2011 Kathy Toon & Amy Jensen

Game Face for Womens Doubles

By Kathy Toon & Amy Jensen

This is not a free e-book! This book does not come with any resell rights whatsoever. If you received this e-book for free, from any source other than Kathy Toon or Amy Jensen, please send an email to kathy@glamslamtennis.com You may not alter this e-book in any way. It must remain in this original PDF form. 2011 Kathy Toon & Amy Jensen. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use, sharing, reproduction or distribution of these materials by any means electronic, mechanical, or otherwise is strictly prohibited. No portion of these materials may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever, without the express written consent of the publisher.

Published by Good Sports Productions, Inc 1563 Solano Avenue, #124 Berkeley, CA 94707 www.goodsportsproductions.com

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Contents
Introduction 1 4 10 15 22 26 31 36

Chapter 1 Got Game Face?

Chapter 2 The 4 Rs: An Overview Chapter 3 Step 1: Reaction Chapter 4 Step 2: Recovery Chapter 4 Step 3: Readiness Chapter 4 Step 4: Ritual About the Authors

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Introduction

Introduction

Have you ever stopped to consider how the best doubles teams deal with the pressure of competition. How do they consistently perform at their best - individually and as a unit? How do they sustain great teamwork despite individual differences in game style and personality? What does it take? What makes them so special?

How do the best doubles players get the best out of themselves and their partners regardless of who they play with? And how can you imitate their example? Take a second and consider this: the top complaint that players have is I cant execute in competition, under pressure, when it counts the most! Each of us has our own unique peak performance zone. This zone has a very specic chemistry behind it one you can train for and learn to control. The book by one of my coaches, Kathy Toon, Get Your Game Face On calls it your Game Face and gives you

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Introduction

the tools to get in the zone. When you are in the zone, you can play your best tennis on demand, when it counts, on a consistent basis. Game Face for Womens Doubles: A Fast Start Guide is the application of the Game Face routine to the specic demands of womens doubles players. The most common complaints from female doubles players are: Chemistry I just dont seem to play well with her. Communication What she said really upset/distracted me. Concentration I keep thinking Im letting my partner down. Captaincy She wont listen to me. or She always tells me what to do. This Fast Start Guide will help you address these issues so that you can play the best doubles of your life and enjoy the game more! These sport psychology techniques grew out of work pioneered by sports psychologist James Loehr. Dr. Loehr discovered that the time between points was what differentiated the best tennis players in the world from the rest. Here is a little background on my journey as an athlete. I have played tennis all over the world, from my local club courts in Australia to the worlds biggest tennis events the Grand Slams. I have won a record three consecutive NCAA doubles title, and that record still stands. This is my story: I didnt even qualify for NCAAs doubles as a freshman. Then I transferred to UC Berkeley (Cal) and started to work on my Doubles Game Face. I won my rst NCAA title sophomore year with Amanda Augustus as an unseeded team. We were the FIRST unseeded team/player to ever win an NCAA title and the FIRST Cal players in the history of the program to win an NCAA title.

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Introduction

I re-peated by winning another title the following year with Amanda. And as a senior I won a record breaking 3rd NCAA title with a new partner, Claire Curran. What happened at Cal was a culmination of athletic potential, expertise, education, trust, and a whole lot of hard work. Coaches Jan Brogan and Kathy Toon applied Dr. Loehrs research to my own game, as well as a multitude of other Cal tennis players. They also implemented this system with hundreds of other athletes at Cal in their High Performance Class. They trained and coached athletes on how to best use their time between plays. What we now call Game Face was developed at UC Berkeley. It is directly responsible for 4 NCAA doubles championships and 2 NCAA singles championships 5 national titles over the span of 10 yrs. Now you can make the Game Face Doubles your own. This Fast Start Guide will get you going. It will give you the basic principles and techniques you need. The hard work of applying them to your training and to your tennis game is up to you.

2011 Kathy Toon & Amy Jensen

Got Game Face?

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Got Game Face?

2011 Kathy Toon & Amy Jensen

Got Game Face?

Got Game Face?

Time and again, youve watched great doubles players and established doubles teams such as McEnroe/Flemming, Navratilova/Shriver, Woodbridge/Woodforde, Bryan/Bryan, Fernandez/Zvereva, Stosur/Raymond, Williams/Williams and others deliver the most amazing performances. The greatest players perform at their best when the stakes are highest. How do they do it? How do great athletes deal with the pressure of competition? How do they get their A game to show up in the heat of the moment? How do they maintain great teamwork despite individual ups and downs?

