Tennis Psychology: Understanding The Mental Effects Of Tennis Psychology

It took a golf psychology book to teach me how to improve my own thinking which would lead to improving my golf game. When things start going terribly wrong on the course, you should never ever get depressed and down on yourself. You need to develop a mental image that envisions things going right. This imagery has much more power than you might think. It is along the same lines as the power of positive thinking which is a popular yet truthful catch phrase, especially on the golf course. Almost every successful pro prepares himself mentally for the game through this effective visualization technique.

These aggressive attitudes and tendencies have been shown to have effects on one's judgement and the perception of their environment. An athlete with an over aggressive attitude who's judgement becomes clouded by aggression develops a disregard foe the opponent(s) that their aggression is being aimed at." I think the aggressiveness in sports - just making the play, charging past people or dominating somebody physically - really needs to be separated by athletes from appropriate off field behavior."(Tom Jackson, Univ. Arkansas psychology professor.)

Sports psychology deals with the mental and emotional aspects of physical performance. It involves describing, explaining and predicting attitudes, feelings and behaviours in an attempt to improve performance. In the film 'Coach Carter,' directed by Thomas Carter, sport psychology is used effectively to enhance the performance of a high school basketball team. However, this improved performance is not limited to the basketball court, it extends into the classroom where the students use goal setting, motivation, concentration and confidence control, ultimately to become accepted into college, avoiding a life of drugs, gangs and prison.

Men and women are psychologically different in many ways. Some of these differences include competitiveness, goal orientation, self-confidence, motivation, mental toughness, incentives, preferences, etc. According to Anne Bowker in Sports Participation and Self-Esteem, Men have an advantage over women in sports because they're more aggressive and have higher self-esteem (2003).

While looking through the three lenses of family, biogenetic, sociolegal, and role lens, it is very hard to limit yourself to only agree with one. However, while studying these three ideas I have come to the consensus that the most prominent and practical lens to look through is the sociolegal lens. Although one cannot discredit the family values of others, throughout my lifetime I have experienced sociolegal family lifestyles. An area in my life that I have seen this lens play a huge role is throughout my tennis career. A unique experience that I have been able to be apart of throughout my college adventure revolves around Mizzou athletics. Playing tennis here at the University has been one of the most rewarding

Psychology impact of sport injuries is a topic no one hears much about until an athlete is injured and goes through it himself/herself. High school athletes as well as professional ones both are exposed to injuries at any time, the impact of this injury might be the same. Getting injured is devastating for most athletes, what they don’t hear much is how bad it can get to them mentally. Depending on the injury, some athletes are able to return to the sport, others are not so lucky. When they are affected emotionally or mentally, it does not only affect them, but their team, the fans, and even the coaches. In most cases, these injuries and the rehabilitation process are often followed by psychological consequences which can impact the athletes’ well-being, as well as their chances of returning to their sport. The importance of sport psychology will be discussed throughout the paper to give a better understanding on how it affects athletes when dealing with a sport injury. Being aware of the psychological symptoms, as well as knowing how to avoid the effects could make a difference on someone. As well as knowing how important rehabilitation is when wanting to return to the game as soon as possible, if probable.

The same attitude associated with hesitation on the court is guaranteed to show up in other areas of life, whether that is school, career or relationship. My character is something that I carry with me everywhere I go; it shows up everywhere I go. The way I show up on the court is the way I show up in life. Every time a ball is hit to me, I have a decision to make on what to do. Just like how judgement and decision making are the most important factors in tennis, they are so in everything

The player’s situational awareness has a huge impact on the ball movement because they know where each player will be during certain situations and are able to make quick decisions under pressure, thus moving the ball more efficiently. Another observation that portrays situational awareness was when the goalie of Cal State Fullerton predicted where the ball was going to be kicked during the attempted score of a Long Beach State player. Instead of waiting for the opponent to kick the ball and then reacting, the goalie predicted where the ball was going to travel and jumped as the opponent was making the kick to deflect the ball. According to Weinberg and Gould, athletes who have good situational awareness, “always make it seem as if they are a step ahead of everyone else.” The goalie was able assess the situation quickly and stay a move ahead of her opponent because she had been in this situation in the past. Her situational awareness gave her a competitive edge, allowed her to make the appropriate decision, and prevented Long Beach State from scoring any points.

I receive a call from a Freshmen girl the day after an annual event for the Jenks tennis players. According to her, two boys--a Junior and a Freshman--were under the influence of alcohol. 'At a school event, seriously?' I wander.

Sports is known to have a multitude of psychosomatic effects on our physical and mental being, all the way from reducing stress, muscular anxiety to improving positive thoughts, confidence and giving you a toned body. It also has the added bonus of harvesting a sense of accomplishment and adventure in our lives. Since all of us can’t be NFL, Giants or Patriots material, we can use the primitive tools to invest in our metal and physical health by engaging in sports as fitness routines. Depending on your current physical state, location and time, you can always schedule one on one, or team gatherings to participate in out-door sports for quality down time.

With more than forty million children participating in sports annually, ethics issues among student athletes are growing in severity and proportion. Rule bending, acts of dishonesty, athletic aggression, cheating and disrespect is becoming more accepted as students age. (Schinke, 2012) Noted authors, Mango and Lamont, address a rise in issues from as simple as cheating to the use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs (Mango & Lamont, 2012). And we are seeing that “unsportsmanlike behavior in all levels of competitive sports are common” (Schinke, 2012, p. 74). Consequently, many scholars link this digression to an abundance of poor role models, such as professional athletes and overzealous coaches who lack moral reasoning.

“No, I'm sorry but we’re currently not accepting any new members for the wrestling team.” A wave of anger flushed through my body as I rolled my eyes and walked away. I was angry because I knew then that my high school coach lied in front of my face, when only ten minutes before I arrived the coach gave one of my male friends an application to join the wrestling co-ed team. However, I was not surprised by the outcome. Wrestling is predominantly a male sport, so not many women took forward to joining the wrestling team.

This research paper deals with a topic that I enjoy very much, golf. I wanted to research and see how people feel about the game of golf. For example what are their attitudes toward the game of golf and just basically find out their backgrounds and opinions on the game of golf. I found all this out by using some primary research methods that we discussed in class to gain valuable feedback for my final paper. First of all I broke down my thesis into a simple question and that question was is golf more of a challenge to people mentally or physically. Golf is a relaxing hobby but I also feel that it is the most difficult sport to master and perform at a high level every time you golf. You have to have both the mental

Personally I find being calm and collected works best for my performance, in order to get into this state of mind I find it better not to think about the stakes of the game.

In earlier days sports psychology was mostly concerned with developing assessment methods that would identify those people with the potential to become serious superior athletes. Today the focus is on psychological training, exercises that strengthen the mental skills that will help athletic performances on the path to excellence. These skills include mental imagery and focus training. If an athlete is serious about becoming the best he or she can possibly be, the most essential ingredient is commitment to practice the right things. It takes incredible commitment to reach the top: a commitment to rest and train the body so it can perform under the most demanding conditions and a commitment to train the mind to