Vic Braden's Mental Tennis: How to Psych Yourself to a Winning Game

By Robert Wool and Vic Braden

Book Overview

Whether you are a tennis novice, a beginner ready for competition, a club player with an eye on the tournament trophy, or a professional stuck in a rut, Vic Braden's Mental Tennis shows you that your mind can be the single best tool to reconstruct your game.

In his breakthrough book, Vic Braden demonstrates how to improve your physical performance dramatically and develop a winning mental attitude - both on the court and off. Vic Braden is America's favorite tennis coach, recognized and respected by professionals and amateurs alike. In addition to being a licensed psychologist, he has been a major force in tennis -- as a player and a teacher -- since the early 1960s. In Mental Tennis, he draws upon his unique background and years of personal research -- tested on thousands of his students -- along with the latest technical and statistical information, and shows you how to maximize the potential of your mind to achieve peak playing skills, while boosting your confidence and enjoyment of the game. With his characteristic humor and charm, and using entertaining and instructive examples of famous players and matches, Vic Braden identifies common problems that can undermine your performance on the court, and explores their causes. He provides important psychological insights, and expert advice on how to overcome mental obstacles -- such as self-doubt; lack of focus; guilt about winning; the stress that stems from a fear of losing, being humiliated, or letting down your doubles partner - and challenges you to set realistic and healthy goals for improvement. In addition to methods for long-term progress and fundamental behavior modification, Vic Braden'sMental Tennis also provides quick triggers for immediate results; effective strategies to reverse years of bad habits; and tips on how to psych out your opponent, how to perform well under pressure, and how to maintain concentration and tune out external distractions.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0316105171
• ISBN13: 9780316105170
• Release Date: April 1994
• Publisher: Little Brown and Company
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 0.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

The best Psychology book to read

Psychology book to read With Braden was a psychologist and in my opinion the best tennis coach that has ever lived even if you don’t study his strokes read this book about the psychology and his thoughts it will help you understand the game of tennis as a professional tennis coach I have read his books and would recommend all of them Braden

Always losing? It might be in your head

After being praised by pros and even attending adult tennis camp, I still found myself choking in matches. Although I'm a female who grew up pre-Title IX, I thought I could learn how to compete, but it just wasn't happening. No matter how much I learned about form and strategy, when it came to game time, I'd lose.This book has helped explain what's going on in my head and what I can do to either win or just plain enjoy tennis for fun. It's going to take some time to put Braden's tips to use, but his common-sense approach simple to understand and the data he uses to back it up convinces even the skeptics.Here's one tidbit that makes sense: get back one more ball, and you'll up your game-wining percentage by 33 percent. That's an amazing number and I find myself diving for balls now that I ordinarily consider hopeless. I'm going for that 33 percent!Recommended for all all levels of play. Only caveat: they could update this edition. Some of the players used as examples retired years ago.Lynn

Great book, clear, concise, meaningful.

As an adult new tennis player who is highly analytical, this book opened doors for me into the world of tennis. It explained real reasons coaches and pro's say to do certain things which are in actuality not really what they want at all. Vic explains the fundimentals in a way that you can immediately benefit and learn from. His book has made the game even more enjoyable to play.