Sport Psychology: 25 Crucial Seconds

Statistics show that at both the competitive and recreational levels, tennis players hit the ball approximately 15 minutes of every hour they play a match.

The other 45 minutes are spent retrieving balls, toweling off, switching sides, arguing, bouncing the ball before the serve, etc.

Despite the fact that the ball is in play only 25 percent of the time a player is on the court, most coaches devote 100 percent of their practice time to hitting, playing, drilling or other aspects of the game related to the 25 percent of the match where the ball is in play.

Are you preparing your players for the other 75 percent of their matches?

If tennis is 25 percent physical and 75 percent mental, it's critical that coaches help players work on the time they have between points to prepare for the next point they are going to play.

The article goes on to show how to help players manage the time in-between points and games, based on the work of Dr. Jim Loehr and others.