Naomi Osaka’s Winning Mindset
Your Mindset For Beating higher ranked Players
Competing against difficult competition requires mental toughness…
When competing against top competition, your opponent may be much more skilled than you, but if you have much more mental toughness, you can even the match court.
Many tennis players lose the match even before they step on the court because they lack the required mental toughness to carry out their best.
Take for instance the following illustration…
Becky L. is a sophomore division II tennis player.
Becky has carried out solidly her first two collegiate seasons but falls apart when she competes against the top players in her conference.
It is the same old story for Becky, when she finds out she is playing a highly ranked opponent, she becomes overwhelmed by negative thoughts, such as, “I can’t beat her,” “She is the best player in the conference… she will crush me,” “She has such a dominating serve, I will never be able to return it.”
Becky’s anxiety steadily climbs and, by the time the match starts, she can’t even relax.
Becky becomes acutely aware of her pounding heart, tight muscles and upset stomach.
At that point, focusing on playing good tennis feels like an impossible task… Becky just wants the match over as rapidly as possible and it is apparent by her play.
Becky appears rushed and makes mistake after mistake.
Becky’s confidence sinks and she is loses in straight sets… just as she had predicted!
A better way to method playing against top-ranked opponents is the method successfully utilized by rising star Naomi Osaka.
Osaka displayed a high level of mental toughness during her breakthrough win at the BNP Paribas Open.
Osaka beat several top-ranked players including No.1 Simona Halep, Camiseta Arsenal FC No.5 Karolina Pliskova, Agnieszka Radwanska, and Maria Sharapova en route to her first professional title beating Daria Kasatkina 6-3, 6-2 in the final.
Even much more outstanding is the fact that Osaka dropped just one set during the tournament as she climbed 22 spots in the rankings with her victory.
Osaka revealed her mindset for each match against higher ranked opponents…
Osaka: “Every match that I’ve played I’ve thought, ‘just don’t give up no matter what’ because everyone I played was very tough. I feel like that’s really helped me and my mentality of concerning the finals and eventually winning.”
Osaka’s mindset helped her grind out difficult matches and never lose faith.
Osaka focused on her game and playing consistently throughout the tournament instead of getting wrapped up in her opponent’s rankings, successes and abilities.
Osaka: “[Being consistent] implies that I’m not giving away totally free points. I’m not going to slap a ball when it’s not there. just to have good matches… and not be as much of a roller-coaster.”
Mental toughness gives you the chance to focus on Camiseta Tottenham Hotspur your technique for playing each point. This focus-on-one-point mindset is critical for consistent play.
When you play consistent tennis, anything can happen… even beating top-ranked players.
How to beat the better Players:
Adopt the “any-given-day” mentality. stuff happens on the other side of the court.
Your opponent might:
Get tight
Become exhausted at the end
Protect the lead
Cramp up
On any given day, you can pull out a victory against higher ranked players.
After all, you don’t know if your opponent is having an off day, is tired, has a nagging injury, is just getting over being sick or is handling personal issues.
And you don’t even know if this current match will be your breakout performance or the match that takes your game to the next level.
Give yourself a chance and you will always have a chance.
Start by tuning up your mental Camiseta Valencia toughness for matches:
Boost Your confidence in Tennis With expert mental game Coaching!
Master mental game coach, Dr. Patrick Cohn, can help you conquer your mental game issues with personal mental game coaching.
You can work with Dr. Patrick Cohn himself in Orlando, Florida or through Skype, FaceTime, or telephone.
Call us toll totally free at 888-742-7225 (local: 407-909-1700) or contact us for much more information about the different coaching programs we offer!
One-on-one mental game coaching with Dr. Cohn
What are our mental coaching students saying?
“Dr. Cohn did a great job working with my child Joe on his mental skills for tennis. He taught him the mental skills and discipline required to relocation to the next level. thanks Doc!”
~Mike Withers, Joe Withers Father
“Since you last worked with AJ in early September, his national ranking has improved from 349 to 148. His tournament record at one point, because talking with you was 17-4, with 3 of the 4 being in third sets or tiebreakers and 2 of those matches being the same player, whom he has because beaten (you may recall he was on an 0-9 losing streak when we contacted you). His tie-breaker record is at least 90% through last weekend when he won the 18s district tnull
Leave a Reply