“The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.”

- William James

It’s a classic situation: You’re playing tennis, moving your opponent all around the court, everything looks easy. But suddenly, you can’t keep the ball in the court anymore. Your great forehand simply stops working. You completely lose the control of the match (…and your temper) and what should have been an easy victory becomes a 6-4 6-2 defeat.

How many times has this happened to you?

Well, you’re not the only one. You may be the fittest player, the hardest hitter or the faster runner, but in order to beat your opponents you have to improve your MENTAL GAME. Here are some easy mental tricks to help you.

1. Squeeze out stress.

Rock-solid legs might look impressive but they won’t perform that way. Tense muscles hang onto nervous energy and increase risk of injury. Beat the tension and strengthen your focus by relaxing your muscles. Here is a quick way to do it: Flex one muscle group at a time and hold for 15 seconds. When you release the tension, focus on the sensation of letting go and increasing blood flow to that muscle. You’ll feel confident knowing your muscles are all working and are completely relaxed.

2. Feel your form.

When you’re losing there’s a tendency to overthink your next move. The part of your brain that controls sports movements runs independently to the thinking part of your brain. If you try to think about what you’re doing, your brain trips over itself. Rely on your muscle memory instead — don’t try to mentally repeat the commands your coach told you.

3. Sponge up the pain.

Winners know every single detail about how their body operates during competition. They collect data and use it. During your trainings, don’t block out the pain — rather, tune into it. Become hyper-aware of not only how your muscles feel but how organs like your lungs and heart feel. This information will keep you smooth and surprise-free on the big day.

4. Have a plan.

Nervousness before an event is just wasted adrenaline. If you can cut out the nerves you’ll have more in the tank when it’s time to compete. Practice your routine beforehand. You should arrive at an event already knowing how you’re going to spend each minute of your time. If possible, scope out the site of the competition a few days beforehand. Familiarity always helps take the edge off the anxiety.

5. Dream the feeling.

Daydreaming trains your neuromuscular connections — the impulses that give you muscle memory. Create a mental movie of the competition you’re about to enter. Focus on the physical sensations you want to feel, whether it’s a smooth stride or blasting a ball with your 3-wood. Take two minutes before you compete to imagine how your winning muscles will feel.

6. Do not “Do not.”

Your brain is like a search engine, if you type in “Do not find last month’s taxes”, chances are it will find them. When you say to yourself, “Don’t stress out”, your brain accesses the programme on how to stress out and you do the exact opposite. Instead, tell yourself how good you are (remember how it worked for Muhammad Ali) and visualize an object, which relaxes you.

Just give them a try! In order to do your best, you have to have the right mental approach.

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