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Fifth Third Bank Tennis Championships – July 24, 2011 – Jim Durham, Lexington Challenger Media Director, Lexington, KY – Second-seeded Wayne Odesnik showed many flashes Sunday of why he was ranked No. 77 in the world two years ago, clamping down on top-seeded James Ward 7-5, 6-4 for the 17th annual Lexington Challenger men’s title.

Odesnik was the man on a mission – trying to get back under that 200-ranking mark (he’s No. 206 currently) and then take aim at the sub-100 territory again. “I hope I’m on the way back…I’m trying. Starting with Futures (this year) and no ranking – from nothing to 160 is an exceptional run for me,” said Odesnik, referring to his expected new ranking Monday.

Ward had two break points at 4-4 in the first set, and three more (love-40) at 5-5, but couldn’t cash in. But, when Odesnik had Ward on three break points (love-40) at 5-6, he seized set point with a sharply flicked, high over-the-shoulder backhand.

“I was more solid on the big points…(in fact) in the big moments, I served well all week,” Odesnik said. A disappointed Ward, who had beaten Odesnik earlier this year, allowed, “This was still a positive week for me…a good first week in the States.”

Indeed, after looking like a man with a plane to catch while spotting Odesnik a 5-0 lead in the second set, Ward rediscovered his pride and ran off four straight games. But, the eventual winner again claimed a couple of those “big points” to close out this USTA Pro Circuit event.

Just as big for him, he said this week, was winning back the respect of tennis fans and fellow players that he lost in 2010 when he was charged with possession of HGH when entering Australia and then banned briefly from the tour. BIG for him has been the support of “my team” – including coaches Guillermo Canas, a former Davis Cupper for Argentina, and Juan Pablo Sangali (Canas Tennis Academy in Key Biscayne, FL) and sports psychologist John Murray.

Can he return to the Top 100 and climb back into the 70s or higher? “I’m not focusing on ranking…but on enjoying tennis.”
Ward (at No. 202) also appears to be a man who won’t be kept “down on the farm.” The British Davis Cupper said he’s striving for that next level, “working on things…because sometimes you have to take a step backward to go forward.”
And, yet Ward would not admit to any real holes in his game. “If there was one thing I was bad at,” he said, “I’d think Wawrinka (currently No. 16 in the world) and Querrey (now no. 50) would have picked up on it.”

Where to NEXT? Odesnik is headed for the qualies of the ATP in Washington, D.C. And, he and Ward both will play the Binghamton (NY) Challenger.

Ever since I heard legendary tennis teacher and researcher Vic Braden (jokingly, I assume) say, “Tennis is 100% mental”, I became interested in tennis books written by experts in the mental aspects of the game. My reviews of books in that genre have allowed me great insights in the mysterious and often masochistic ways our own mind is trying to sabotage our tennis game.

The Inner Game of Tennis, written 1974 by Timothy Gallwey, ended up #5 on my Top 10 all time favorite list of tennis books and I have since realized that numerous serious coaching professionals are followers of many of Gallwey’s teachings. Dr. Allen Fox’s book Tennis: Winning the Mental Match (Overcome your emotions, fears and nerves and build confidence for success in life and on the courts) specifies 3 big problems in tennis: Anger, tanking, and choking. He discusses those problems and suggests ways to overcome them, in addition to a bunch of real helpful tips for winning the mental match.

More recently I came across a booklet written in 1999 by John F. Murray, Ph.D. that caught my attention because Vic Braden is quoted on the back cover as follows: “Smart Tennis is a must for players at all levels – from the beginners to Wimbledon champions! An outstanding book for understanding and improving your mental game.”

Dr. John F. Murray has an extensive background in playing and coaching tennis, writing and lecturing on sport psychology and tennis, and providing psychological services. A graduate of Loyola University (New Orleans), Murray is certified by both the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) and the Professional Tennis Registry (PTR). He taught tennis in Munich, Germany, before joining the Peter Burwash organization and teaching in Europe, Hawaii, North America, and the Middle East.

