The Psychology Of Tennis

Discover This Secret Edge For Your Game

Bill Cole, MS, MA
Founder and CEO
William B. Cole Consultants
Silicon Valley, California

Mental Game Coach Bill Cole Peak Performance Playbook

Three of the biggest legends in pro tennis history – John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg and Jim Courier – all say that the psychology of tennis is critical to their success. How about you? Do you use it to get that special edge? Here are eight major ways you can utilize the psychology of tennis to help you improve faster and create more sustainable success in your tennis.    491 words.

"I think it's the mark of a great player to be confident in tough situations."
—John McEnroe, former world's number one player and winner of the U.S. Open four times, and Wimbledon three times.

"My strongest point is my persistence. I never give up in a match. However down I am, I fight until the last ball. My list of matches shows that I have turned a great many so-called irretrievable defeats into victories."
—Bjorn Borg, former world's number one player and winner of the French Open six times, and Wimbledon five times.

"It's very, very dangerous to have your self-worth riding on your results as an athlete."
—Jim Courier, former world's number one player and winner of the Australian Open and French Open

Here are three of the biggest legends in pro tennis history – John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg and Jim Courier – all saying that the psychology of tennis is critical to their success. How about you? Do you know about the psychology of tennis? Do you use it to get that special edge? Here are eight major ways you can utilize the psychology of tennis to help you improve faster and create more sustainable success in your tennis.


  1. The Psychology Of Tennis Helps You Get In The Zone. The zone is that special place where performance magic happens. When you know tennis psychology, you can call forth the zone far more often.

  2. The Psychology Of Tennis Helps You Handle Distractions. Laser focus is what champions possess. When you have this, distractions melt away. The psychology of tennis teaches you how to manage your mind and train and aim that focus, under pressure.

  3. The Psychology Of Tennis Helps You Raise Your Game Under Pressure. If you want to win more, against better and better competition, you must know how to raise your game. The psychology of tennis teaches you this.

  4. The Psychology Of Tennis Teaches You How To Picture Success. Champions put pictures in their mind that lead to success. You can learn to do this so you learn faster and perform better.

  5. The Psychology Of Tennis Builds Your Confidence. If there is one thing everyone wants, it is confidence. The psychology of tennis teaches you how to tap into your deepest confidence, and apply it to the competitive arena.

  6. The Psychology Of Tennis Gives You Insights About Momentum. Tennis matches are won and lost around momentum. The psychology of tennis shows you how to notice this momentum, grab onto it, and not let go until you win.

  7. The Psychology Of Tennis Stops Self-Sabotage. Self-sabotage means you beat yourself before you begin, or quash your chances of success, even when success seems within reach. The psychology of tennis teaches you to recognize this tendency within you, eliminate it and claim what is rightly yours.

  8. The Psychology Of Tennis Helps You Manage Pressure. Champions embrace pressure. They know it helps them raise their game. The psychology of tennis helps you realize this also, and adjust your thinking so you can operate to your potential under this pressure.


Now that you have an overview of the psychology of tennis, I know this will help you in improving your mental game.

Mental Game of Tennis

Learn about Bill's book, The Mental Game of Tennis.


The Israeli Davis Cup Team recommends Bill as a premier mental game coach:

"Bill is a very talented and deeply-knowledgeable mental game coach. His ability to help our players stay motivated, focused and on-track is just excellent. Bill really takes the time to understand people, to listen and to figure out what each person needs to achieve and excel. He has crafted a comprehensive mental game peak performance program for us, as a mental game advisor to individual players and team mental game coach for team practice sessions. He is a master mental game coach. He is one of the top peak performance coaches on the Pro Tennis Tour. More players on the pro tour could use his help."



For a comprehensive overview of your mental abilities you need an assessment instrument that identifies your complete mental strengths and weaknesses. Here is a free, easy-to-take 65-item sport psychology assessment tool you can score right on the spot. This assessment gives you a quick snapshot of your strengths and weaknesses in your mental game. You can use this as a guide in creating your own mental training program, or as the basis for a program you undertake with mental game coach Bill Cole, MS, MA to improve your mental game. This assessment would be an excellent first step to help you get the big picture about your mental game.

Bill Cole, MS, MA, a leading authority on peak performance, mental toughness and coaching, is founder and CEO of William B. Cole Consultants, a consulting firm that helps organizations and professionals achieve more success in business, life and sports. He is also the Founder and President of the International Mental Game Coaching Association (www.mentalgamecoaching.com), an organization dedicated to advancing the research, development, professionalism and growth of mental game coaching worldwide. He is a multiple Hall-Of-Fame honoree as an athlete, coach and school alumnus, an award-winning scholar-athlete, published book author and articles author, and has coached at the highest levels of major-league pro sports, big-time college athletics and corporate America. For a free, extensive article archive, or for questions and comments visit him at www.MentalGameCoach.com.

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