The Surprising Secret of Superior Performance

These questions intrigued sports psychologist James Loehr. Loehr sought answers by studying the performance of great tennis players. His research revealed a surprising secret: top tennis players used the time between points (plays) to achieve the emotional balance and stable physiology needed for high performance. More specically, successful players followed a distinct pattern of activity between points, whereas poor competitors failed to complete one or more of these activities. Here is how Dr. Loehr put it: I spent years studying footage of top players it was nearly impossible to determine a players mental toughness by simply observing how they perform during points. The between-point time reveals what is really happening in terms of mental toughness. From my studies over several years I discovered that the top mentally tough competitors consistently completed four rather distinct patterns of activity between points. Players with competitive problems however failed to complete one or more of these activities. From this understanding I developed a between-point training sequence of mental and physical activity modeled by the top tennis players.

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Got Game Face?

As mentioned this research has incredible implications for the ways that tennis players should train to get the most out of their games. Tennis players and teaching pros alike typically spend ALL of their time working on skill development, but it is of little or no value if a player cannot execute these skills in the moment, under pressure, regardless of nerves, anger, distraction, or emotional upset with their partner. That is why Game Face Doubles is so incredibly important. It will give you the ability to leverage what you can already do by being able to access it when you need it the most! To simplify, the surprising secret of superior performance, is exactly this: To maximize your performance on game day, you need to prepare physically and mentally for the between-point moments; those times when youre not actually playing a point. Training and maximizing your between-point time will take you to an entirely different level of execution and competition. In going for peak performance, every second counts and needs to be trained. Few athletes know this powerful discovery today, and coaches of any sport, rarely teach it! This research is the core of what we call the Game Face Routine.

The Game Face Routine

Imagine you have an important competition tomorrow. How do you want to feel? Take a moment and brainstorm a list of feelings. In our work with athletes, the following words often come up: focused, condent, relaxed, joy, fun, calm, and energy or pumped. What are they describing? It has many names: the zone, ow, the ideal performance state, treeing, playing out of your head, and so on. We call it Game Face.

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Got Game Face?

Many athletes experience high-stakes competition as threatening, anxiety-provoking, and even frightening. Yet top athletes typically respond with high focus, clarity, passion, condence, excitement, and engagement. All great athletes get nervousthats just part of the territory. The difference is great athletes learn to control their nerves. And when nerves do happen, they dont last very long. Instead, these athletes nd the zone. They have their Game Face on! In our terminology, getting into that zone is a product of faithfully following your Game Face Routine. This routine is an on-the-court tool designed to help you deal with the pressures of competition. The Game Face Performance Triangle Your Game Face has a very specic chemistry behind it. We perform differently under pressure because the stress of competition actually causes our chemistry to change. The key to being a consistently strong competitor lies in learning to control your chemistry. Some athletes learn to control their chemistry through trial and error, while others never learn to. Based on Dr. Jim Loehrs work in tennis, we now know that athletes can train to control their chemistry and thus their Game Face. Believe it or not, Game Face is not all mental. It is a multidimensional state, a unique set of interactions between physical, mental, and emotional factors, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. The Game Face performance triangle

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Got Game Face?

The emotional corner of this triangle represents your feelings. In competition, athletes with their Game Face on are driving feelings of condence, energy, optimism, and calm. The mental corner of the triangle represents your thoughts and images. Game Face thoughts and images center on executing the important tasks at hand. Lastly, the physical corner of the triangle represents what you do with your body, or what you look like on the court. It refers to keeping strong body language regardless of the outcome of individual points. The emotional, mental, and physical components of performance are inseparable. They speak to one another through the language of biochemistry. The link between the mind and the body is the limbic system, a set of brain structures located at the core of the brain. The limbic system acts as a switchboard connecting the brain to the network of nerves throughout your body. The limbic system sends messages from the brain to the bodys organs. Once these messages reach their destination, they stimulate the release of chemicals directly into your bloodstream. In other words, your Game Face has a specic chemical composition. When you are wearing your Game Face, you are sending very specic messages through your limbic system, resulting in what Dr. Loehr calls Ideal Performance State.

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Got Game Face?