Dr. Murray’s accomplishments are numerous, like his contribution to the psychology of tennis, an award winning sport psychology column titled Mental Equipment. He is also a member of Division 47 (Exercise and Sport Sciences) of the American Psychology Association, and of the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology.

The author welcomes the reader to an “exciting personal journey… to help identify your own strengths and weaknesses to help you win the game against your toughest opponent – yourself!” He adds, “As a tennis player and coach I was often dismayed by the lack of high-quality materials on the mental aspects of the game.” Murray also discovered there were few qualified sport psychologists with an understanding and love of tennis to communicate this knowledge. “To my knowledge this is the first written by an author combining expertise in tennis, sport psychology, and clinical psychology. This book shares my enthusiasm in all three disciplines.”

The first chapter is all about understanding your personal needs. The author’s so-called Whole Person Approach is represented by the acronym ACES, four ways in which mind-body skills are expressed in tennis and other performance situations. ACES stands for Actions, Cognitions, Emotions, and (physical) Sensations.

Tennis Mind-Body Checklist (TMBC)

Designed to help the readers understand themselves better, the TMBC consists of 100 questions with simple True/False answer requirements. A point matrix helps create a Skills Profile and an ACES Profile, en route to finding a Need Type.

Example: If the lowest score on the ACES Profile is E (Emotions), and the lowest score on the Skills Profile is C (Confidence), the resulting Need Type is E-C. The abbreviated description of E-C amongst the 20 listed Need Types reads: You should examine your feelings on the court and how they affect your expectations for success. For example, after winning an important game, you might be elated and need to guard against overconfidence. If you lack confidence, you might re-create feelings you had during previous successes. You will find help for this in Chapter Four!

Subsequent chapters provide direction for improving identified areas and further enhancing areas of strength. Chapters 2-6 are discussing related issues, such as Staying Focused, Your Mind-Body Time Machine, Confidence, Energy Control, and Goal Setting. Example: Under Steps to Eliminate Fear, Dr. Murray writes: When struck by fear during a match, realize that your opponent probably feels the same way or worse. Focus concretely on what you are going to accomplish and then just do it. Practice beginning matches at 15-40, 4-5 in the final set. Learn to love this challenge. Maintain an aggressive style of play rather than becoming tentative. Your best tennis comes when you are relaxed, poised, and full of belief in your abilities. You cannot control the outcome and you cannot always win, but by confronting your fears head on you’ll develop greater confidence.

Competition Management Playing Smart Tennis

I enjoyed Chapter 7: Competition Management Playing Smart Tennis, because I am being assured as my self-understanding increases and mind-body techniques improve, playing smart tennis becomes more natural. I also learn that my automatic pilot takes over and allows me to perform naturally. In Tennis Nutrition 101 the author warns that too many carbohydrates (pasta, breads, fruit, veggies) can lead to a sugar crash and complete exhaustion. Fats provide a more long-term energy source. Balance is the key to healthy nutrition. Both food quantity and quality should be closely regulated.

At the end, after teaching how to cope with injuries, the writer expands on tips and tricks during and after the match, such as point and changeover routines, momentum management, challenging your eyesight, explaining a match outcome, and taking stock of your mind-body skills. One of Dr. Murray’s students sums it all up. I am more excited about tennis than ever before, not only because I made it to the semifinals but because I have finally found the key to mental toughness. Sport psychology teaches you to ignore the distractions and concentrate instead on becoming the best you can be!

One of Dr. Murray’s biggest supporters is retired touring pro and former Top 20 player Vince Spadea. Born in Chicago and now residing in Boca Raton, Florida, Spadea was under Murray’s coaching care for 10 years. He says: “Dr. Murray was great in helping me come back from the longest losing streak ever of 21 straight losses, and we worked for ten years together on a fairly regular basis. He traveled with me to the 2007 Australian Open, and as my appointed coach (filling in since I was not with my regular coach) I beat Igor Andreev – a top 10 player – in straight sets, and we had other big wins together as well. Many of the same mental coaching principles he used with me can be found in his book Smart Tennis, but it was more than knowledge that really helped me get back to 18 in the world and top 10 in the champions race, it was also the fun and passion of having a common mission and goals with my sports psychologist … of constantly coming back to the mental game, and practicing it with imagery and other techniques. Smart Tennis players are wise to take the mental game as seriously as they do technique and physical strength.

