The fear of failure in getting a rally going consistently is probably one of the main reasons why recreational players give up. Are you one of them too? If you are reading this , maybe you are thinking of restarting training or just getting started with the game. Well, at least to manage some expectations as chances are you might be new to tennis.

Hence, its important to build your confidence through getting a coach who can dialogue and build progressively.

Some common confidence issues faced by tennis beginners

• missing the ball or hitting the air due to timing bounce and the contact point with the racket
• hitting balls out too often without getting the ball in due to too much power consistently
• poor hand eye coordination which might just be innate
• The anxiety to be able to rally or “get the hang of it” causes a choke. Robbie Joyce Tennis on overcoming the anxiety is one interesting read.
• Fear of failure is real for many and can mean different things to different people. For example, losing a match to a friend can lead someone to give up.

Progressive training

Realistic goals are great and small wins are crucial to building the confidence. Like how self-doubt and anxiety can set in with unrealistic goals such as learning to fully play the game in a month unless you’re really talented!

Reframing

Instead of looking at the negative side of things such as missing a shot or shanking, we can choose to reframe and look at how long a rally has been improved from the start. It could have been a longer number of shots you are making but with occasional misses or shank of the ball. It happens to us hitting out of the contact point or frame, but let’s not let it affect our mood and reframe and then take the progressive training needed for improving the contact point misses.

Therefore, as much as tennis is quite a physical sport, it can be mentally challenging through the process of learning. Learning how to play tennis might just be how you discover you can be more resilient through these obstacles you face along the way. Its not smooth but certainly sastisfying once you’re hitting consistently and almost like clockwork.