Mental strength in padel

When one is about to play a padel match, there are several factors that are key to being successful. All these factors are linked: technique, tactics, syncing with your partner and mentality. And this last factor is what we are going to talk about today, mental strength in padel.

 

 

It’s no use being the king of the training lessons during the week, if when an important match comes you fall apart like a poor quality building.

 

It doesn’t matter how good you are technically. If you are not mentally strong, you will end up losing to better opponents, or opponents that are smarter than you.

 

You have to think that in a padel match the opponents will always try to find your weak spots. If they don’t know you, they will try in the very early stages to analyze your game and find your weaknesses.

 

Yes, you may think your game is solid and you have no weak spots. You play well in the overhead shots, you defend solid from the back of the court, your physical condition allows to keep a high tempo during the whole match but… and how are you doing with your head?

 

 

There are days when things get so bad that you want to pack your things and go home, and come back the next day.

 

Wrong! No matter how bad things go in a match or by having a very adverse scoreboard, you always have to think that you can turn that situation around. The match does not end until the opponents have won the match point.

 

Obviously you can end up losing. But, if you can’t win, at least you can learn. Never throw away a game, since you will be throwing away an opportunity to learn and improve.

 

 

If there is a clear example of a “weak” mentality, it is to always have too many  complaints and excuses. What if the light blinds me, what if this racket is bad, what if the balls barely bounce or bounce too much, what if the opponents tries to make bad calls on some points, what if it’s my partner’s fault, what if the noise of a fly that passes by half a kilometer away from us bothers me..

 

Isolate yourself from everything that surrounds you and concentrate on what you are doing. You are four people on the same court and all of you are equally affected by the conditions outside the match.

 

It doesn’t matter what opponents you are facing, only you and your partner matter!

 

It doesn’t matter if you face the number 1 in the world or two “bad” players who “got lucky” to get by to the next round and didn’t even know how to pick up a padel  racket before.

 

You have to approach every game with the same mentality, to go for it all! To go win! You cannot go out to a match already defeated.

 

If you don’t come out focused, anyone can win over you, no matter how good you are. Each and every one of the matches you play, you must fight as if it were the last match you are going to play.

 

Then of course it can happen that you can lose or win, but there is no worse feeling than going home and thinking that you could have given much more.

 

 

If you don’t believe in yourself, you won’t make it. Believe that you can achieve what you set out to do and fight for it.

 

Always trust and lean on your partner, both in the bad times and in good ones. The two of you together will be stronger than if you each go to war on your own.

 

In more than one match you have had that feeling of “I didn’t miss a single one today”. At that moment, you risk it and you hit it good and win a point, because everything works out for you. You are in a state of bliss and no one can stop you.

 

 

Why can’t it always be like this? When things get a little twisted… good bye.

 

It is one of the most common mistakes. I miss a couple of balls and disconnect directly from the match. The opponent has a couple of breaks ahead and we throw away the set immediately, to such an extent that we don’t even try anymore.

 

This even happens at the top level, taking into consideration examples of professional players who compete in the World Padel Tour circuit.

 

They are players who stand out for their enormous mental strength. They never give up a ball for lost.

 

In addition, they are not satisfied with being up there on the top and being elite. They are  those players who are continually learning. They are not satisfied with their level and, year after year, they continue to improve.