I like this book because it gives me so much more than any book on stroke production or doubles strategy ever could. It focuses on my own abilities to make a change and cope with challenges on the tennis court. It is like a secret weapon in my arsenal of fighting tools on the tennis court. It is like the book I don’t ever want my opponents to read.

Dr. Murray’s web site is located at www.JohnFMurray.com and you can send an email to Dr. Murray at: johnfmurray@mindspring.com.

This Key Biscayne Masters series gem continues to rank as the 5th most important tournament on the tour. Mark it official and just call it a grand slam, on par with Wimbledon and Roland Garros. Why not? It’s the biggest and baddest tennis in Florida, the Caribbean and South America, and my prediction is that it will eventually become the second US Open in some future decade as the Latin population of American and South Florida continues to grow beyond expectations. I love it because it is so close and I get to meet with players I am working with and see them play too.

By the quarterfinals of the 2010 event, 8 of the current top 20 ranked players in the world were still standing, so you had the cream of the crop for sure! In parentheses after their names are their current ATP Tour rankings: Rafael Nadal of Spain (1), Robin Sonderling of Sweden (5), Thomas Berdych of Czechoslovakia (8), Andy Roddick of USA (9), Fernando Verdasco of Spain (10), Jo Wilfried Tsonga of France (11), Mikhail Youzny of Russia (14), and Nicolas Almagro (20) of Spain. With Spain just winning the World Cup too, you wonder what they are drinking over there!

Let’s listen to the winner’s post-match comments from the mental perspective, with the key mental principle(s) underlined as a header:

QUARTERFINALS

CONFIDENCE
Berdych d. Verdasco 4-6, 7-6, 6-4: Berdych after the match stated: “I brought many positive things even though I was tired.� He explained in the press conference how beating Roger Federer in the previous round gave him confidence. He showed just that in saving 7 of 9 break points. Rather than getting defeated in adversity or reacting to a difficult situation in a negative way, Berdych hung in there, knew that he could do it, and did it.

QUICKNESS
Sonderling d. Youzny 6-1, 6-4: Robin Sonderling explained in the interview how taking the initiative and dictating play with his flat groundstrokes worked like a charm. He also talked about how he won with quickness, and we know from research how important mental processes are in anticipatory quickness. It’s actually equally about physical movement as it is about getting a jump mentally and reading cues properly. Sonderling beat his rival to the punch with better anticipation skills, by taking the ball earlier, and through lightning fast shot-making, and these all begin in the brain.

AUTOMATICITY
Roddick d. Almagro 6-3, 6-3: Roddick, off to one of his fastest career starts, described this match in a way that shows he was in a state of pure focus and automatic play or automaticity. He already had played and won a lot in 2010, and described in this match how “things slowed down and muscle memory took over.� This is classic in higher stages of learning where auto-pilot predominates. It defines simplicity and perfect focus. Andy found it in this match and he felt like he could do no wrong.

CROWD SUPPORT AND PASSION
Nadal d. Tsonga 6-3, 6-2: Never neglect the influence of the environment in performance, and social facilitation is a psychological state caused by crowd support. Nadal credited the crowd when he said after the match “I was inspired by the full and passionate crowd.� He added, “the crowd is always very emotional here.� There is no doubt that despite Nadal’s fatigue, he got a second and third wind from this special social element.

