Posted on July 23, 2008 - by The Insider | Visited 315 times, 1 so far today

Winners Have Strict Routines - Like Nadal

Everyone who watched the Wimbledon Final between Federer and Nadal were treated to a sensational moment in history! What a great match. The first thing that struck me was the routines that Nadal goes through especially before the match.

Routines give you, as the player a feeling of ‘control’ over some of variables around you. Control leads to confidence in a situation and confidence makes you feel relaxed.

For example, Nadal starts controlling what he can even before the match starts. He has strict pre-match routines. Nadal walks out onto court with a racquet - like a with a weapon in his hand. He places his bag, bottles, towels around his chair in a very specific way. He is basically owning a part of the court, somewhere he can feel comfortable.

Perhaps, the most obvious routine is how he sprints to the back of the court after the coin toss. This routine every match is the mental cue for ‘lets get ready to fight’.

Other obvious routines that you will see other players do are things like: Never stepping on a line when not in a point, bouncing the ball x number of times before a serve, straightening your hat before serving or tucking your hair behind your ears before a serve.

Some pre match routines are: The night before a match check your strings, grips and clothes are ready. One hour before check your towels, water bottles, food for the match. If you need to travel ensure you know the destination and allow much more time than required. You don’t want to be rushing.

With each routine comes a sence of familiarity. Building routines will bring confidence, reduce the chance of things going wrong and improve your results.

Stay tuned on this site - We will go into more detail in the future and give some great examples of players routines and some that you can try yourself.

So, keep an eye out for other peoples routines ..

Michael

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