Mind Over Tennis

Why did Roger Federer challenge his coach Peter Lundgren to a wrestling match? And how did Lundgren manage to help transform him from an ill-tempered youth to the consummate professional we have come to know? Mind over Tennis answers this and many other questions. The book thoroughly covers all aspects how to master the mental game of tennis including such topics as: •Managing nervousness •Reaching the zone •Achieving consistency •Effective training and drills •Controlling emotions Along with this we get real-life examples and stories from Peter Lundgren’s unique experience of coaching three players who all reached world number one rankings. How did they do it? What was special about them? How did Peter coach them?

Bestseller author Steve Brady’s masterpiece on becoming a pro tennis player is a keeper! Has your mind sabotaged your tennis game on more than one occasion? Have you struggled to maintain inner peace when engaged in competitive play? Has unnecessary fear and worry robbed you of the pleasure you once experienced playing the great game of tennis? If you have answered “yes” to any one of these questions, then this book is for you. This special edition of the author’s previous book, “The Mind of a Tennis Player” has ten additional chapters devoted to improving the junior and adult competitors’ mental strength during play. Chapters such as “The Mind and Body Relationship,” “Cherish the Battle,” and “Never Abandon Your Tennis Ship” will continue to give you practical strategies and tips, keeping you on the right path to play your best tennis! Steve Brady has been involved with the game of tennis for over 45 years. He was the former Head Tennis Professional at Palmetto Dunes Tennis Center in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, and Wild Dunes Tennis Center in the Isle of Palms, South Carolina.

Bestseller author Steve Brady’s masterpiece on becoming a pro tennis player is a keeper! Has your mind sabotaged your tennis game on more than one occasion? Have you struggled to maintain inner peace when engaged in competitive play? Has unnecessary fear and worry robbed you of the pleasure you once experienced playing the great game of tennis? If you have answered “yes” to any one of these questions, then this book is for you. This special edition of the author’s previous book, “The Mind of a Tennis Player” has ten additional chapters devoted to improving the junior and adult competitors’ mental strength during play. Chapters such as “The Mind and Body Relationship,” “Cherish the Battle,” and “Never Abandon Your Tennis Ship” will continue to give you practical strategies and tips, keeping you on the right path to play your best tennis! Steve Brady has been involved with the game of tennis for over 45 years. He was the former Head Tennis Professional at Palmetto Dunes Tennis Center in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, and Wild Dunes Tennis Center in the Isle of Palms, South Carolina.

Tennis is what I do, I coach high performance and top nationally ranked tennis players. I find more and more that the key for success in all levels of play is in the mind of a player. That is often neglected! As a player, I considered myself a nightmare for my opponents as I would naturally use all the tools I had to reach the goals I set to myself. Now as a coach, I put in this book all the tools I used as a player and also learned as a coach. This is a great tool and knowledge not only useful for tennis but for all sports and life in general.

The timeless guide to achieving the state of “relaxed concentration” that’s not only the key to peak performance in tennis but the secret to success in life itself—part of the bestselling Inner Game series, with more than one million copies sold! “Groundbreaking . . . the best guide to getting out of your own way . . . Its profound advice applies to many other parts of life.”—Bill Gates, GatesNotes (“Five of My All-Time Favorite Books”) This phenomenally successful guide to mastering the game from the inside out has become a touchstone for hundreds of thousands of people. Billie Jean King has called the book her tennis bible; Al Gore has used it to focus his campaign staff; and Itzhak Perlman has recommended it to young violinists. Based on W. Timothy Gallwey’s profound realization that the key to success doesn’t lie in holding the racket just right, or positioning the feet perfectly, but rather in keeping the mind uncluttered, this transformative book gives you the tools to unlock the potential that you’ve possessed all along. “The Inner Game” is the one played within the mind of the player, against the hurdles of self-doubt, nervousness, and lapses in concentration. Gallwey shows us how to overcome these obstacles by trusting the intuitive wisdom of our bodies and achieving a state of “relaxed concentration.” With chapters devoted to trusting the self and changing habits, it is no surprise then, that Gallwey’s method has had an impact far beyond the confines of the tennis court. Whether you want to play music, write a novel, get ahead at work, or simply unwind after a stressful day, Gallwey shows you how to tap into your utmost potential. No matter your goals, The Inner Game of Tennis gives you the definitive framework for long-term success.