SEMIFINALS

GOALS
Berdych d. Sonderling 6-2, 6-2: Thomas Berdych knew that he was in trouble if he tried to out-steady the Swede. It’s actually a somewhat absurd concept to try to out-steady a Swede ever since Bjorn Borg hit the scene. Berdych used his noggin to set a couple clear goals: (1) play more aggressively, and (2) reduce mistakes. This combination proved lethal to Robin when packed his bags and went back to the ice bar in Stockholm (I went there a couple years ago and can only imagine that is where Swedes go after they lose a match to cool). Humor aside, Berdych used his frontal lobe well in this match by setting goals to perfection. He had 17 winners and only 15 unforced errors compared with Sonderlings 10 winners and 31 unforced errors.

RISK-TAKING MINDSET
Roddick d. Nadal 4-6, 6-3, 6-3: Mindsets are crucial in sports. They reflect how you view a problem and solution. I often help players get ready for matches with particular sentences that capture a needed mindset. In this case, Andy knew he was in trouble against Nadal if he played it safe. Playing consistently against Nadal is like trying to beat a wall. So he changed his mindset to high risk/high reward and it drastically changed the course of the match mid way through the second set. Andy showed high intelligence in making this needed risky change and going on the attack. He went on to win 15 of 25 net approaches, found his flat risky forehand, and Nadal went home wondering what had happened.

FINAL
CRATIVITY AND PRESSURE MANAGEMENT
Roddick d. Berdych 7-5, 6-4: Andy used two important mental skills to take his 2nd career Ericsson title. He won by being creative and stated after the match, “I was smart in chipping and mixing paces which kept him guessing.� He also said, “I had a lot of pressure to win this one because I had a pretty good opportunity at Indian Wells.� In reflecting on the entire tournament, Roddick said “I haven’t had an off day mentally in this tournament.� The end result was the he held serve perfectly and did not even face a break point in this match. By combining smart creative play with urgency on every point (rather than negativity as often happens in pressure) Andy Roddick, the lone American in a draw with 3 fierce Spaniards and all top 20 players by the quarterfinals, showed that he was the mental champion of the week.

In this episode of the show, shot from Dr. Murray’s former office in Boca Raton, Florida, Clerc interviews Dr. Murray about the mental game of tennis and is later presented a copy of Murray’s new book “Smart Tennis: How to Play and Win the Mental Game” (Jossey-Bass/John Wiley & Sons).

Racket control and two-fisted backhands aren’t unusual at a noted tennis academy, but this prospect just turned 5 years old.

Mia Lines ‘has a gift, and 5 years old is not too young to nurture that gift,’ her coach says.

Mia Lines ‘has a gift, and 5 years old is not too young to nurture that gift,’ her coach says.

“She has the best adjustment steps I’ve seen in 25 years,” said Rick Macci, owner of the Rick Macci Tennis Academy at Boca Lago Country Club in Florida, where Mia Lines trains, when she’s not playing Scooby-Doo back home in Australia. “She has a gift, and 5 years old is not too young to nurture that gift.”

Macci, who worked with champions Andy Roddick, Jennifer Capriati and the Williams sisters when they were young, has been celebrated for his work with junior players and has been named the USPTA Coach of the Year seven times. Mia’s father found him on the Internet.

“When Mia was 3, everyone kept telling me she had talent and that I should get someone to look at her,” said Glenn Lines, a former day trader from Melbourne who is now the full-time single father to his tennis prodigy. “I had heard of Rick, and when I researched his program, I brought her to America to train with him.”

At 3 years old? Three years before school starts? At an age just beyond what child psychologists call “object permanence,” the ability of a child to remember what he or she just saw?

“We make sure she’s having fun,” said Macci.

It appears to be the case. Macci, who said Mia had racket control from the beginning, has the child bouncing basketballs with both hands, hitting the ball “on the rise, give ‘em a surprise” and taking lemonade breaks. I watched her hit 30 balls in a row over the net, then jump over a couple of Macci-fed tosses as if the ball were a hot potato. She giggles and laughs, but there is something else inside.

“She’s extremely competitive,” said Macci. “When I had Venus and Serena, they would run through glass on the court to get to a ball. Mia’s the same way.”

