The mental component is important because, as an individual sport, tennis requires a player to be mentally tough. Developing this component means developing a player's on-court focus, how the player carries himself during competition and how he handles certain situations. The mental component is directly related to each of the five additional components and can affect them either positively or negatively.
If a player hits one bad shot in a game, he is prone to losing his confidence, temperament and concentration for the rest of the match if he cannot control his mentality and stay focused. A player can have all the physical, technical, tactical and strategic talent in the world, but if he has not developed the mental component, it will be difficult to win a match.
The subcomponents of self-esteem, confidence, independence, discipline, temperament, concentration, goal setting, sportsmanship and competitive readiness all play a role in a player's mentality on court.
Mental subcomponents
The following list defines each of the subcomponents and explains them in a short video:
1. Self-esteem - Building players who have confidence and satisfaction within themselves MORE
2. Confidence - Developing self-assurance and trust of a player's self-sufficiency MORE
3. Independence - Building self-reliance in players to meet the arduous challenges in an individual sport such as tennis MORE
4. Discipline - Training that is expected to produce a desirable character or patterns of behavior most suitable to the game of tennis MORE
5. Temperament - Developing an ideal manner of thinking, behaving, and reacting that is characteristic of a successful tennis player MORE |
6. Concentration - Developing players who can control the direction and attention of their thoughts and focus on the primary task at hand MORE
7. Goal setting - Training players in goal setting and how to periodize their goals and accomplishments based on level and aspirations MORE
8. Sportsmanship - Reinforcing in players the qualities and conduct befitting competitors who react to victory and defeat graciously MORE
9. Competitive readiness - A combination of the eight aspects above to create a supreme level of mental and physical performance MORE |
Resources
Below is a list of available video clips describing in detail the mental component as well as each of its nine subcomponents.
Define the mental component
Why is the mental component important?
