Practice the Mental Side

Plan to win...

The theme of this week's posts has turned out to be how to respond under pressure. The theme continues today with an article from Sarah Ansboury about developing the mental part of the game. Her thought is that pressure can be overcome by planning and practice...and not necessarily with a paddle. Excerpts from her article Pickleball Challenges: The Mental Side of the Game are shown below.

We often practice our shots…thinking that perfecting our strokes is the key to winning. But if we don’t control the mental side of the game we will often come up short. Today, we’ll focus on preparing yourself mentally before a tournament.

COMING UP SHORT

I don’t know about you, but perhaps the most frustrating thing is not being able to close out a match. We have all seen this, and most of us have been there. Two evenly matched teams, battle back and forth. The difference in the third game or the tie-breaker in a Gold Medal match. Nothing is more frustrating than knowing you can play better, but your brain and your body are not connecting.

MENTAL SIDE PRACTICE

Just as you practice dinks, or serves….forehands or backhands….you need to practice the mental side of pickleball as well. In the end, your biggest competition is yourself. In preparation for a tournament, you want to do things that will prepare you for a winning mindset.

It starts with a few simple things:

• Take time to find out what ball will be used, and spend time practicing with it;mental side
• Whenever possible, make a special effort to practice productively with your partner.
• Don’t just drill or play, but talk! Discuss strategy and court position before the day of the event. Make sure you and your partner are on the same page. Your strategy with one team may be different than with another. If you know who you will be facing, take the time to work out a winning strategy for each match. The last thing you want to do is walk into a match without a plan.
• Set your intention as a team…define your common goals...