The timeless guide to achieving the state of “relaxed concentration” that’s not only the key to peak performance in tennis but the secret to success in life itself—now in a 50th anniversary edition with an updated epilogue, a foreword by Bill Gates, and an updated preface from NFL coach Pete Carroll “Groundbreaking . . . the best guide to getting out of your own way . . . Its profound advice applies to many other parts of life.”—Bill Gates, GatesNotes (“Five of My All-Time Favorite Books”) This phenomenally successful guide to mastering the game from the inside out has become a touchstone for hundreds of thousands of people. Billie Jean King has called the book her tennis bible; Al Gore has used it to focus his campaign staff; and Itzhak Perlman has recommended it to young violinists. Based on W. Timothy Gallwey’s profound realization that the key to success doesn’t lie in holding the racket just right, or positioning the feet perfectly, but rather in keeping the mind uncluttered, this transformative book gives you the tools to unlock the potential that you’ve possessed all along. “The Inner Game” is the one played within the mind of the player, against the hurdles of self-doubt, nervousness, and lapses in concentration. Gallwey shows us how to overcome these obstacles by trusting the intuitive wisdom of our bodies and achieving a state of “relaxed concentration.” With chapters devoted to trusting the self and changing habits, it is no surprise then, that Gallwey’s method has had an impact far beyond the confines of the tennis court. Whether you want to play music, write a novel, get ahead at work, or simply unwind after a stressful day, Gallwey shows you how to tap into your utmost potential. In this fiftieth-anniversary edition, the principles of the Inner Game shine through as more relevant today than ever before. No matter your goals, The Inner Game of Tennis gives you the definitive framework for long-term success.

Most times, tennis players and athletes in general finish the competition unhappy about their performances. They feel that the potential was there, but a hidden force prevented them from achieving a feel-good performance. Performances, however, are never usually black and white. Most times athletes feel as though they were going through flows, flash-in/flash-out phases. Falls during performance are conventionally defined slumps and are among the most hated between athletes, above all when they feel that the main reason for slumps is not due to technical, tactical, or athletic flash-outs but rather to the mental components of the sport activity. In The Tennis Brain, you will find the following: Journey inside the processes and functions of the human brain Find a neuroscientific-based evidence for theories on the mind and conscious processes Discover why the game of tennis is so prone to mind influences Understand how the mind processes influence tennis game-specific situations Learn how to synchronize brain, body, and mind for best tennis in match performance. Book Endorsements: This work by Federico Di Carlo is a cornerstone among the contemporary research on cognitive neuroscience. The reader is introduced to the exploration and a step by step understanding of the brain and mind mechanisms. Through a fascinating journey in the world of tennis, the author motivates the reader to discover and change wrong behaviours in a positive way. This is a complete manual, useful to both tennis professionals and fans, as well as to anyone aspiring to achieve better results in the game of life (Renzo Ardiccioni, associate professor of communication, Universit du Maine, France). Drawing upon a great number of studies as well as on the authors personal experience, Tennis Brain brings together neurosciences and tennis practice, challenging the readers to critically reconsider some of their habits and beliefs. Di Carlo summarises the extensive research produced in the last three decades and makes it accessible to a wider audience, bringing our understanding of key mental aspects of tennis out of the realm of empirical opinions and into the realm of science and knowledge. Tennis Brain can actually guide the readers to develop their own critical thinking and to learn to improve(Alessandro Bruinen Serio, PhD, founder of RISED [Research for Integrative and Sustainable Development]). Since the first time we met, I was really impressed with Di Carlo well founded opinion, genuine love and immense enthusiasm for a neuroscientific driven tennis which comes out from every single page of The Tennis Brain. Starting from a presentation of the structural and physiological mechanisms of the nervous system and the psychological assets of the mind, Federico Di Carlo uses the tennis court to change the tennis player mind to a positive thinking and correct competitive mentality. For scientific consistency, I compared my thinking on the book with other readers and I received a similar feedback. The Tennis Brain actually might represent a benchmark in the developing field of cognitive neuroscience applied to sport coaching (Prof. Salvatore Guccione, Department of Drug Sciences, University of Catania).