Compete successfully in matches - how to successfully implement your good training performance in the match

We all know it, we've all heard it countless times after a match - from teammates, our own tennis kids or have experienced it ourselves. "I played so well in training and nothing, absolutely nothing, worked in the match!!" Are you one of the training world champions who simply can't match your good training performance in the match? Who become completely frustrated match losers? Our coach and mental expert Stephan Medem will explain why this is the case and what you should take into account during training in order to ultimately be successful in the match.

Why do we play brilliantly in training and then nothing works in the match?

Sometimes it makes you tear your hair out, run away or cry. Yesterday in training every shot came, the touch was there, everything went like clockwork. Today in the match you go onto the pitch fully motivated, get involved, have a good feeling and then.... Yes then the house of cards of the "training world champion", the "I played so brilliantly yesterday" falls from point to point, from game to game. Security and self-confidence drop to zero, the match is lost without ever really getting into the game.

“The biggest difference between training and a match is the issue of consistency ,” says Steph.

In training there is never a consequence for a sly forehand, for a double fault. You just play the next ball without a care in the world and that's it, don't worry about it. But in a match, every mistake has a consequence - point gone, game gone, you're behind, you lose.

How can we design our training so that we create a match-like situation?

In the match we can only implement what we have practiced in training. So we have to create match-like situations over and over again in training. Steph has the following tips and suggestions:

• 1 Always train with maximum intensity
  Only if we always work with full intensity in terms of movement and concentration during training can we transfer this intensity into the match. Trying to do something in the match that we haven't practiced in training won't work.
• 2 Build consequences into training
  Mistakes always have a certain consequence, i.e. if I make a mistake, for example, I have to do a certain number of push-ups, burpees, sprints, etc. Or during batting practice (e.g. forehand or backhand cross), whoever makes a mistake must immediately sprint to the net and then play continues. You should also do this when training your serve: don't just serve one serve after the other, but set a certain quota in advance (e.g. 6 out of 10. If this is not achieved, there will be a consequence such as push-ups or other niceties.
• 3 Practice close, match-deciding situations in match training.
  Always start with the score at 4:4 in order to recreate and practice the all-important set decision. Match tiebreaks are also suitable here.

Try incorporating these three points into your training. In the next blog post, Steph will address the question of what you can do in the match if things don't go as planned.

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