How To Calm Down In Tennis

The game of tennis is very chaotic at beginner and intermediate levels which means there no real order or pattern to it. www.feeltennis...
The incoming balls from your opponent are all the time different - they drive at different heights, speeds and with different spins and you may feel that you are running all over the place to chase these balls.
This constant chasing of balls and lack of order or pattern creates a lot of stress and anxiety and obviously you will not move efficiently, hit smoothly and think clearly.
That's why it's crucial that you learn how to calm down in matches as you will then move better, executer strokes more fluidly and recognise tactical patterns your opponent is playing against you.
We will progress through three stages of working on calming yourself down and we'll use 3 actions to achieve that: holding balance longer, slowing down the follow-through and having a long exhale. You will execute all three as long as the ball flies from your contact until the bounce on the other side.

[@ignacioechaide1978]

Fantastic piece of advice! You are the most practical and down-to-earth tennis coach I've known. I've never seen anyone proposing a three-step method to get calm in a tennis match. Thanks again.

[@feeltennis]

Very much appreciated!

[@richardleecba]

You're the best coach ever!

[@allboutthemojo]

Good tip for sure 👌 I think it's even more challenging to execute the calm when playing against the rec players you mentioned who hit the ball all over the place. These are the guys that have played for a long time, very poor technique but amazing hand eye coordination and manage to get the ball back in play and you as an opponent cannot possibly read or expect what's coming because what looks like a forehand turns into a drop shot etc. Very challenging to calmly execute but even more important!

[@jhugoluz]

Excellent! Tennis is very chaotic! I am trying those three advices 👏🏻👏🏻

[@feeltennis]

Let me know how it goes over time!

[@rj540]

Great idea. Everyone hits great in warm ups when there's no presssure!

[@markelliot1697]

Hi Tomaz! I watch quite a few online coaching sessions and I find yours the most clear, informative and have the biggest impact on my tennis. Thanks so much for all your content. Hope to have an in person lesson one day. Cheers Mark

[@feeltennis]

Thank you very much, Mark! Enjoy tennis and keep in touch!

[@tulim7563]

Thanks Thomas, that’s been my big problem for a long time. Being too tight and stressed during rallies. I’m going to apply the wonderful tips you provided.

[@feeltennis]

You can do it!

[@massimofulfaro529]

Great video. Find piece in the chaos ❤. Maintain the balance and slow the follow through until the ball bounces.. never thought about it but it looks harmonious and in sync with the subsequent split step. Sometimes in this situations I ended up doing 2 split steps and basically working too much. Thanks for posting this 🙏

[@slayu862]

I tried this today. Feel soo much more relaxed. I also feel I’ve control over the pace of the shot and can develop slow, medium and fast paced swings. I know if I do this enough, this relaxation will make its way to matches. Awesome tip!

[@feeltennis]

Thanks for coming back and sharing!

[@MinhTran-od3dy]

Wonderful lesson and it has already helped my games.

[@anskey]

Thanks Thomas. Great coaching and advice. I can’t wait to apply this technique when I‘m on the court again! I just subscribed to your channel 😊

[@feeltennis]

Much appreciated!

[@huangwee3465]

Very inspiring and excellent instructions

[@feeltennis]

Many thanks!

[@MuratSeverKisisel]

I do not know since when I am addictied to your instructional videos, I have learned a lot from you, I think I owe you a big thank-you-very-much! Please keep up the excellent work. I wish I had you as a coach when I started tennis! Pozdrav iz Turske! :)

[@feeltennis]

Very much appreciated, wonderful to hear!

[@MuhammadAthallahArsyaf]

The key to calming down in tennis is to be physically fit and have good stamina. A previously sedentary person who is just starting out in tennis will not be able to stay calm as their endurance level is lower to sustain such composure.

[@brenhugh]

Brilliant stuff. Thank you!

[@servingpublic]

Great topic and very valuable! thank you!

[@Illawarra13]

I will try this as I think I am rushing my shots and therefore not hitting cleanly

[@pupstart]

Tbis is brilliant, also will take the focus off of technique and put it where it should be relaxation which will only improve technique. Amazing and thank you. Is there something similar you can share with respect to the serve?

[@feeltennis]

Thanks! Balance is also important on the serve, you need to feel stable before and after the serve for a split second. In training you exaggerate first and hold balance for 2 seconds after serving, standing on the front leg. And for breathing, check this video: kzbin.infoq2JwhhNKroU

[@eric6650]

This element of my game is exactly what I’m missing. I feel I’m rallying pretty good as it’s calmness, but during matches my breathing is erratic, my serves is rushed, sometimes adding more slice not enough forward movements causing the ball to fall short or hit the net. A lot of shots I normally would hit in, becomes either short, long or hitting the frame. My volleys looks like I just picked up a racquet yesterday. It’s like you read my mind! I will try this.

[@feeltennis]

Apply these principles in your practice sessions first and give them a month or two to start working, then you will start seeing a progress in mental calmness also in matches.

