Product Description

This book is aimed at managing performance anxiety in tennis from a sports psychology perspective. Have you ever found yourself worried and tense about a game you were due to play? On court, have you ever felt your breathing becoming laboured, your legs heavy and butterflies in your stomach? Have you cursed your inability to play simple shots, either under your breath or out loud? In a match, do you ever miss shots that you make consistently in your coaching sessions or practice games? Do you double fault at crucial points? For most of us, many of these descriptions will sound familar. Would you like to understand why you have experienced them? Would you like to do something to prevent them happening again in the future? If the answer to any of these questions is 'yes', then this book is for you. This book is unique to the market. Whilst there are several books to help with the general mental side of the game, none focus specifically upon managing anxiety in order to help improve tennis when it matters most -­ in a match. The book is organised into two parts. Part one is theoretical. It explores the meaning of anxiety, how anxious thoughts and feelings can lead to behaviour which inhibits performance, how individuals differ in their propensity to feel anxious and how we respond differently to stressful situations, such as playing in front of an audience. Part two focuses on specific psychological techniques to manage tennis anxiety. It is full of practical advice on matters such as deep breathing, relaxation, distraction, positive self-talk, visualisation, body language and coping with pressure. If you read this book and put into practice just one or two of its suggestions, your game will improve; if you practice all of the suggestions, your game will improve further still.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #161879 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 100 pages

Review
If you worry before matches or feel anxious and tense on court, this book will give you the psychological tools to cope and play better tennis. --Stephen Renwick - author of Tennis is Mental and Tennis is Mental, Too

A stimulating read for competitive players and coaches....this new book is rapidly becoming our next bestseller! --The Tennis Gallery (Wimbledon)

Whatever your level of competition, you will have experienced the telltale signs of nervous tension: poor foot movement; stiff racket arm; double faults; 'brain freeze'. In his interesting new book psychologist Dr Andrew Peden explores the nature and cause of anxiety in tennis, explaining how it can be a positive motivational force as well as a negative influence on performance. Having defined the cause and effect of the problem, Dr Peden then goes on to suggest strategies to overcome it. These include pre-match preparation, diet, deep breathing exercies and much more besides, but the overhwelming message of this book is that to acknowledge and understand the problem is the important first step to overcoming it. --Ace Tennis (Britain's best-selling tennis magazine)

About the Author
Dr Andrew Peden is a Chartered Psychologist and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. He has published articles and book chapters on the psychology of tennis in both the UK and Australia. He is also a member of the coaching team at the LTA High Performance Centre based at Bolton Arena, where he uses psychology to help high performance tennis players improve their mental game. His maxim is: tennis is a sport played on a court and a game played in the mind.

Customer Reviews

Performance Anxiety
As a student of psychology and a keen tennis player who often gets 'tight' at important points, I found this book really helpful. It is set out in two parts, the first dealing with the 'why' we feel anxious when playing tennis and the second the 'how to' do something about coping with anxiety (or to use the author's term 'managing' performance anxiety). I especially liked the chapter on breathing control to manage the physical side of anxiety such as palpatations and muscular tension; and the chapter on positive self talk to manage the mental or thinking side. I also appreciated how the author normalised anxiety as inevitable and even helpful - pointing out that if we do not feel some anxiety then we would not be motivated to practice (or to read this book I dare say). I would recommend this book to any tennis player - indeed to anyone who takes part in competitive sport.

No more double faults!
Well maybe just fewer double faults after reading this book by Andrew Peden. And fewer bad moods on court and definitely less tightness at crunch stages in the game. Peden essentially normalises anxiety - it is necessary to feel at least some stress and tension to perform at your peak but too much and you might go over the edge. Unlike many of the tennis psychology books I have read, he doesn't just tell you why you do what you do, he gives you tips on how to keep your head under pressure. It could have been longer (just under 100 pages) but still well worth a tenner.