Are You a Mentally Tough Player?

May 6, 2016 | By John Brennan
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Having coached high school tennis for 24 years and having been a USPTA professional for 41 years, I’ve heard the term “mental toughness” thrown around repeatedly. What exactly is mental toughness? How can you recognize it? Is it something that can be learned? Can you teach it?

Let me share what I have learned in my career as a teaching pro and a high school coach.

Rather than try to define “mental toughness,” I’d rather paint a picture of how you can recognize it in a player, and then address whether or not you can learn or teach it.

How do you recognize mental toughness in a player?
1.Mental toughness can be seen well before the match is played. Just watch how a player practices and you will have a pretty good idea of how they will compete. When I see a player who brings intensity, focus and competitiveness to every practice, I know how they will compete.

Conversely, a player who fools around, barely breaks a sweat, doesn’t follow directions and treats all drills as if they don’t matter will surely bring that same indifference to a match.

2. While mentally tough players are often known for their intensity, in my experience, it is a controlled, focused intensity. They are aware of their strengths and weaknesses and those of their opponent and can make match adjustments accordingly. Mentally weak players continue what is not working and are barely aware of anything about their opponent’s game. You ask them what happened in the match and “I lost” is the extent of their analysis.

3. Mentally tough players are physically fit. As the great football coach Vince Lombardi said: “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” If you are not in great shape, it is going to be very difficult to fight through the disappointment and insult of a 6-0 first-set loss. But a physically fit, mentally tough player will think that if they can just get a set and turn the match into an endurance test, they will win. Score is irrelevant to the effort level of a mentally tough player.

4. Mentally tough players are problem-solvers, mentally weak players are excuse-makers. The sport of tennis demands that a player solve the puzzle of an opponent’s game, compute the percentages of shot selections and make multiple assessments and adjustments. The mentally tough player doesn’t walk off the court complaining about bad line calls, bad bounces, a bad draw or some other factor that they could not control. Mentally tough players focus on the elements they can control, recognize the real reasons for a loss and resolve to improve in the areas necessary.

5. Mental toughness on a team can be contagious, for better or worse. When your top players set an example of taking responsibility for their development, the team follows. If your top players are constantly looking to cast blame for losses on anything and anyone than themselves, a coach is in for a long season.

Can you learn mental toughness or teach it?
The coach in me wishes I could claim great success in turning mentally weak players into match warriors. Unfortunately, I have found such a transformation as difficult as asking a player to change the color of their eyes. Mental toughness has so much to do with character and personality development that it is very difficult to inculcate in a student.

The best a coach can do is model that toughness by refusing to give up on players and making excuses for a lack of development. Rather, a coach should constantly work on giving players the skills that mental toughness demands: Conditioning, consistent strokes, intelligent shot selection and accurate opponent analysis. A coach must try multiple approaches and methods to help a player recognize the mental obstacles that are keeping them from realizing their full potential.

Here is one reason why it is so difficult to transform a mentally weak player: The other day I was chatting with a parent of player who was taking a lesson. She recited a litany of complaints about the various programs she had placed her child and how they had all failed to develop her daughter to the extent she expected. While I listened, I watched the girl give little effort and even less attention to the efforts of the instructor. The fruit was not falling far from the tree, and I could guarantee that any failure on the part of that player will be everyone’s fault except hers. Just ask her mother.

To change the attitude and approach of a player, you will have to change more than just the player. That is one reason why it is so difficult.

Four of the top mentally tough players I have coached over the last 22 years of high school coaching came from the same family. Their parents were both New York City firefighters. I never once heard either of them make an excuse for a loss by one of their children. They were supportive not excessively critical and never looked to place blame for a loss on anyone other than their children. They just accepted the loss and recognized the areas that improvement was needed. Mental toughness is very much a product of high character and as such is developed over years and not in a season or an hour lesson.

It has been said that sports do not so much develop character as they do reveal it. Mental toughness is not simply a tool for athletic competition, it is a way in which a person deals with the many challenges life presents. An athlete must decide not just how much they want to win, but more importantly, who they want to be.


John Brennan
USPTA Teaching Professional

John Brennan has been a USPTA teaching professional for 34 years. He was a head professional at the Mountain Gate Country Club in Los Angeles from 1980-1990, before moving back to New York where he has coached the varsity boys team at St. Francis Prep for 22 years, as well as the girls varsity tennis team for 15 years, where has won numerous state championships. He was a player at St. John's University from 1972-74, and has been a teaching professional at the North Shore Tennis Club for last 20 years. He may be reached by e-mail at bjohntennis@aol.com.

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