At first it feels like a simple mistake.

A serve that misses.

Then it happens again.

And suddenly you’re not serving anymore.

You’re thinking about serving.

And that’s when the real problem begins.

Recently I read an interesting comment from former player and coach Rennae Stubbs about Coco Gauff’s serve.

According to Stubbs, Gauff’s serve problem is 90% mechanical and 10% mental.

But she added something much more revealing.

When the errors start piling up, that 10% mental becomes 50%.

Anyone who has played tennis understands this immediately.

At first you miss one serve.

It happens.

Then you miss another.

And the mind starts moving.

“Don’t miss.”

“Don’t double fault.”

“Don’t do it again.”

Suddenly a motion you’ve practiced thousands of times becomes tight, slow, and full of thoughts.

The moment the brain enters the movement

Tennis is a very particular sport.

Your best shots happen when you don’t think too much.

The motion is fluid.

Automatic.

Trained.

But when confidence drops something changes.

The mind tries to control every detail.

The toss.
The arm.
The shoulder.
The wrist.

And the more you try to control everything…

the more the movement freezes.

Something I see in many players

Many players believe that when a shot breaks down they need to think more about technique.

Often the opposite is true.

They need to remove mental control and rediscover rhythm.

Because the body already knows what to do.

The problem is that the mind has started interfering.

A small exercise for your serve

If your serve starts feeling tight or overloaded with thoughts, try this.

During practice:

hit 20 serves in a row without thinking about technique.

Your only focus is rhythm.

Not the result.

Not precision.

Just rhythm.

Many players discover something surprising.

When they stop trying to control everything…

the serve starts working again.

A truth many players learn late

Technique matters.

But confidence is the glue that holds technique together.

When confidence disappears, even good mechanics can collapse.

That’s why tennis is not only a technical sport.

It’s a sport where the mind can complicate even the simplest movement.

Even for a champion like Coco Gauff.

by Federico Coppini
Mental Coach & Tennis Coach

Founder – Coppini Tennis Academy

🎾 https://www.coppinitennisacademy.com
🧠 https://www.federicocoppini.com