McTeer Fitness Training & Tennis Coaching, Austin, Texas

Videos & Playlists can be found at www.youtube.com/traineraustin

STROKE MECHANICS:

Watch these Pros and you’ll improve your movement and stroke mechanics.

Playlist:  http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=DBFA6F6A8440C0B5 

Kim Cljsters Backhands Slow Motion HD … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npGxQ0k5x_E

Kim Cljsters Forehands Slow Motion HD … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kCaFCn6zEA

Elena Dementieva Slow Motion Forehands HD … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8HyxDjJ 

Elena Dementieva Slow Motion Backhands HD … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXpAaWiNsvw 

Jelena Jankovic Slow Motion HD Forehands … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5BnfYNSf64 

Jelena Jankovic Slow Motion HD Backhands … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxC_8gsPK7Y

Federer Backhand Slice in Slow Motion HD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ab8mrsEUiyw 

Groundstrokes with a Fitness Ball: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9D8oFu6QN8 

Serves: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbkFa1sg8go 

Volleys: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFbmGnajz1k 

Backhand Groundstrokes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hexVGuakGHE 

Forehand Groundstrokes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdqxG1lUcVQ 

ATP Slow-Motion Groundstrokes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD3iOTgasrM 

WTA Slow-Motion Groundstrokes:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv1ZV3THPzw 

MENTAL TOUGHNESS:

Watch these videos and you’ll improve mental toughness.  Get into the zone!

Playlist: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=7B91A7919E7F11CB 

Tennis Players, Strengthen Your Body Language: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BO5dR74m-nU 

Tennis Players, Strengthen Your Body Language 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWUgS-AdOBM 

Mental Toughness 4 Tennis with Al Pacino: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4v9XhNB5ONo 

Summary of The Inner Game of Tennis, Timothy Gallwey: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mglMtDVefx8 

Mental Toughness 4 Tennis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jSOqwMVsRM 

Tennis Player Body Language: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYZ4qR_bBvU 

Just 4 Today, Dr. James Loehr, Mental Toughness Guru: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozDFRqQHLMQ 

The Zen of Tennis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF73qHUkjrg 

FITNESS PERFORMANCE TRAINING 4 TENNIS:

Great exercises for tennis players to improve your game and increase strength, speed, agility, flexibility, coordination, footwork, quickness, balance and power.

Fitness Ball 4 Tennis, Russian Twists with Audio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MIrwwHI6Tk 

Justine Henin, Advanced Plyometrics on BOSU: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJgq4HpB_hE 

Jim Courier, Dymamic Warm-up, Movement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYz5p7bvff4 

Fitness Training 4 Tennis in the Park: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMSQK9YtTF0 

Rope Jumping 4 Plyometric Fitness: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93JHuNqjOTc 

Pro Tennis Players discuss fitness: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWoZP-RdMk0 

Pat Etcheberry Fitness Tribute: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ERvRQxx-LQ 

Nicole Melichar, Fitness Tribute: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H17aX5jueXk 

Fitness Ball Training 4 Tennis 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5dnXEL0uWQ 

Fitness Ball Training 4 Tennis 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PugljXiLLY8 

Fitness Ball Training 4 Tennis 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qtfkre7e0Ao 

2-Leg Bridge with Fitness Ball: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAcIiUXIjFA 

Russian Twist on Fitness Ball: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLLOWKILZek 

1-Leg Deadlift with Fitness Ball: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z945TnfG_f0 

TENNIS PLAYER MUSIC VIDEOS:

Haggard-McTeer Player Development Videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkzjIS66dwM 

Chris Haggard, Tennis Coach, Austin, Texas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROxSK32erhU 

Matthew Lee, Polo Tennis Club: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W90uN-tEb_Q 

Gabrielle & Jolie Tennis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w3wX4Z7Rds 

Anders Erikkson, Polo Tennis Club: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA7gQno7zJg 

Michael Lane, Polo Tennis Club: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKH8w7PZM9E 

Jim Courier vs Todd Martin, Exhibition, Austin, Texas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozD9k6h8d9M 

Chris Haggard Slow-Motion Volleys: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOgjzPaEvGA 

Adrian Garza, Advantage Doyle Tennis Academy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxGPjLOYe_o 

Michael Garza, Advantage Doyle Tennis Academy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe4y9LBm9FI 

Jessica Ramsey, Advantage Doyle Tennis Academy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izF2r3UV000 

Jelena Jankovic Tribute: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WXQht4_P3k 

Elena Dementieva Tribute: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLd6ROrXxKI 

Tennis in the Zone
10 Ways to Enter the Zone from TENNISMINDGAME.com

If you haven’t heard of the expression “the zone” when it comes to tennis, here’s a brief introduction: the term “the zone” was first used by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in his book Flow in Sports.

