Psychological Factors of Tennis

TASK ONE

PART A

FEEDBACK AND MOTIVATION OFFERED TO THE PLAYERS BY THE COACH TO IMPROVE SKILLS, COURT PLAY AND MENTAL ATTITUDE

Stuartholme A Grade Tennis Team

Dennis Sheard, (the coach of the A team) was mainly focusing this particular training session on footwork and communication as he felt that the team lacked both these factors during their previous Saturday match. The following are a few quotes from Dennis

 "Awesome footwork Alex, could you feel the difference between that ball and the last?" Dennis indicates when the players use the correct technique and then compares it to a previous shot where they do not. This is enabling them to get used to using internal feedback independently and how they should be executing the shot.

 "Correct technique, but you didn't squeeze the grip again. The raquet shouldn't wobble as you hit it." Dennis recognises the problem, explains it and then evaluates it for the player, making it clear what they did wrong and how they can improve it.

 "If you're partner gets a hard ball to reach I want to be able to hear you encouraging her to get it to it, I want to hear lots of "Go, go go's!!"" Dennis stresses the importance of communication and encouragement in doubles. This communication increases motivation and a goal to reach for the players.

 "I don't want to see any slumped shoulders or negative expressions when you miss a ball, that's the time you need to be even more confident and focused on getting the next point." Dennis reminds the girls constantly on staying positive and not losing their patience during their games as this can make them become over or under aroused. Psychological

Stuartholme D6 Tennis Team

The D6 coach Kate, was fairly quiet during their coaching session and when she did offer advice she would sometimes put it with a shot that didn't necessarily match the comment, confusing the girls. This is a lower ranked team and the girls are still at quite a cognitive stage of developing their tennis skills, this means it is vital that they receive a lot of feedback and encouragement to persist with the sport. By not offering this Kate may be hindering their development. She did however put forward the following points to the girls.

 "Good shot"

 "Move your feet"

 "Keep your eye on the ball"

 "Swing slower"

Although Kate is offering advice to her players in order for them to improve their skills she needs to be more specific so they can understand their mistakes and correct them.

PART B

RECORD ANY SIGNS THAT THEY ARE NOT COPING PSYCHOLOGICALLY

A GRADE:

The Open A players supported their physical potential with confidence and persistence during their matches. However there were some small indications of when individuals lost concentration or motivation. Therefore were not coping psychologically one hundred percent. A few examples of when this happened was:

 Players would throw back their heads and swing their raquets around after a point loss.

 Continuously hit their raquet quite hard at the heel of their feet.

 Looking up into the audience and specifically at the coaches after missing a shot.

 Get distracted by the outside environment, eg phone ringing.

D6

It became apparent by watching the D6's match that they had not had much coaching on the psychological factors of tennis. The outside environment was obviously distracting the players, resulting in lack of concentration and focus during play. The players were extremely under aroused and this was shown through their body posture and language, talking to spectators, not watching the ball and carelessly hitting the ball and not watching the outcome. One of the players was starting to show signs of cognitive anxiety during her singles she started to hit balls softly and not to the ability she had shown during doubles.

PART C

INTERVIEW PLAYERS

See appendix 1-5 for full detail

After interviewing the players it became evident that the A Grade team all had similar psychological strategies and processes and D6 also followed suit. A Grade are more goal orientated where as the D6's tend to just play for the moment. The A's had extensive knowledge and awareness of how to overcome situations that might arise during a game, compared to the D6's who had the very basic knowledge but did not generally apply it.

PART D

ANALYSE AND RECORD YOUR OWN MENTAL PROCESSES DURING YOUR PRACTICE GAMES DURING LESSON TIMES

Over the last few years I have found tennis to be a very challenging sport to commit myself to. I find that I have the physical ability to play at a moderate standard, but lack the mental stability to play consistently and always to the standard that I am content with.

I find that the best mental process for myself to work with at the moment is to not get caught up in the anxiety and stress and remember that it is after all just a game. If I do start to feel over aroused I go back to the basics, remembering small tips from past coaches, such as squeezing the grip, smooth stroking and thinking positively.

TASK TWO

"Tennis is a gold mind for psychologists" Jeff Cooper

Possessing a combination of both physical and mental stability is the key to a successful tennis player. 3 Tennis is a test of endurance for the body as well as the mind.

Some coaches make the mistake of training their players to develop a beautiful looking forehand, backhand, volley, serve and so forth but overlook the importance of training the mind. 5 This can lead to a great tennis player in a circumstance of executing a closed skill, but place in a game situation and they may struggle.

An elite tennis player should be able to read the oppositions