[@anhvu3780]

pretty good tips. thanks.

[@beeth1362]

Quality contents as always.

[@hectorayub2594]

Thank you for Very good advise! I really needed, I struggle a lot with anxiety while I am playing, it makes me do lots of mistakes.

[@timlee5661]

Great advice. Will give it a try

[@chuckdavis6215]

How do you keep from decelerating your swing if you have a slow follow through

[@feeltennis]

You need to slightly decelerate your stroke through contact to have good control. It's the deceleration that gives your acceleration beforehand control. ;) You are not a pro. If you accelerate through contact without any deceleration you will not control the ball well...

[@ltrotter636]

Needed this, thank you!

[@hightechkheti3237]

Excellent tip

[@marlowe1969ify]

Fantastic idea...thanksssssss

[@concuben]

For some reason I keep hearing "freaky thing sessions" 😅

[@coachtripleb5121]

Very nice strategy during a match. Alas some players think that getting even more angry is the solution. But this is not the way as that path can lead to smashing racquets etc. It’s ok for the pro’s to do as they get free equipment. I noticed how free your body was moving, breathing timing & reactions are on point, your body & mind are balanced. Thanks again for sharing, lots to ponder on here .

[@feeltennis]

You're welcome! Ideally we want to automate this process in drills and free hitting sessions so that one doesn't have to think about it in the match as getting too conscious in the match is not good. Perhaps the concept of "complete the stroke" before you recover might help as a general idea for the player.

[@venktennis]

Thanks!

[@CorpusChristi1971]

Tomas is the best 😂🎾🎾 remowe your pinkie for relaxed stroke ,,try it 🎾🎾

[@fairman1455]

Always good

[@Chris90.]

do you have any videos regarding footwork using double backhand?

[@dockerface]

Thomas, brilliant video, thank you so much for sharing your secrets! On follow-through, I recently started to focus more on accelerating through the contact zone,and that worked really well in gaining more power and control. Do I understand it right that the slow part can be applied only to the very end of motion, after the full extension? Sidenote - I think Federer is doing exactly what you're suggesting - in practice, and maybe even in matches, he also adds the 4th component of looking at the contant point until the bounce.

[@feeltennis]

You're welcome! Start decelerating immediately after you hit the ball. Not abruptly but gradually.

[@K4R3N]

Thanks Tomas. I believe you had an earlier video "learn to play slow". Maybe some similar concepts?

[@feeltennis]

Playing slow is a different concept but achieves good results too in terms of calming down. Here's the link to video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fl6qqICVgb6Wb5I Just playing slow will not automatically accomplish good balance, slowing down follow-through and breathing.

[@silviutudorescu8114]

you need to reposition your self thats why my feet are always moving, keep balance for your shot and move on...for the follow trought slowing it down it's not a good habit to develop, you need racquet speed,unless you are a really recreational player

[@feeltennis]

Racket head speed needs to be controlled in order for the ball to be controlled. The ball has long left the racket before you start slowing down the follow-through, so a slowed down follow-through has a minimal effect on ball speed but very good effect on ball control. I am a 5.5 NTRP player (now at this age, but was likely 6.0) and I accelerate my racket well enough to dictate and attack and yet all my follow-throughs are controlled - that's one of the main reasons why I rarely miss attacking / accelerated shots.

[@wolsey1000]

Once again outstanding content, Tomas.

[@graphguy]

My daughter usually looses her first set. It takes the first set for her to calm down, then she goes on and wins the match.

[@feeltennis]

Applying the 3 ways of calming down in practice will eventually help her calm down in matches.

[@QueenBee-rw7je]

Can this a Can this apply to Double?

[@feeltennis]

The 3 ways to calm down shown here are practiced in free hitting sessions, no points. As you do these more often, you will realise that you calm down better. This will then partly and gradually transfer to your match play. You cannot think about holding balance or slowing down the follow-through while you play points, you need to think tactically where to aim the ball. So if you're asking me if you should think about balance, follow-through and breathing WHILE you actually play a doubles match, the answer is NO! When you play a match, you need to just aim. For you to experience more calmness in doubles, you need to practice these 3 ways in non-competitive situations where you can actually think about them and monitor if you executed them well.

[@andresgarcia6337]

If you watch Federer training videos, he always does this in the first 5 - 10 minutes

[@feeltennis]

Good point, here's a perfect video to demonstrate that: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gX3dkpSio5uFnJI

[@kevanashy]

Co codamol! 👍

[@futarydary]

When I feel tense at hitting session, I imagine that ball is MUCH slower, than I think it is. I just cheat my mind. My brain is hyperaactive and I rush and try to hit the ball too early. When I really focus on the ball, I can clearly see it and hit it much more clean.

[@feeltennis]

Good point! It's also helpful to know in theory that the ball really slows down a lot by the time it reaches you, it loses on average 45% of its initial speed. So you're hitting the ball at 55% of the speed which it had when it left opponent's racket.

