View Full Version : lost confidence

11-30-2007, 09:25 PM
I am a 38y/o male, about 4.5-5.0 level, play three times a week. I have been playing all summer until now with a guy and until a month ago I had a flawless record against him. A month ago, I made a lot of errors and basically gave the match away making my record against him 12 wins to 1 loss. Then I beat him soundly 6-1 6-1 to go 13-1. Then I had a dogfight with him- 3 sets and I was up 5-2 in the 3rd and lost 5 straight games- all due to my errors- honestly. I know that sounds very Serena-like but a friend watched the whole match and said to me that he has never seen me play worse with all the mishits... Anyway, I played him again today and lost the first set then blew my 4-1 lead in the second. This time I felt a total loss in confidence in my shots and just kept making errors to lose the match. You have to understand, I have always prided myself in my mental toughness. I have come back from 1-5 many times and always believe that I can win and normally do win. Two years ago, my record was 80-4. Last year my record was 84-10. Now, I know it's only two consecutive matches, I have really lost my confidence. I don't know why I am making so many errors that I am losing to this guy. He is not playing better than before but my level has drastically dipped. Have any of you ever experienced this? Have you been able to rebound and regain your winning streak? What advice do you have for me? I feel really deflated. I am not used to losing big leads and playing so inconsistently.

11-30-2007, 10:06 PM
Jeez, snap out of it... I know 14 yr olds with better attitude. It's just a sport - you aren't playing tennis for a living afterall. and your match record is very Federer-esque, did Roger post something like this after his consecutive losses to whatshisface Canas?
I would never ever talk like this to anyone but I really feel that you need someone to tell you straight up like this.

hope everything gets better.

11-30-2007, 11:38 PM
I always blame my loss on my strings being too loose or something.... it allows me to not feel bad about myself even though i know that it was only my fault.... I pride myself on my mental toughness too....

11-30-2007, 11:51 PM
but sometimes... things happen... and sometimes they happen twice in a row....and you gotta just let it go

12-01-2007, 01:23 AM
sounds like your name says it all... you need a better outlook on life. but anyways, maybe you were getting overconfident and just needed something to bring you back to earth. now you have an obstacle to climb over when you play this guy, instead of it being a piece of cake. so make the most of it, be happy when you get to play him and take it as a new challenge. hopefully you become a better player out of this little tough streak you are having. good luck in the future.

12-01-2007, 06:17 AM
I guess my concern is that some pros, who have suffered such losses after being in winning positions, have never ever been the same afterward like Myskina, Mardy Fish, Guillermo Coria... I do not want to go from being Serena-like in mental toughness to a complete headcase.

12-01-2007, 06:30 AM
You're bored.
You need to get out and find more competition.
Go and see if you can play some tournaments in your age group.
If this is possible and your "nemesis" is the same age as you, maybe play doubles together?
Personally I think you're focusing on the result too much, and then getting nervous rather than being loose and having fun.
If you do keep playing matches against the same person, maybe you could use the matches to work on things you usually wouldn't do in a match situation.
Challenge yourself everytime, that's how you motivate yourself.
I hope my advice has been useful.

12-01-2007, 09:42 AM
It sounds as if you never had all that much confidence, so you play a guy you can beat all the time. You're not a pro (you've made several comparisons of yourself to pros in this thread) and tennis for you is a game, so treat it like one and accept that you won't win all the time.

slice bh compliment
12-01-2007, 10:41 AM
I'm 38, too. And I've been playing a lot of tennis for the past 32 years.

I don't get the doldrums or the low confidence phases very much at all because I drill a lot and play practice sets mostly. That really gives me condfidence and makes me match tough for when I actually play matches. When I do, I'm hungry to play each point well. Even dubs. It is much more fun that way.

BTW, you really play 80 or 90-something matches every year? Damn. That's a lot of record-keeping.

Hey man, like you said, it's only two consecutive losses. Big deal. It happened to Federer even, just last month.

A champion has a very short memory when it comes to error spells and crappy matches.

Learn from it, practice/drill...and work through it. It's just a game. Enjoy it.