Tennis Players Need example essay topic

TASK ONE PART FEEDBACK AND MOTIVATION OFFERED TO THE PLAYERS BY THE COACH TO IMPROVE SKILLS, COURT PLAY AND MENTAL ATTITUDEStuartholme A Grade Tennis Team Dennis S heard, (the coach of the A team) was mainly focusing this particular training session on footwork and communication as he felt that the team lacked both these factors during their previous Saturday match. The following are a few quotes from Dennis 'Awesome footwork Alex, could you feel the difference between that ball and the last?' Dennis indicates when the players use the correct technique and then compares it to a previous shot where they do not. This is enabling them to get used to using internal feedback independently and how they should be executing the shot. 'Correct technique, but you didn't squeeze the grip again. The raquel shouldn't wobble as you hit it. ' Dennis recognises the problem, explains it and then evaluates it for the player, making it clear what they did wrong and how they can improve it.

'If you " re partner gets a hard ball to reach I want to be able to hear you encouraging her to get it to it, I want to hear lots of 'Go, go go's! !' ' Dennis stresses the importance of communication and encouragement in doubles. This communication increases motivation and a goal to reach for the players. 'I don't want to see any slumped shoulders or negative expressions when you miss a ball, that's the time you need to be even more confident and focused on getting the next point. ' Dennis reminds the girls constantly on staying positive and not losing their patience during their games as this can make them become over or under aroused. Psychological Stuart holme D 6 Tennis Team The D 6 coach Kate, was fairly quiet during their coaching session and when she did offer advice she would sometimes put it with a shot that didn't necessarily match the comment, confusing the girls.

This is a lower ranked team and the girls are still at quite a cognitive stage of developing their tennis skills, this means it is vital that they receive a lot of feedback and encouragement to persist with the sport. By not offering this Kate may be hindering their development. She did however put forward the following points to the girls. 'Good shot' 'Move your feet' 'Keep your eye on the ball' 'Swing slower' Although Kate is offering advice to her players in order for them to improve their skills she needs to be more specific so they can understand their mistakes and correct them. PART B RECORD ANY SIGNS THAT THEY ARE NOT COPING PSYCHOLOGICALLY GRADE: The Open A players supported their physical potential with confidence and persistence during their matches.

However there were some small indications of when individuals lost concentration or motivation. Therefore were not coping psychologically one hundred percent. A few examples of when this happened was: Players would throw back their heads and swing their racquets around after a point loss. Continuously hit their raquel quite hard at the heel of their feet. Looking up into the audience and specifically at the coaches after missing a shot.

Get distracted by the outside environment, e.g. phone ringing. D 6 It became apparent by watching the D 6's match that they had not had much coaching on the psychological factors of tennis. The outside environment was obviously distracting the players, resulting in lack of concentration and focus during play. The players were extremely under aroused and this was shown through their body posture and language, talking to spectators, not watching the ball and carelessly hitting the ball and not watching the outcome. One of the players was starting to show signs of cognitive anxiety during her singles she started to hit balls softly and not to the ability she had shown during doubles. PART C INTERVIEW PLAYERS See appendix 1-5 for full detail After interviewing the players it became evident that the A Grade team all had similar psychological strategies and processes and D 6 also followed suit.

A Grade are more goal orientated where as the D 6's tend to just play for the moment. The A's had extensive knowledge and awareness of how to overcome situations that might arise during a game, compared to the D 6's who had the very basic knowledge but did not generally apply it. PART D ANALYSE AND RECORD YOUR OWN MENTAL PROCESSES DURING YOUR PRACTICE GAMES DURING LESSON TIMES Over the last few years I have found tennis to be a very challenging sport to commit myself to. I find that I have the physical ability to play at a moderate standard, but lack the mental stability to play consistently and always to the standard that I am content with. I find that the best mental process for myself to work with at the moment is to not get caught up in the anxiety and stress and remember that it is after all just a game. If I do start to feel over aroused I go back to the basics, remembering small tips from past coaches, such as squeezing the grip, smooth stroking and thinking positively.

