If you believe that in order to play good tennis you need to feel calm, relaxed, “zen,” you are chasing a dangerous illusion.
Calm is not the prerequisite for performance.
Presence is.
This confusion destroys more tennis players than any technical flaw.
Because when a player feels tension, anger, or agitation, they assume they are “off.”
In reality, they are often exactly where they need to be—they just don’t know how to stay there.
The truth most players avoid
Great players do not perform well because they are calm.
They perform well because they can remain present even when they are not calm.
Look at Rafael Nadal.
He has never been emotionally quiet.
He is intense, visible, charged.
Yet he stays there—point after point.
He does not run away from sensations. He moves through them.
The zone is not emotional silence.
The zone is direct attention on the task, not on what you are feeling.
Why tennis constantly puts you under pressure
Tennis is ruthless because:
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you are alone
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you cannot hide
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every mistake is visible
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every point starts from zero
This activates fear, frustration, expectations. That is normal.
The problem begins when you try to eliminate these sensations instead of playing inside them.
When a player says,
“I need to calm down,”
what they are really saying is,
“I don’t know what to do with what I’m feeling.”
The real work (what I actually coach on court)
I do not teach my players to “feel less.”
I teach them to make better choices while feeling everything.
The right question is not:
“How can I calm down?”
The right question is:
“Where do I place my attention right now?”
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on the feet
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on the trajectory
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on the target
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on the next simple shot
This is mental training applied to tennis. Not philosophy.
Practical exercise (use it immediately in training)
The Presence Ritual – 10 seconds
Before serving or returning:
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Look at the strings of your racket (1 second)
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Feel your feet connected to the court
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Take one natural breath
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Say silently: “I’m here.”
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Play
Not to feel better.
To be present.
A message for parents and coaches
Stop telling players:
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“Calm down”
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“Relax”
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“Don’t think about it”
You are teaching them to fight themselves, not to play.
Tennis is an emotional marathon.
Those who learn early how to stay present under pressure
gain a massive advantage over time.
And in tennis,
time is everything.
***
✍️ Who wrote this article
This article was written by Federico Coppini,
mental coach and author specialized in mental performance, emotional stability in competition, and building a resilient competitive mindset.
🧠 Want to train your mind the same way you train your tennis?
If your game collapses when the pressure rises,
you can explore my mental coaching work here:
👉 https://coppinifederico.com/it/
This is where ideas like these become real tools for match performance.
🎾 From mind to court
The same inner skills that create clarity and control under pressure are the ones that win matches.
That’s what we build every day at Coppini Tennis Academy:
👉 https://coppinitennisacademy.com/
Training strokes without training the mind creates weakness.
Training the mind without testing it on court creates fantasy.