All this means that what goes on in your mind has a direct effect on your body and vice versa. Your thoughts prompt certain emotions that in turn have bodily or physiological consequences. For example, thoughts about losing can lead to feelings of fear and anxiety. Those feelings cause various physiological responses: increased heart rate, shortness of breath, muscle tightness, narrow vision, and reduced blood ow to the hands and feet. Those bodily sensations, in turn, can cause even more fear and anxiety. All of these responses stand in the way of your performing at your best. The same is true on the positive side: positive thoughts lead to feelings of energy, fun, and challenge. These feelings in turn produce positive physiological responses, which lead to even more positive thoughts and feelings. Now heres the key point: this virtuous cycle can be trained.The Four Rs of the Game Face Routine will help you drive your Game Face during a competition. But the state of your Game Face, as well as your ability to access it, depends on a combination of physical, mental, and emotional training. If you want your Game Face to show up consistently over the course of a tournament or a season, you must train for it on a daily basis.

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The 4Rs: An Overview

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The 4 Rs: An Overview

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The 4Rs: An Overview

The 4 Rs - An Overview
Now that you have a core understanding of the science and physiology behind the Game Face Routine, lets jump in and see how we can apply this to your doubles game. There are 4 steps we call them the 4 Rs that constitute a successful Game Face routine: Reaction, Recover, Ready, and Ritual. Lets briey review what the 4 Rs look like on the court. In the next chapters we will: Break it down: cover the essentials of each step and Put it back together: apply each step to womens doubles. Heres just one example of the 4 Rs in doubles. This is a sneak peak into Amys own Game Face routine. As mentioned earlier, she used this tool to win a record-setting three consecutive NCAA doubles titles. This has not been achieved by any other collegiate player in the history of NCAA tennis. Reaction My Reaction started as soon as the previous point ended. No matter what had just happened, I was trained to react in a very consistent manner. The rst few seconds following the point was my time to process. I found it was key for me to portray a strong, powerful, and condent image, no matter what just happened! If we played a particularly good point, or just won a key point, I would celebrate with a st pump. I'd do a small hop-step to turn around. If we lost the point (especially if I missed the shot), this was a bigger challenge. I had a ery temperament and so I had to work hard to eliminate anger from my repertoire. I needed to use the energy from anger and channel it into playing better tennis. Relaxation, strong posture, and changing my inner dialogue during my reaction was the key to utilizing the energy of anger.

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The 4Rs: An Overview

The use of disciplined posture in those rst three seconds made all the difference in the world. I also worked hard on controlling what I said right after the point, as this affected my partner also. I began to use more empowering language such as Right Back and Cmon. For the most part I found I played best when I didnt have much to say at all, but rather when my mind was quiet and still. Recovery Recoverys was to allow my body, mind, and emotions to recover from the point. I would walk in the direction of my partner with my racket in the non-dominant hand. I liked to maintain a pace that allowed me to relax, yet not lose my physical intensity. Once I met up with my partner we would connect verbally or physically with a high ve. Then we would walk side-by-side out of the court. The intent was to connect as a team whilst individually relaxing. We each needed to recover physical, mental, and emotional energy. The conversation was minimal and always encouraging. The key to maintaining our intensity for an entire competition was to balance the energy spent during the action with the energy recovered between plays. Readiness Readiness represented the time I used to get mentally ready for the upcoming point. We would stand on what I liked to call the magic spot - at the center mark on the middle of the baseline. We discussed any pertinent information and planned the strategy for the next point: What is the score? Where should we serve? What formation should we use? What are the opponents tendencies? What are the weather conditions? Etc.

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The 4Rs: An Overview

Then we would come up with what the objective was for the upcoming point: Serve up the middle and poach, Attack a second serve and come in, Take the return up the line and then approach on the next ball, and so on. We always maintained a strong and condent posture during this discussion. I felt it essential that we both brought good energy, and a sense of trust and commitment to the plan for the upcoming point. Ritual When I served, my ritual started a bit behind the baseline. I wanted to approach the line with some energy. After a quick body scan, I would know if I was tight or nervous. My breathing helped me to feel challenged and amped up for the point. I'd set my left foot close to the baseline and bounce the ball three times. I generally picked one objective to focus on such as: Keep my left hand up, or Full extension at the top. This technique kept me focused on the process of serving rather than the outcome. Finally, I liked to mentally see where I wanted to the ball to go, as well as feel and hear the perfect contact. When returning serve, my ritual was somewhat different. I would turn my back to the court, adjust my strings and do a quick check-in with myself: was I feeling tight, at, relaxed, or red up? At this point I wanted to keep my focus internal so I liked to keep my back turned until I was ready to return; this gave me more of a feeling of control. When ready, I turned around to face the court and moved to the baseline with energy. I always kept my racket in my left hand

