Play Under Pressure

Tennis Mindset = Think Clearly Under Pressure

Playing your best tennis when everything feels comfortable is one thing. Doing it when the score is tight, your opponent is fighting back, your last two points have gone badly or the pressure is building is something else.

Play Under Pressure is a practical workshop about developing the mental skills needed to perform effectively in competitive situations.

The objective is not to eliminate nerves, mistakes, frustration or pressure. These are natural parts of competition. It is to help players recognise what pressure does to their thinking and behaviour, develop effective responses and return their attention to what they can control.

What You'll Learn

The workshop explores practical mental and competitive performance principles including:

1. Understanding pressure: recognising how pressure affects thoughts, emotions, decisions and execution.

2. Resetting between points: learning how to let go of the previous point and prepare for the next.

3. Managing emotions: recognising frustration, anxiety, anger and excitement without allowing them to control your behaviour.

4. Refocusing attention: bringing your attention back to the present point and the task in front of you.

5. Making decisions under pressure: maintaining tactical clarity when the score and situation become more demanding.

6. Managing risk: understanding the difference between playing too safely and taking unnecessary risks.

7. Committing to decisions: trusting your preparation and committing fully to the shot you have chosen.

8. Handling mistakes: responding constructively rather than allowing one error to influence the next point.

9. Competing with pressure: developing routines and behaviours that allow you to perform consistently when the outcome matters.

How Can I Think, Decide and Execute When the Pressure Is On?

Many players understand what they should do when they are calm.

They know their game plan. They know their patterns. They know which shots they want to play.

Then the score becomes 5–4, they face break point, or they lose three points in a row — and suddenly their tennis changes.

They rush. They become passive. They overthink. They abandon their tactics. They take unnecessary risks. Or they become so focused on winning that they stop focusing on how to play.

Play Under Pressure explores what happens in these moments and, more importantly, what players can do about it.

We use a simple five-stage process:

Reset → Refocus → Decide → Commit → Compete

• Reset: let go of the previous point and recognise your current state.

• Refocus: bring your attention back to what you can control.

• Decide: identify a clear tactical intention for the next point.

• Commit: trust the decision and commit to the execution.

• Compete: accept the uncertainty of the outcome and play the point.

The process is deliberately simple. Under pressure, players do not need more things to think about. They need a reliable process they can return to.

Perform Under Pressure

• What am I feeling? + How is pressure affecting my tennis?

• What can I control? + What do I need to let go of?

• How do I reset after a mistake? + How do I refocus on the next point?

• What is my decision? + Can I commit to it?

• What do I need to focus on right now?

• How do I stay with my game when the score becomes important?

• How do I respond when things don't go my way?

• How can I compete effectively even when I don't feel comfortable?

Who Is It For?

Play Under Pressure is designed for juniors, adults and competitive players who want to become more consistent and resilient in competition.

It is particularly relevant for players who find that their tennis changes when the score becomes important, who struggle to recover after mistakes, or who know what they want to do but cannot consistently execute it under pressure.

Develop the mental skills needed to perform when the score and situation matter most.

08:30–09:00 | Welcome & Introduction

• Introduce the coach and the workshop's purpose

• Frame the core question: "How can I think, decide and execute when the pressure is on?"

• Quick poll/discussion: Reset → Refocus → Decide → Commit → Compete Think about a match where you played differently when the score became important. What changed in your tennis?

09:00–12:00 | Session 1: Reset & Refocus

The first session focuses on what happens between points and how players can prevent one point from controlling the next.

Reset

Players explore:

• Letting go of the previous point

• Responding to mistakes

• Managing frustration

• Recovering after losing an important point

• Avoiding emotional carry-over

• Developing a consistent between-point routine

Refocus

Players learn to:

• Bring attention back to the present

• Separate what they can control from what they cannot

• Focus on the next task rather than the previous outcome

• Use simple performance cues

• Return to their tactical intentions

Format

• Match video analysis

• Mistake-response drills: players deliberately encounter errors and must use their reset routine before playing the next point.

• Between-point routine development

• Momentum games: players experience losing several points consecutively and must reset before the next sequence.

• Distraction exercises: introduce external and internal distractions and challenge players to return their attention to the task.

• Freeze & reflect: after a mistake or emotional reaction

13:00–16:00 | Session 2: Decide & Commit

The second session focuses on maintaining clarity and conviction when pressure increases.

Decide

Players explore:

• Making clear decisions under pressure

• Avoiding overthinking

• Choosing an appropriate level of risk

• Staying connected to their game plan

• Trusting patterns they have trained

• Making decisions based on the situation rather than fear of losing

Commit

Players learn to:

• Commit fully to the chosen decision

• Trust their preparation

• Avoid half-committed shots

• Accept uncertainty

• Separate decision quality from outcome

• Continue committing even after an unsuccessful decision

Format

Pressure scenarios: recreate:

• 30–30

• break point

• set point

• 5–4

• tie-break

• serving for the match

• match point

Risk calibration exercises: players compare playing:

• too safely

• too aggressively

• with appropriate competitive risk

17:00–20:00 | Session 3: Play Under Pressure Match Lab

The final session brings the complete framework into competitive tennis.

Reset → Refocus → Decide → Commit → Compete

The purpose is to create situations where players genuinely experience pressure and have to apply the process.

Part 1 — Pressure Point Challenges

Players compete in deliberately demanding situations:

• Starting 0–30 down

• Starting 30–0 up

• Break point

• Set point

• Tie-break

• Serving to stay in the set

• Serving for the match

• Playing after losing three consecutive points

Part 2 — Momentum Lab

Create changing momentum:

Win four points → lose four points → reset → compete again.

Players are challenged to maintain their process regardless of whether momentum is moving in their favour.

The coach observes:

• emotional response

• attention

• decision-making

• risk management

• commitment

• body language

• between-point behaviour

Part 3 — Match Play

Players play short sets or competitive matches.

The coach does not constantly intervene. Instead, the objective is to see whether players can independently use the framework.

Discuss common competitive experiences:

• playing differently after making a mistake

• becoming nervous at important scores

• rushing between points

• becoming too defensive

• overthinking decisions

• losing concentration after winning or losing an important point

What changes in my tennis when I feel pressure?

*** Including lunch and breaks

Think clearly. Commit fully.