My son is 12 years old and has been playing tennis for 7 years. We have been told that he has lots of talent and that he has natural tennis abilities.

However, he does have a mental weakness. Before he starts a match, he is very nervous which in some cases will continue through the match. He would eventually get upset if he makes an error and eventually lose focus.

He would also ’scream’ from frustration to the point where he does not care if he loses or not. I have told him to be positive and to control his anger but he just can’t do it. He says that he trys but I am not too sure about that.

I have seen him lose to persons that he should be able to beat easily but once the fear takes over, he loses focus and eventually the match. How could we (parents) help him to overcome this?

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I have a more general question and is related to training. As is obvious Europeans, in particular Eastern Europeans, have been excelling far greater over the years than Americans.

How are these younger players, in particular young girls, training? Are they working on either physical training 2/wk, and on their tennis skills 3/wk, or are they training on tennis every day?

Also do you have any suggestions for training a G12? Currently, we balance out my daughter by receiving lessons only 2/wk for an hour, so she can do other activities like girl scouts and soccer.

I have heard on serious tournament players are working everyday. We are realistic on our daughter’s tennis ability and only want to give her the tools she needs to be the best that she can be.

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I have this dilemma. I’m now 24. As a junior I was ranked very high under 16 in my country.

My dilemma without going into my life story is that when I play in front of my parents (who come even though I’d rather they didn’t) I get really angry and as I’m playing all I can think of is that they are scrutinizing me and judging me all the time and it just makes me anxious to the point where I can’t concentrate on executing a game plan.

I’ve just started playing again after a 5 year lay-off and have just won a tournament and made the semi’s in my first two back since the lay-off but tonight I just lost to some guy who’s a big fish in a little pond around my local area night competition.

I’m just over being this guy who has so much potential as all my coaches and trainers and peers have told me my whole life and just wanna be able to step into my potential for once.

I only rarely seem to do this and I know now as an adult that it’s mental. Please help…

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I have a question…. I am a freshmen at my high school. I am on the tennis team and my current spot is #9. I play very well with my friend who is in the #2 spot.

I can volley and serve really well. But when I try to play a match (exhibition) I seem to always lose! I tense up after I make the mistake and make errors with even the simplest of volleys!

Is there a way I can keep myself from tensing up and losing and keep my mind focused on the game?

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Wolf Blass wines is organizing a contest where you can win a trip for 2 and accommodations to the New Haven ATP tournament.

You can send a video of your best shot, best play or boldest match and [tag]Jim Courier[/tag] will make the final choice, who is the “One”.

Note that this is only eligible to US citizens so check the official rules for some other exceptions.

I have recently taped one of my favorite tennis tricks but I am not a US citizen so no contest for me. ;(

I haven’t uploaded the video anywhere yet, but I will let you know when it’s up.

Since I am in Thailand I still cannot access and upload to Youtube. (grrrr….)

Some of you may also have noted that Youtube has removed one of the Federer videos I had in my account.

It belongs to the All England Lawn Tennis Club. I’m fine with that and I only hope that they upload it back to Youtube so that people can benefit from it.

[tag]Tennis Australia[/tag] still lets me keep the full [tag]Roger Federer[/tag] video but they have asked and removed all other slow-motion videos I uploaded.

I am fine with that too.

Actually, here a nice link back to your site Tennis Australia and thank you!

To get access to the Roger Federer slow motion video and more goodies subscribe to the TennisMindGame.com newsletter.

I’m looking forward to sharing tennis thoughts and ideas about the strategy and mental part of the game as well as tennis instruction tips.

I also intend to share some of my thoughts about internet marketing, becoming financially and personally free and other thoughts related to psychology and personal growth.

If you want to find out more about me or my tennis instruction website…