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The 4Rs: An Overview

while shaking out my playing arm. Again I found that focusing on one technical cue kept me from wandering off mentally and ultimately allowed me to hit the return that I wanted. I visualized how and where I wanted to make my rst step on the return and I felt how the perfect return would feel. Then I would crouch into a good athletic stance, my weight on my toes, and my left foot forward. I liked to rock back and forth, like many players do. Then, as the opponents toss went up, I would move forward, split step, and then make contact. Finally, the ritual for net positions is distinct for doubles and requires a slightly different preparation. I liked to jog into the service box when playing a net position to increase my intensity and prepare the body for explosive movements. This position requires alertness so I continually moved once at the net, bouncing up and down, shadowing a volley with my racquet, etc. This was how I felt the most prepared for an aggressive poach, for a lob, OR for the ball to be hit right at me as often happens at net. Now that you have a general grasp of the 4Rs, lets examine these steps in greater detail to more fully understand the intention and application of each step to doubles play.

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Step 1: Reaction

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Step 1: Reaction

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Step 1: Reaction

Step 1: Reaction
Life is 10 % what happens to us, and 90% how we react to it
- Charles R Swindoll

Breaking it down Step one is Reaction. If you want to maintain your Game Face during competition, you must learn to control your reaction the instant the action stops. Your goal is to keep your Game Face even in the face of adversity. Yeah, I know. Easier said than done! To understand this critical step in keeping your Game Face on, you need to consider a little psychology. Take a look at Figure 2. This simple diagram underlies a lot of animal and human behavior. Lets take a dog, for example. Think of those TV commercials when a dog hears the sound of dry food being poured into the bowl and comes running to get its dinner. This is the classic stimulus-response phenomenon. The dog has learned that a certain sound is associated with the availability of food. So now, when the stimulus occurs (the sound of dog food being poured into the bowl), a response follows (the dog comes running).

Figure 2. Stimulus-response diagram

Humans, too, learn to respond in certain ways to stimuli. But humans are slightly more evolved, and we experience a critical moment between stimulus and response. In this critical moment we form our perception of what just happened, and the perception helps to determine our response. For example, we decide if the stimulus was good or bad,

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Step 1: Reaction

and then we respond accordingly. In sports, this moment determines whether we take the High Road toward our Game Face or stumble down the Low Road to emotional upset and negativity. The High Road leads to superior performance. The Low Road leads to disappointment (see Figure 3).

Figure 3. The stimulus-response diagram applied to performance in sports

So whats a stimulus for you as a doubles player? The key stimuli are what we like to call stressors. They are things we have learned to respond to in ways that elevate our stress. What stressors do you face during the course of a doubles match? Weather? Bad calls? Mistakes (yours or your partners)? Aches and pains? Obnoxious competitors? Strange courts? The list can go on and on. How do you respond in the face of these stressors? Do you keep your Game Face on, or do you display your negative emotions for all to see? Too often we blame the stressors for our poor performance. But look at Figure 3 again. What side do you have control over? Clearly, you cant control the stimuli that come your way. The only thing you can control is your reaction to what happens. And because you learned the way you respond to a given stressor, you can learn to respond differently.

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Step 1: Reaction

Top competitors learn to control their reaction so that they keep their Game Face on no matter what happens on the playing eld. How do they do this? In general, there are two pathways to controlling your reaction to stimuli or stressors. One pathway is your thoughts, and the other is what you do with your body. In other words, what do you say (either out loud or silently), and what do you look like between points?

Thoughts How we perceive something triggers our thoughts about it. The moment the action stops you have something to say about it. Your mind reacts long before your body does. In fact, the little voice inside your head directly impacts how your body responds. As soon as you are faced with a stimulus (or stressor), it is ltered through your values and beliefs. Your values and beliefs then determine your perception of the stimulus as a challenge or a problem. Top competitors perceive stressors as a challenge and they believe that they can overcome them. Billie Jean King wrote a fantastic book called Pressure is a Privilege. This is a profound example of an empowering perspective. Typically players speak of pressure as if it is a burden, a weight they have to carry, and a no win situation. Billy-Jean viewed pressure as a fantastic reward, the highest compliment for her abilities and efforts.. The best players have a little voice that says, Bring it on! or I can do this or This is tough, but I am tougher. In contrast, poor performers see stressors as problems. They struggle with limiting beliefs about their abilities. Their little voice often says, I cant, or This is too hard, or Im not sure, or This sucks. Heres a really important point: beliefs often become self-fullling. The good news is we can change our beliefs and thus our perceptions and ultimately our reactions to stressors. Our beliefs are just habitual thought patterns. Think the same thing over and over again, and it will eventually become an attitude or a belief. The trick to staying on the High

