Mental Toughness Are you prepared & willing to be comfortable with the uncomfortable?

Mental Toughness ✤ Our Mental Toughness Tools ✤ 16 Second Cure ✤ Basic Game Plan ✤ Plan A ✤ Plan B ✤ 3 Firm Rules

16 Second Cure ✤ Stage 1: Positive Physical Response (quick decisive move, transfer racquet to opposite hand, project a strong confident image, tell yourself ‘no problem’ or ‘lets go’) ✤ Stage 2: Relaxation Response (high energy walk, slow down at baseline, shake hands out, keep feet moving, ‘settle down’ or ‘relax’) ✤ Stage 3: Preparation Response (pause at baseline, call out score if serving, switch racquet back to dominant hand, go over game plan in your mind) ✤ Stage 4: Automatic Ritual Response (perform you ritual, know your target, deep breath before you execute serve, consider Serve +1 opportunity)

Basic Game Plan ✤ Broad General Plan (Base doubles & ‘the directionals’ in singles) ✤ High % of 1st Serves and make returns (keep pressure on opponent & off yourself) ✤ control point with high %, heavy/deep ground-strokes ✤ look for opportunities to attack on short balls (must maintain good court position) ✤ find a weakness in your opponent

Plan A ✤ Define Plan A: match your strength against the opponents weakness (break them down technically & tactically) What are your strengths? How do you want to finish points? What is your weakness and how do you protect it against attack?

Plan B ✤ Define Plan B: mentally exhaust your opponent (break them down mentally) ✤ most great players do this all the time regardless of Plan A

3 Firm Rules ✤ What are the 3 Firm Rules? Firm Rule #1: whenever you are behind you should slow the match down Firm Rule #2: whenever you are down a game point you should play as tough a point as you can Firm Rule #3: never give your opponent an easy game or set regardless of the score

Avoid ✤ Mental Checkouts ✤ Low % tactics