In early February 2015, I went to Moscow, where I had been invited to hold a seminar, by the Sport School for Children of Olympic Reserve.

I led a two day seminar on “Basic Mental Techniques in Tennis” for young tennis players from 10 to 12 years of age. The children who took part had been playing tennis actively for 4 to 7 years. Some of them had already experienced 40 tournaments; others had only experienced 5 tournaments.

It was very important to me to teach the players mental techniques to help them motivate themselves, build confidence and reduce anxiety before and during a competition. These techniques are intended to help the players to concentrate during a match and thereby perform well.

Under my guidance, the young players became acquainted with and practised the following techniques on the court:

  • Stopping negative thoughts
  • Positive “self-talk”
  • Body language
  • Breathing techniques
  • Concentration exercises

The object of the children was to practise and reinforce the techniques in training in order to be able to apply them themselves later in competition.

At the workshop entitled “Your own rituals” the children talked about how they had developed their own rituals and how they implement their rituals before and during a match.

Even without formal training in basic mental techniques children intuitively develop their own rituals to help motivate themselves and strengthen their self-confidence. It is no coincidence that many basic mental techniques have been unconsciously applied. For example, positive “self-talk”, certain forms of body language and breathing techniques, as well as focusing on the tennis ball help the young players to perform well during a match. For the tennis players in this age group, it is important that they incorporate basic mental techniques into their own rituals. These techniques must be further developed and rehearsed so that they can be applied effectively at the right time.

I enjoyed the two days with these young tennis players immensely. In particular, I enjoyed having the opportunity to lead a seminar in my mother tongue. The children were very interested and willing to learn new things and try them out on the court.

The feedback from the children, parents and coaches on the seminar was very positive. Now we are already planning more seminars with the Spartak tennis school. I’m looking forward to it!