Mixed Doubles

I played a mixed doubles match last night partnered with my wife. We have not played to together often so it was a difficult match. I played poorly and I am not sure why. I think that I may be trying to do too much to compensate for the fact that my wife is new to tennis. I suspect however that the real reason is that I tense up during USTA matches. Once I tense, my muscles tighten and my game begins to fall off.

I have not found an effective way to relax during matches that count. A clear sign of this is my first serve. Normally I get a high percentage of first serves in. I have gone for entire sets without missing my first serve. Last night I missed at least 50% of them. I not positive, but I suspect that tensing the muscles in my arm and shoulder causes the problem. Tense muscles will through off my ball toss and a stiff arm will likely cause the ball to go long or into the net.

So for my next match I am going to try different relaxation techniques. I am going to try these two.

First – deep breathing between points.

Second – breathing out with each strike on the ball.

Third – I am going to focus on watching the seems of the ball to keep my critical left brain occupied.

I have a practice match tonight. I’ll let you know how this goes.