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Step 1: Reaction

Road in the face of stressors is to train High Road thought patterns. In a calm, nonstressful situation, consciously choose how you would like to think about the stressors you face in your life. Even better, write your thought down. Now repeat them to yourself over and over and over. Body Language Dr. Loehr found that top tennis players learned to control their emotions by projecting a strong, ghting, and positive physical image as soon as a point was over. The next time youre watching top performers in action, watch what their bodies project between points. Following a point, top tennis players like Kim Clijsters and Roger Federer will turn their back on the court, place the racket in the non-dominant hand, and hold the racket head up and walk calmly and condently to take their position for the next point. And for both of these champions this was not always the case. They had to work on the mental/ emotional aspects of their game. Clijsters was seen as jittery and perhaps vulnerable under pressure early on in her career. Federer was known to be hotheaded as a junior player. By changing how they use their time BETWEEN points they both have become incredible champions! Of course, its easy to respond positively when things are going well. Your true test is how you respond to mistakes and other negative events. Occasionally, top athletes will release some frustration or anger following a mistake. The difference is they do something that energizes them. They might aggressively slap their hands or a thigh but at the same time say or yell encouragement to themselves: Come On! Right now! Lets Go! They perform this ritual within seconds of committing the mistake, and then its done and gone. The frustration doesnt linger into the next point.

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Step 1: Reaction

Its the less successful athletes who wear their emotions on their sleeve. They show whatever they are feeling in the moment. If they are upset, they show it. If they are tired, they slump over and put their hands on their knees. If they are disappointed, they hang their heads and drop their shoulders. Unfortunately, the result is always the same: they fail to live up to their athletic potential. Putting it back together Step one in your Game Face Routine, then, is about training your reaction as soon as the point ends. In tennis, the Reaction step involves these things: 1. Standing strong and condently. 2. Saying or thinking something positive or challenging to yourself. Your reaction is what you do with the rst three seconds at the end of a point. Training a strong reaction is critical in tennis for your own focus/concentration, but also you want to send the right messages to your opponent at all times. There are 3 basic ways to react to a point. Research points to ideal ratios for each type of reaction. We call this breakdown 80/10/10. Here are the golden ratios for your reaction: Neutral Reaction 80% The majority of the time it will serve you to stay neutral right when the point ends. This is when your mind is quiet and your body language remains strong and condent. Someone watching your match would not be able to tell if you just won or lost the previous point, but they would have a sense that things are going well for you because of your posture and positive energy. Celebration 10% You are going to play some amazing points throughout the match. You are going to win some critical points that will help you gain momentum and condence. A celebration is

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Step 1: Reaction

when you get pumped up at the end of a point. It might be a st pump, a chest bump (Bryan brothers) or something verbal like Lleyton Hewitts trademark CMON! It takes experience to learn WHEN to use bursts of positive energy in matches. This can be a huge weapon and can greatly inuence the momentum of a match. Challenged Response 10% We have all had matches where things are not going well; you cant get a rhythm, you miss an easy shot, you make too many loose errors, you are tired and cant seem to get going at all. This is when you will want to use a challenged response. This involves a release of energy in an encouraging way. Perfecting the art of a challenged response vs. a dejected response will take time and practice. For example, lets say you miss a shot into the net. You could say out loud, Ah that was terrible, or you could say out loud Cmon! You can make that! This subtle difference will have very drastic impact on your body chemistry. The second option summons feelings/emotions that challenge you to execute a higher level of play!

