental and physical supremacy.
Staying at the top requires a certain amount of hunger, an ability to compete against the records of past champions, adjusting to the abilities of present champions, and maintaining a mental and physical fitness to be able to fend off challenges by up-and-coming future champions.