TASK TWO " Tennis is a gold mind for psychologists' Jeff Cooper Possessing a combination of both physical and mental stability is the key to a successful tennis player. 3 Tennis is a test of endurance for the body as well as the mind. Some coaches make the mistake of training their players to develop a beautiful looking forehand, backhand, volley, serve and so forth but overlook the importance of training the mind. 5 This can lead to a great tennis player in a circumstance of executing a closed skill, but place in a game situation and they may struggle. An elite tennis player should be able to read the oppositions play tactics, adapt to a diversity of variables, remain at an optimum arousal level for the whole game and have set routines to play out during the match. After critically analyzing the D 6 team through match play and training it became evident to myself that these girls have not been given advice or feedback on how to act psychologically during competitive tennis.

They lacked most of the characteristics associated with an elite and focused tennis player. (see appendix 1, 2, 3) This inability to remain focused can be traced back to training sessions where they are not taught strategies on how to think and react to situations. Girls were easily getting distracted and anxious over outside noises and loss of a point, resulting in more unforced errors and a decrease of their optimum arousal level. (see appendix 2.4) On the other hand the A Grade were particularly in tune with allowing their body and mind to work together during the game. The girls have a wide knowledge and experience on how to deal with incidents that arise through out a game. They have been trained to ignore all outside noises by putting them all in a category they label as "background noise". (see appendix 4.1, 4.2), this lessens the chance of isolating particular sounds thus lessening the likelihood of getting distracted by them. Girls are influenced by their coaches to turn negative thoughts and past mis-hit shots into a positive thought. (see appendix 5.9). Unlike many other competitive sports, tennis does not allow sideline coaching in a game situation.

This has both benefits and disadvantages for the players and the sport itself. One inference that can be taken from playing tennis is that it is extremely vital for a player to be efficiently trained and prepared mentally and physically. The three following areas I find that to be of most importance for playing school girl's tennis are, feedback, arousal and goal setting. Feedback is the information that an athlete receives about their performance of a skill, in the situation of a game it would be in the basic form of continuous feedback. 10 Depending on the individual's stage of learning will determine the type of feedback practiced and efficiency of the feedback. An autonomous tennis player would primarily use kinesthetic feedback during matches, as they would have the knowledge and experience to self-correct their technical mistakes.

6 In contrast a cognitive player would be dependant on continuous, external, positive and terminal feedback through out a game. 6 These types of feedback's rely heavily on a coach to visually or verbally talk through the mistakes and corrections needed to occur in order to amend the fault. This is where self-arousal and the ability to set and re set goals becomes critical for a player as the coaches are not able to give advice from the sidelines. The level of arousal is a player's level of physiological excitement. 1 The higher the arousal level the more attentive an individual will be to stimuli, therefore the lower the arousal the less responsive and aware the player will be. 2.

Appendix 6 is a graph that supports the theory of arousal levels affecting performance outcomes. However it doesn't show that if the arousal level becomes too high then the performance will deteriorate as well. Tennis players need to have personal control of their arousal levels in order to reach and maintain a peak performance level. More advanced tennis players require higher levels of arousal where as beginners excel with a minimal level of arousal. 2 This means that a player must practice during training sessions on what their optimum arousal level is and how to reach that level with out the aid of a coach.

Particular actions and thoughts can be associated with increasing or decreasing their arousal and can be applied appropriately during a match. Setting goals prior to and through out a match can make the difference of winning or losing. Goals enable players to have a focus and motive, something that they want to consciously attain, accomplish or achieve. 3 There are a large variety of types of goals, but a recent study shows that a combination of a few different goals together is most effective. 10 All tennis players regardless of ability need to set realistic goals continuously to be able to improve their game.

In appendix (1) the player has no reason to play well and says she sometimes just loses to finish quickly. Compared to appendix (4) the player sets numerous goals per match, therefore has an objective and strives to accomplish them. Goals are a form of motivating the player without needing a coach present on the court. Tennis is a psychological sport. In order to enjoy the game and play to your potential you need to be trained and mentally prepared to face all the various possibilities that may occur.