[@futarydary]

Opponent's swing could be distracting. We think that high speed racket = very fast ball. It's some anxiety case or whatever. Racket is usually swung at high speed, but it doesn't mean that ball could be very fast too. Recreational players often miss hit the ball, they don't give enough or proper weight transfer etc. So in fact our anticipation could be distorted due to stress and not enough presence on court.

[@feeltennis]

@@futarydary All good points!

[@FairwayJack]

like

[@Hanamichi6666]

break the raquet? if it doesn't work break more raquets!

[@eadamic17]

I would have liked this advice a few days ago after losing a set 6-4 after being up 4-1. I threw a water bottle into some trees in frustration, and stung myself on a load of nettles trying to retrieve it haha!

[@krish4225]

That’s rough buddy

[@NoMoney67]

Been there, done that. 😢

[@eadamic17]

@@krish4225 That's the way she goes. Sometimes she goes, sometimes it doesn't.

[@j.j.6586]

I hate playing with guys that do that. It's a game. I had someone smashing kind of racquet dropping it etc. It's childish behaviour for sure!!

[@NamesAreRandom]

Imo breathing is the most effective thing to control nerves in the match - breath out when you hit, and in between the points do square breathing (works for Djokovic and the navy seals).

[@boris7417]

Exactly how my coach taught me how to breathe last week. My asthma came back to haunt me 4 years ago when I was 72. I started feeling chest tight and out of breath after a few games playing matches despite using Ventolin before the game. This week I feel much better using this breathing technique 🙏🏻

[@cloudmsa1638]

Thank you. I am chaotic when i play, i'll tried my best to follow your advice. 😃

[@roddi6503]

This is great. Especially the breathing technique. You can see it on pro tour matches, they exhale as they hit to control breathing.

[@Don-qp]

You can do what you are saying in a rally with slow incoming ball but in the real match and the incoming ball is fast how you do that.

[@shrin2153]

This is an amazing piece of instruction, especially how you have broken it down to its elements. It is also very timely as I have been looking for strategies to learn and teach this!!

[@feeltennis]

Very much appreciated! This process is very powerful, I just hope viewers will actually put it in practice and not just once but in every single free hitting session from now on at least for 10-15 minutes. I play like that all the time in free hitting, just the tempo is faster so I can't hold balance very long as I need to recover, but the pause after contact is basically always there, as is a long exhale and slow follow-through.

[@shrin2153]

I saw Djokovic doing this in practice at the USOpen (just holding the position for a blink of an eye) this year at the start of his free hitting practice (quail week) and didn’t realize the significance of it!!

[@feeltennis]

Djokovic has perfect fundamentals which you can see in his warm ups. I have this video bookmarked that I show to my students always when it comes to balance - note the front foot how stable it is on the ground and for how long: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aprUq5uegspkopY

[@RossCallen2028]

You're exactly correct!! The reason I like watching your videos is because you always give GREAT advice that truly comes from your heart and it's original. Great job, thanks!

[@feeltennis]

Very much appreciated!

[@brianwong]

Made a BIG difference to my game today. Thank you.

[@feeltennis]

Great to hear!

[@nuladee]

😮‍💨 🎂

[@ministerofjoy]

Thank you Tomaz

[@rcarioca]

great

[@yamatomusashi1412]

tnk u very much! i always try tell myself to relax esp. during quick back n forth volleys at net. very hard to do. any tips? tnk you again for useful video

[@maikosunset1357]

thank you for the tips which are very helpful for any tennis players whether you are beginners or even the pros and of course, myself.

[@Ramenscooter]

Excellent information! Love the clay courts surrounded by a tall corn field. ❤

[@lirenchan]

Thanks for this great instruction; This shall improve my issue of not calming down before, at and after contacting the ball. I always rush into the shot and miss ideal contact point.

[@basslin2993]

Many Thanks for Thomas First come First for bringing to attention that many of club level players struggle on this point how to improve from many long years.... This solution; kind of play will not only improve us in Tennis court as well as it gives idea how to deal in our normal day to day life to handle things without hyperactive there is a proverb " Haste makes waste things" Like wise i feel i need to follow very stricrly to master class this technique Habitatually, Not but the least - This technique will be more useful for Top level players too!!! Thank You Thomas👏👌👍

[@feeltennis]

Very much appreciated for feedback! I have one saying too: "The slower you teach, the faster they learn." ;)

[@millcroft1759]

Thank you. Tennis is a battle with the self. Can you do more on the psychological issues? Ie nerves, wanting to win so much!, Personally I want to play better strokes and forget about the point.But it is surprisingly difficult to “let it go”.

[@feeltennis]

Yes, more tactical and mental ideas are planned for the future videos, stay tuned!

[@arjanteeuwen1184]

Thnx for this usefull tips!

[@marcelopuyol249]

Excellent !!!

[@robmarq1]

Great advice

[@ashwinkumart8642]

Wow