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Step 2: Recovery

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Step 2: Recovery

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Step 2: Recovery

Step 2: Recovery
Breaking it down The second step in maintaining your Game Face Routine during competition is to take a moment to recover as much as possible of the physical, mental, and emotional energy you expend during play. Lack of a proper Recovery step often leads to quick, anxious movements and thoughts between points. This can lead to problems with concentration, negative thinking, and nerves during competition. Less successful athletes often rush between points or plays. In tennis, poor performers will walk hastily to retrieve the ball and plunge right into the next point. Rushing between points robs them of the peace of mind necessary to perform at a high level. Your recovery is KEY to performing at a high level over a longer period of time. It has often been said that life is like a marathon. However Dr. Loehr has found some evidence that suggests otherwise. In his books Stress for Success and The Power of Full Engagement, Loehr points to the fact that our careers, our athletic endeavors, our lives in fact, are really a series of intense efforts and bursts of energy followed by rest/recovery periods. Therefore the person who learns to switch OFF can reload physically, mentally, and emotionally for the next endeavor. The ability to recover gives you a decided and marked advantage. The best tennis players have the ability to switch off between points. It was thought that Bjorn Borg had an incredibly low resting heart rate (once measured to be as low as 38bpm). Pete Sampras often looked lackadaisical and almost disinterested between points. He was often criticized for this. But Sampras was known for playing the big points better than anyone. He

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Step 2: Recovery

seemingly always hitting the best serves under pressure and was able to lift his game just at the right moments. Essentially, Sampras was a master at recovery, and this allowed him to have deep reserves of energy that he could tap into when needed. Lack of a proper Recovery step often leads to quick, anxious movements and thoughts between plays. This can lead to problems with concentration, negative thinking, and nerves during competition. Have you ever felt a match go by so fast and you come off the court with that feeling of What just happened? Having a deliberate recovery phase in your between point routine is the best way to ensure that this never happens to you again. Putting it back together The top tennis players use a variety of physical strategies to recover energy between points, including the following: 1. Deep Breathing 2. Eye Control 3. Pacing and Intensity Level 4. Non-Dominant Hand Use 5. Bouncing/Jogging

A common questions players often ask is Where should I recover? Recovery between points in tennis takes about 5-8 seconds. If we want to fully recover between points, it is powerful to differentiate the regions of the court: 1. Where the action takes place versus 2. The recovery regions areas of the court where you can feel safe, can switch off mentally and let go. Just as a batter moves in and out of the batters box with each pitch, so do most experienced players move in and out of the court with each point.

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Step 2: Recovery

Recovery in tennis specically involves the player moving out of the court and towards the back fence. This gives a physical space for the recovery, and it gives the mind a location to associate with this phase. So lets say you have just nished a point in doubles. You and your partner both have your reaction phase, and you physically connect somewhere on the court, depending on where you were when the point ended. You will walk together, as a united front, out of the court. Your body language will be strong and communication is fairly minimal. Once at the baseline you will both individually recover depending on your role/position for the next point: Serving: The server will walk to get the ball or to the back fence to towel off. The servers partner (SP) will typically recover whilst waiting on the center mark. Returning: Once either/both players have sent the balls to the server, both players have their own space and time to just relax/recover. Typically the players oat around somewhere behind the baseline on their respective sides. Many inexperienced teams just go their separate ways at the end of the point, without connecting after the reaction phase, and without recovering as a united front. We like to call this 2 ships passing in the night. The 2 ships arrangement shows vulnerability to the opposing team as they usually pick up on the fact that your team is DISconnected. It also robs a team of the synergy created by connecting and working together as a team. Figure 7 gives a good example of how the best teams move, in between points, in doubles.

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Step 3: Readiness

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Step 3: Readiness

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Step 3: Readiness

Step 3: Readiness
Breaking it down The third step in your Game Face Routine is Readiness. The purpose of this step is to ensure that you are mentally prepared for the action to resume, that is, you are aware of the situation and know your job during the upcoming point. We just learned about the importance of being able to switch OFF during your recovery; however, it is obviously essential to learn how to switch back ON when the next point rolls around. You must be totally present, aware of the situation, and you must know your job during the upcoming action. Readiness usually takes place on the center mark, or the magic spot as we like to call it. This is where you get yourself totally present again, in the here and now, and decide what needs to be done in the upcoming point. You pause momentarily, assume a strong posture, and reect briey on two questions: 1. What is the situation? 2. What is my job? In other words, you program your mental computer before you physically act. So, for example, Serena and Venus Williams come together. They hold their hands up to cover their mouths and they briey discuss the plan for the point where to serve and what they want the point to look like. Note that they have also confessed to sometimes joking around on court between points. This can actually be very helpful for performance as it relaxes and engages players to just ow in the upcoming action.

