Although nearly everyone would put their house on Nadal to win his 5th straight French Open title, Robin Soderling is one of the dark horses that he should be wary of.
Nadal beat him so convincingly a few weeks ago in Rome 6-1, 6-0 and is 3 and 0 in head to head results against Soderling but there has been some fierce rivalry between these two which started at this very tournament in the first round of 2006 in which Nadal clinically won in straight sets.
The tension between these two esculated at Wimbledon 2007 in a match that was played out over 3 days due to the weather. There was alot of niggling going on from Soderling in response to the time Nadal took between points and also some of his mannerisms. There was no love lost here between the two and Nadal went on to win 6-4 6-4 6-7(7) 4-6 7-5. This to me proved there was enough fire inside the belly of Soderling to take revenge and upset the world number one on what could be described as his very own court having never lost a match on it and over the course of the last four years only losing 7 sets from 31 matches.
The key to this victory could be put down to many things like Nadal not at his best or Nadal had peaked too soon this year winning so many titles already on the red surface, but the two things that really stood out for me in this match was (1) Soderling believed in himself and his game plan and (2) he went out there to make Nadal work and put him more on the defensive by hitting more to the strength of Nadal (forehand) and then exposing more of his weaker side in the backhand.
Ok, the title is not entirely true – however the point is DO NOT think TOO much during the match.
During the match is the time to EXECUTE everything that you have thought about before the match.
What am I talking about?? Ok. Before a match you would have trained and practiced. You would have worked on your technique across all your shots. You would have found great rythm on your serve and ground strokes. You also should have developed a clear plan / strategy on how you are going to play this match. Plan A and Plan B.
Do you see what I refer to when I say THINKING? During a match is the time to EXECUTE all these things. Forget about technique, you can not change that in a match. Forget about rhythm – it is your opponents objective to ensure you get no rhythm! Also forget about strategy.. it is pretty tough to work out a solid plan when you are in the middle of a match. Before the match is the time for that.
So, during the match you are relaxed and free to only think about executing your PLAN to beat this opponent. Focus on your plan, have confidence in your plan and most importantly STICK TO IT. Give your plan time to work.
So many people come into a match with a plan and then get discouraged because they are down in the first set. They go to plan B, which also fails.. What happens then? Then they are totally lost. When you are totally lost you are hitting balls aimlessly and points have less meaning. Then what do you start to think of? …. Technique, or creating plan C. During that time, game after game is slipping away and ultimately the match.
IF you PREPARE your plan well, be confident to EXECUTE it. Sometimes your plan may take a few games or set to take effect.
THINK before a match EXECUTE during the match..
Michael
Ok, firstly anxiety and nerves are slightly different things.
Anxiety is where you are looking forward to achieving a particular outcome in the future. The frustrating part about anxiety is that you are basically waiting for a ‘time’ to achieve it. For example a match on the weekend, in a few hours etc. Usually anxiety goes away once the match has started and you are able to do something about the outcome.
During a match or just before anxiety is usually replaced by nerves. So, what are these nerves? A definition of nerves is: ‘the gap between what needs to be done and what you believe you can do’.
Nerves are good – it mean that you care about the outcome !
Again, ‘what needs to be done’ – beat this opponent, play strong, volley well, work out how to beat someone.
The next part – ‘what you believe you can do’ – can you beat this opponent, play well etc. The closer your ‘belief’ on your ability to ‘achieve’ what needs to be done the less nerves you should have…. Never thought about it that way? The nerves are proportional to the size of the gap! Examples
If you are confident you can beat someone you might be slightly anxious to do it – but not nervous.
If you think you are going to loose, and are sure you can achieve loosing well you wont be nervous. (being negative – but proving a point)
If you are playing a good player of similar standard however you are feeling a little rusty, well you might feel nervous about how you will perform on the day.
How do you reduce nervousness?? Increase confidence. How do you increase confidence? Be confident in your preparation leading into the match. Your fitness, technique, routines etc.
If you are well prepared, confident with what you have done before the match you should be less nervous.
Preparation is something you can work on to reduce anxiety ! It makes you already in control of the outcome – preparing yourself. Now do you see how they fit together?? Interesting…
There also other tips for confidence like strategy and mental rehersal – that is going to be in another article!!
Have a great day !! Michael
For singles players The Tennis Court can become a lonely place. There are so many things going on out there and it is left to you to process them all and work out what to do.
Well here is a tip. Pretend, in your mind that your towel is your new best friend and coach. Take him or her with you all over the court. Your towel follows you down each end of the court and every time you need a chat do it! (You can actually wipe your face and forearms with it too !)
It may sound strange, but by talking to your towel – probably not too loud – you are actually talking to your self, and having to construct your thoughts in a coherent way. Therefore the jumbled ideas in your head become clearer. Listening to yourself or asking yourself questions, you WILL give your self answers.
There is a great book called ‘The Inner Game of Tennis’ and early in the book it talks about Self One and Self Two. You become the player and the coach. Talk about what to do next, if you are feeling tired etc. IT is also a way for you to ‘vent’ and become more relaxed afterward.
By talking to the towel you start to ask the coach in you clear questions and YOU WILL get answers. Remember not to talk too loud, maybe you dont need to actually say anything out loud, but just go through the process and see how that goes !
Thanks for listening and keep the feedback coming in.. It is great to hear !!
Michael