She is small, short for her age, but when she gets up on her toes, tiny calf muscles pop out in the back. Her movements are efficient and the ball almost never goes beyond the baseline. But where is this heading, what can come of training three hours a day at such a young age?

“Well she’s not going to win any tournaments for 5-year-olds,” said renowned sports psychologist Dr. John Murray. “But it isn’t necessarily bad that she’s developing her passion. At the moment, she’s no different than any child who plays the violin or is precocious at ballet or art at a young age.”

Tennis has had its share of pushy-parent casualties. Stefano Capriati was famous for changing coaches, signing endorsement contracts and courting sponsors when Jennifer was only 12. Her early burnout is the stuff of legend. Andre Agassi wrote in his book that he hated the game his father forced him to play. Damir Dokic was famously ejected from a tournament where his daughter, Jelena, was playing, when he drunkenly accused an official of being a Nazi who endorsed the bombing of his native Yugoslavia.

“Some of these parents are just pathological,” Murray said. “They don’t understand that all athletes go through developmental stages. Being a star at 10 doesn’t mean that child will be world-ranked at 14.”

It’s too early to tell if Glenn Lines has the right stuff to make the precarious journey. He admits he “took a tennis ball to the hospital where Mia was born”, and “waved a tennis ball” over her head when she was in the crib.

But Lines seems to have some perspective.

“I don’t come from a wealthy family,” he said of his upbringing in Wantirna South, a suburb outside of Melbourne. “I’m middle class, and I’ve decided that when Mia turns 14, if she wants to do something else, anything else, that’s her decision. I know that my father, who loves Aussie rules football, wanted me to play, but I never did.”

Macci will not say whether Mia, whom he calls “Kangaroo,” will develop into a world-class tennis player.

“There are too many factors,” he said. “But I don’t resent or worry about her father. Many, if not most great players, had at least one parent devoted to their development — Jimmy Connors, Monica Seles, Chris Evert, Martina Hingis. Not all parents are bad.”

Dear John:

It was wonderful talking with you yesterday on sports psychology. As promised, here is my article.

“I am Badri Narayanan, a Tennis coach/PM in Daybreak, Utah. During coaching, while my prime focus was on stroke analysis, technique and footwork/fitness etc, I was very much intrigued by the importance of mental toughness/sports pyschology etc. Quite often when students ask me “players in the tour say you either have confidence or you don’t, attitude is intrinsic etc.” and sometimes they got depressed because they thought that mental toughness was something intrinsic and not built through constant mental work.

I was looking for something concrete that would help my students treat mental toughness/skills as something as vital as technique and I ran into smart tennis by john murray. I was fascinated by how well written and clean it was in explaining the mental aspects of the game. I read through it cover to cover did the check lists for each mental skill. applied it in my club games, leagues etc and once I realized how much it had helped me on and off the tennis court, I decided that this is what I was looking for for my students.

If I could somehow translate the importance of working on mental skills to these students, not only it will help them become better tennis players but also champions in life. I made a conscious decision to incorporate it into my tennis sessions with the students. After my typical tennis sessions with the students, I gave them a check list of each mental skill like energy, attention control,confidence, concentration etc., and had them fill out where they were and honestly. This gave them a platform as to where their mental skills where and where they could be kinda like a goal for them to attain.

Every day we worked on each skill and at the end of the week we would revisit the mental checklist and see where they were. I would accompany these with videos of great tennis players to add to their enthusiasm. I have seen these students grow mentally in front of my own eyes and sometimes make me teary eyed with plenty of aha experiences.

This book is an absolute must for any student who wants to take his/her game to the highest level and reach their fullest potential in sports and life.

Thanks John for coming up with such an amazing book and it is bound to help millions to want to take their tennis to the highest level.

Badri Narayanan is a certified tennis coach in Salt Lake City , Utah. For private lessons and tennis sessions, zennis workshops and inner game tennis contact him at badri007@gmail .com or you can reach him at 435-764-0969.