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Step 3: Readiness

Putting it back together This is the most interactive part of your Game Face Routine in doubles. In this phase you come together as a team, speak and listen, and collaborate to create the next point. So what is it that you need to know about the upcoming point? You are supposed to have some sort of plan, but what exactly does that mean? What does it involve? You have about 3-5 seconds to come up with a strategy that feels good and right for both of you. The best teams know how to communicate effectively and efciently, and they do this time and time again, under pressure without breakdown. There are 3 things you need to decide on before you start any doubles point: 1. Serve or Return 2. Net player 3. Type of point Lets look at your plan in greater detail: 1. Serve or Return a) Serve: Before you know what serve you want to hit, you really want to know WHY. By this we mean that you are attempting to get a specic type of return back from your opponents. The best athletes have the ability to think a few shots ahead, so lets apply the same principle to your doubles game. Once you know WHAT you want them to hit (based on their strengths, weaknesses, and patterned play), it will be more clear WHERE to serve, as well as WHAT pace and spin you will use. b) Return: To choose your return you rst want to have some sort of intuitive anticipation of WHAT type of serve may be coming at you. Try to pick up on patterns from the server: how they start their service games, what they like to hit, and where they serve on big points. Next decide where the weaknesses are on the court. Is

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Step 3: Readiness

it the net players overhead? Is it the servers backhand? Is there a big hole down the middle that no one is covering? 2. Net player Based on the location of the serve/return, you will want to create a role for the net player. Be sure the net player is active! All too often this position is neglected. Teams assume that its the server/returners job to win the point while the net player just spectates. You want to be thinking differently than your opponents so when your partner makes their serve/return, decide that its your job (as net player) to control the point from there. Choose your strategy/position based on what just happened, the score, the opponent, etc. Your options are stay, fake, poach, or stay back. In addition, you can add other formations such as Australian, where both players are on the same side of the court, or use the I formation, where the net player is squatting in the center of the court. 3. Type of point Doubles can be like organized chaos. Thats why its so much fun! It is wise to plan the rst two shots of the point, and allow the rest will be ow and instinct. You want to have some overarching tactical purpose to your match. Here are some examples: We are going to beat this team by getting to the net rst and moving aggressively up there. We will be most effective if we isolate the weaker player.

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Step 3: Readiness

If we use the middle, avoid giving them angle, and have really long points then we have a good shot at taking them apart. Its hugely effective if you and your partner remind each other of the type of point you want to play before you start each and every point. This brings attention to your strategy, and also allows you to mix it up on purpose when you feel its right. It gets you both on the same page with your tactical intention. If one of you is trying to isolate the weaker player, and the other keeps unconsciously hitting it to the stronger player, then your efforts will be futile. Youll never even give your strategy a chance to work! Get on the same page and have a shared vision. You will maximize your play as a team AND have the best chance of breaking down your opponents game.

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Step 4: Ritual

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Step 4: Ritual

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Step 4: Ritual

Step 4: Ritual
Breaking it down Ritual, the nal step in your Game Face routine, is about preparation for play. It is the most well known step in the Game Face Routine. The purpose of this step is to deepen your concentration and help you adjust your energy levels to that which is desirable for the upcoming performance. Your ritual occurs right where the action is going to take place. Its how you spend the last few seconds before show time. Your ritual is essential to peak performance. Its where you utilize the previous three steps and direct all of your preparation into action. Missing this key step can undo all of the good work you have done up until this point. Putting it back together What about you? Think about when you are performing well. What rituals do you use when you play? How do you ensure that your body is positioned for action? Do you bounce the ball two or three times before serving? Do you like to adjust your shirtsleeve, your cap, or your strings? These seemingly mindless rituals are all about being physically prepared to execute the play. They also tap into the brains subconscious power by the relationship of association. When you do your ritual, your body automatically knows what is going to follow. Your best tennis usually comes when you feel that things are automatic and just owing, without conscious thoughts. Your ritual helps you create that space. At this point, you should be totally present, focused on the point that is about to happen. There is limited conscious thinking, especially about technique. The goal is to perform instinctively and automatically, and rituals are designed to allow that to happen. Once you and your partner have planned the upcoming point, you separate and perform your own rituals depending on where you are on the court. From the magic spot at the

