Miguel Crespo & Paul Lubbers: Confidence and Relaxation

The time between points and games is critical in maintaining self-confidence. On a changeover, confident thoughts could include: "I will maintain my winning strategy." The intermittent nature of competitive tennis creates "dead time" during match play—in fact this is the majority of time in any match. This places high demands on the cognitive aspects of the player's performance. One of the key components is self-confidence. Self-confidence is the degree of certainty that the player has in his or her ability to execute a skill or series of tasks. How much better will I play when I'm confident? Self-belief is one of the best predictors of competitive success. Building and maintaining appropriate thoughts before, during, and after a match is therefore one of a player's main goals. These can be increased with psychological training. But to do so, players need to first become aware of their thoughts. Only then can they regulate them, particularly during critical moments. But how many players actually have this awareness? Many are the victims of unconscious negative thought loops. There are a variety of strategies to overcome these negative loops. They include thought stoppage, positive body language, goal setting, the use of imagery, focus on process...