The zone is that special mental state where everything flows effortlessly and the player is playing at peak performance. James Loehr has called this state the IPS - Ideal Performance State.

If we combine the findings of Csikszentmihalyi, Loehr, and other authors that have been researching the illusive Zone (Scott Ford), then we can identify the main characteristics of this mental state that allow us to perform at our best.

10 Ways to Enter the Zone
If we know the main characteristics of the zone, then we can reach this ideal mental state by putting these pieces of the puzzle together. We can work on each of these elements in practice and become increasingly better at entering the zone and playing our best tennis.

1. Challenge and skills
The player in the zone does not perceive his opponent as a threat. Instead, the player perceives the opponent as a challenge and uses his skills to overcome this challenge. A tennis match becomes a problem solving task and the player is focused only on finding the solutions.

2. Focus on the process and not on the outcome
The outcome-hitting the ball in, winning a point, winning a match, reaching the finals- is not within your control. If you focus on the outcome, you will become anxious since deep inside you know that you cannot guarantee the result.

Being anxious only worsens your ability to play good tennis. That’s why you need to focus on the process that is within your control; direct all of your attention toward the ball and what you want to do with it.

The process is your idea of how you want to send the ball away, which means that you IMAGINE the trajectory of the ball and where you want it to land. Keep your focus on the execution of the shot until it’s finished.

3. Having a clear goal and being decisive
The opposite of being decisive is being indecisive, which means that you don’t have a clear goal. A player in the zone does not change his mind and does not doubt his decisions. Whatever decision comes to mind, he sticks with it, trusts it, and goes with it.

4. Seeing every shot as feedback
A player in the zone does not judge his shots as good or bad. He sees them only as feedback to indicate whether he needs to keep doing what’s working or make slight adjustments. Judgment immediately triggers emotions, which break the flow and the zone state.

5. Being here and now
Another characteristic of being in the zone is having no sense of the past or future. The player is immersed in “the now”. This allows him to use all of his brain capacity for solving the problem in the moment without distracting thoughts about the past and future.

If you devote your full attention to the ball, you’ll be in the here and now. You’ll also be one step closer to playing in the zone.

6. Belief in your abilities
When a player enters the zone, he doesn’t doubt his shots. As soon as he decides what kind of shot to play (which in the zone happens automatically and very fast), he focuses on the execution and does not stop to think about whether or not this shot is too difficult to make.

There is total commitment to it and the player “sees” his shots as already being successful as he makes contact with the ball. The key for the existence of this belief is to accept mistakes as a part of tennis.

7. Playing point by point
A player in the zone is focused on the “here and now,” and thus, is playing each point separately from the total score. He doesn’t care whether it is 5:1 ahead or 0:4 behind, he gives 100% effort for every point he plays.

This makes him very hard to beat and very unlikely to lose the lead once he gets ahead.

8. No ego
Ego-based motivation can be described as external motivation-where external rewards or threats motivate the player to compete. Ego-oriented motivation would be, for example, showing superior ability, beating others, earning money with winning, and becoming famous.

Egoless motivation is when there are internal rewards for the player: mastering the sport, seeing a tennis match as a series of tasks (and challenges) that need to be overcome with one’s own skills, personal improvement, and giving 100% effort.

When a player plays in the zone, he typically experiences every situation as a challenging problem and focuses on solving this problem. It’s not about beating your opponent; it’s about solving the problem that your opponent presents to you. If you solve the problem, then the consequence will be the result you are looking for-the key is not to focus on this result when you play.

9. Effortless play and breathing
The player in the zone feels as if every movement is effortless and his breathing reflects that. The player is not out of breath, and when he moves and hits the ball, his body feels elastic, full of energy, and free of tension.

Your goal to is to recreate this feeling of no tension and effortless breathing in practice as much as possible so that your body and mind get used to it.

10. Enjoyment of play
One of the most important aspects of the zone is the feeling of enjoyment. The zone cannot be achieved if the player is experiencing stress and anxiety. The joy of playing the sport for no external rewards is the key.

In other words, a person who loves to play tennis even if there are no rewards has the greatest chance of entering the zone.

Remember how it is just to play, like children do. Your goal is to remember the feeling of joy when playing tennis and what you need to focus on to experience enjoyment when playing tennis. Once you know that, you’ll be able to refocus during a match and start enjoying it. This is the express way to the zone.

Summary
In order to enter the zone, which allows peak performance, we can work on certain characteristics of this mental state.

Instead of just letting the zone happen here and there, perhaps 2 or 3 times a year, use these 10 tennis drills to open up the door to the zone. Once you know the feeling of the zone, you’ll be able to recall it almost every time.

Tennis Tips And Instruction - TennisMindGame.com offers free tips, articles and instruction videos for all levels of tennis players.