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Step 4: Ritual

center of the baseline, you begin to move to your next position. Lets explore the three possibilities: 1. Server By this point you have gathered two balls for the upcoming point, and you have a detailed plan that involves the serve, the net player (if there is one), and the type of point you are going to play. Walk to a spot behind the baseline where you can begin your routine. Approach the baseline with authority and begin your preparation for serve. Be sure youre precise with the pieces of your ritual and tweak things as you progress throughout the match. 2. Returner Again moving from the magic spot, you will walk back behind the location where you will return the serve. Begin your ritual here. Preparing your eyes is essential for a good return. Looking at the strings helps your eyes nd the ball at your contact point. Find ways to help yourself be alert but also relaxed. This position is unpredictable as you dont know what you are going to get. You need to master the art of responding to the serve. If you feel any fear, your body will freeze up. Cultivate the perfect quality of mind in this position. If your mind is wandering the point will be over before it even starts, and you will be left with that feeling of what just happened? And if you are over thinking, you wont respond effectively either. 3. Net Player (SP or RP) The nature of this position is distinctly different. I encourage you to watch some lm and see what the top doubles players do to get ready to play the net position. Being at net demands that you be more alert and more intense by the very fact that you have

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Step 4: Ritual

less than half of the time to respond as the ball is traveling faster. You need to get yourself organized and fast! Once you leave the magic spot, we recommend jogging to the net position. This gets your arousal up, gets your body moving and alert, and sends a message to your opponents that you are ready, aggressive, and you want the ball. From this point on, keep your body moving until the point starts! Get your feet anchored, get your elbows in, and stay low and loaded so that you can move explosively (for a volley OR a lob). Use your eyes well! If you are the SP, then watch the returner. If you are the RP, then put your eyes on the SP. Do not watch the server, do not watch the serve, and do not watch your partners return. The SP is the rst person that can hit you the ball so they are your only concern! Net position again requires high intensity and narrow, external focus. You will want to be aroused but also relaxed as you need to adapt to an unpredictable environment. Fear will freeze your body and over thinking will block your intuitive instincts. The Change of Ends These steps apply to your 90 second change of ends. As you walk to the bench be sure you are connected with your partner a united front! Teams that dont walk together for changeovers are obviously experiencing some tension and not having much fun! The time you have during a changeover is an opportunity to recover (rest, relax, close your eyes, shake out different body parts, and to get ready) and to connect with your partner and have a more elaborate discussion of your thoughts/feelings/strategy.

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Step 4: Ritual

How you use your time at the change over will depend on whats happening in the match. For example: 1. When you have a lead: focus on recovery and staying relaxed. Create ways to stay challenged. Have a strong RITUAL off the bench to wake you body up players have a tendency to drop intensity when they have a lead. 2. When its close: again use this time to recover and stay relaxed. You are already feeling pretty challenged/excited so just rene your strategy. Come off the bench with high energy to show you are condent. 3. When you are behind: focus on the ready aspect of your Game Face routine here. Use this time to really connect and communicate with your partner. Find a way to get into the match. Explore different strategic options.

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Conclusion

Conclusion As you can see, theres a lot more to creating a strong doubles team, than just having a partner. Game face can elevate your entire game and help you build a formidable partnership. You now have all you need to get started on tapping into your highest potential as a tennis player. If you are willing to commit to building your Game Face Routine you will be ready to take on the competition. Too often this work is ignored by players and coaches alike. Dont let that happen to you. The mental preparation is the difference maker! Your play will transform, your game will transform, and most importantly your partnership will transform. Look out opponents! Here comes Game Face for Womens Doubles!

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About the Authors

About the Authors Kathy Toon From 1990-2004, Kathy Toon was the
Associate Head Coach for Womens Tennis at the University of California-Berkeley, where she helped guide three doubles teams to NCAA championship victories. Coach Toon earned national assistant coach of the year while at cal Her collegiate tennis coaching career includes earlier stops at the University of San Diego and Pepperdine University. Over a 23-year coaching career, Coach Toon has witnessed rst hand the correlation between the behavior of competing athletes during down time and their ultimate athletic success. This experience led her to write he rst book, Get Your Game Face On!

Amy Jensen The Australian native is a former Cal player

and 5-time All-American. She posted a career record of 105-52 in singles and a remarkable 94-29 record in doubles. Jensen won NCAA doubles titles in 1998, 1999 and 2000, which is an NCAA record. Amy has also played all the junior grand slams, held WTA professional rankings in singles and doubles, and played in both the US Open and Aussie Open. Jensen has coached Division I tennis for 10 years. Amy is a USPTA P-1 teaching pro. She is currently the Manager of Player Development for the USTA Nor Cal.

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