The Process
Pressure moments decide tennis careers. This is how we go after them.
What pressure actually does
When thinking interrupts something your body already knows how to do, you get what psychologists call conscious processing. I describe it to players as conscious interference.
Take making a cup of tea, something you have probably done thousands of times. Now imagine someone offers you £1 million to make it perfectly, with no mistakes. It suddenly becomes clunky and awkward.
Now take a second serve at 6-5 in a tiebreak to qualify for your first Wimbledon main draw. Your percentage has held up all week, but your arm suddenly feels heavier and tighter.
You haven’t forgotten how to play tennis all of a sudden. That’s nothing more than your stress response replacing instinct with thinking.
The Techniques No One Else in Tennis Is Using
Most people working in elite tennis are performance specialists. I am one too, but I am also a qualified Psychotherapist.
That matters when the problem turns out not to be about tennis. This could be an addiction, depression, severe anxiety, sleep issues, or even some sort of trauma or PTSD, all inevitably impacting your performance on the court. Most people would refer you on at that point. I do not have to.
These difficulties can usually be addressed extremely quickly, allowing you to spend more time focused on your tennis and the things that matter most. I have watched things a person carried for years lift in a single session more than once. It has not stopped being remarkable.
What we would do together
Match Diagnostics
A deep dive into your season. Tiebreaks lost, deciding sets flipped, break points saved and missed. We pinpoint where the mindset is costing matches.
1:1 Performance work
During training blocks we do the deep work. Removing conscious interference, retraining the emotional response, sharpening the ability to stay loose and decisive when pressure spikes.
Pre-match priming
Fast, focused activations before you go on court, using visualisation and anchoring, so you start with trust and clarity.
Support through tournament weeks
Short calls and messages whenever you need them. Anything that’s bothering you during these weeks we can talk through to help you feel as focused on your tennis as possible.
Personalised strategy
Everything tailored to how you play and compete under pressure. Routines between points, recovering momentum, handling scoreboard pressure.
Tournaments
Being present at your matches helps me understand your performance on a deeper level and helps me be more available to you when it matters.
London and the South East
The National Tennis Centre and tournaments around London are easily accessible, so I can be there without it adding to your costs.
Elsewhere in the UK
Arranged in advance, with travel and accommodation covered by you.
International
Possible for players I work with closely, arranged well in advance, with travel and accommodation covered by you.
A tournament day can include pre-match emotional priming, watching matches in depth in real time, a debrief once the adrenaline has eased off, and the opportunity to decompress whenever things feel overwhelming throughout the week.
Where to start
If any of that sounds like where you are, the easiest thing is a conversation. I work with a small number of players at a time, so it is worth us both finding out early whether this is the right fit.
A 20 minute call - FREE
Tell me what is going on and I will tell you honestly whether I think I can help, and how working together would fit around your schedule. If I am not the right person, I will say so and point you somewhere better.
Or send me a match - FREE
If you have footage of a recent match, ideally one that did not go how you wanted, I will code what happens between points and send back a written analysis.
After we have spoken I will send you the full detail on how the work is structured, so you can take your time over it rather than decide on a call.