A major source of stress for professional tennis players, and players at all levels of ability, is the unexpected things that come up before and during matches. The natural reaction to unexpected events is to back off, become tentative and anxious, and lose confidence and focus. Unexpected events hurt performance.

During a match, all kinds of things can wrong for a tennis player. On the way to matches, you can lose equipment and bags. At matches, racquets can get broken, schedules can be changed, and strings can break. If you are not prepared, you will react negatively to these unexpected occurrences and this will hurt your tennis.

The best way to deal with this problem is to Expect the Unexpected. This can be accomplished easily. Take a sheet of paper and on the left side of the page, make a list of all the things that can go wrong in a match. Then, on the right side, list solutions to these occurrences. For example, if your racquets are stolen, you should know someone beforehand who has extra frames that are similar to your own and who is willing to lend them. Or, if you break shoe lace, you can carry some extras in your racquet bag. Using this strategy, you can reduce your stress by making the unexpected no longer unexpected.

Remember, “Whenever we’re afraid, it’s because we don’t know enough. If we understood enough, we would never be afraid.”