Ben Loeb's Best High School Tennis Practices: On-Court Mental Performance

with Ben Loeb, Ed.S.,
Rock Bridge High School (MO) Head Boys' & Girls' Tennis Coach;
Sport Psychology Teacher (9 years);
His tennis teams have won over 1,200 dual meets, 19 state championships, & 43 final four appearances;
Association of Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) member;
American Psychological Association (APA) Division 47 Society for Sport, Exercise & Performance Psychology member;
Author of various articles and 3 books;
website is: benloebcoaching.com

In this video you will learn about on-court mental performance practice and strategies. This video will be beneficial for individuals and teams looking to improve their pre-match preparation and to be able to adjust within a match and to work on being more competitive in practice simulating match-like conditions. Coach Loeb does a great job going through his different mental performance strategies and explaining drills that he uses to help his players be successful in competitive situations.

Planning for the opportunities where mental performance training and preparation will be called into action

Coach Loeb takes you through his approach pre-point, during the point and between points to help create positive mental imagery that will lead to increased performance on the court. He has his players go through a shadow tennis exercise to highlight his ideas of Response, Ready, and Re-Invest which emphasizes mental and physical cues before the point and during the point. He talks about body language, breathing techniques, and the release of positive energy to help re-gain control, focus and trust during a match. This is important because you have to have a plan during the match, a plan for how to adjust during the match and a plan for what to do if things aren't going well during a match.

In this video you will learn 10 different competitive games that will help players apply these mental performance techniques to their tennis. These drills are competitive (which players love), during practice and will help you simulate different scenarios that might come up during a match like being down 2 sets, having only 9 serves to win a game, starting games of 15-30 or 30-15 and more!

These games are important because it puts players in real situations that they might face in a match. Also, beyond these drills, there is no substitute for playing full sets out!

Learning other approaches for the coach to consider with their team

Coach Loeb also devotes part of this video to other techniques that he uses to get the most out of his players. These include asking questions to his players about understanding their true selves. He also creates themes for the day and has players write down responses to these different themes. Lastly, Coach Loeb talks about visualization, taking time for breathing/meditation and being able to stay present and focused within the moment. This is important because you have to be equipped to handle adversity, visualize success and focus on what's important now.

This video is for individuals and teams looking to take their games to the next level. Coach Loeb shares his ideas of attacking the mental side of the game with the same vigor as the physical side of the game. This video features terrific mental performance training strategies and techniques to use before a match, during a match, before points, during points and in-between points. Coupled with the competitive drills shared, this is a video every coach should add to their library!

39 minutes. 2022.