Pre-match preparation is an individualized process. Being individual and true to yourself and your routines is important. One thing I always talk to players about regarding pre-match routine is to have a look back at all the times that you've played a great match, then ask yourself what did you do pre-match that caused you to play really well?
- What got you into the right mind frame?
- What got you to be moving at a great rate?
- What did you eat that day?
- What did you do the night before?
To me, it's important to understand that success leaves footprints.
Those footprints come from things that we've done in the past that have been successful. So if you feel like you've had a certain meal at a certain time, you woke up at a certain time, you hit with a certain person before you played, you did a certain kind of warm-up, or you got to the courts at a certain time, that needs to be replicated more often to create more success.
So the next time you go to a tournament, plan your pre-match preparation. How long it's going to take and where it needs to be done? Communicate with your parents, and coaches communicate with your athletes as to how that looks and create a picture of what preparation looks like. You want to walk on that court feeling invincible. You want to walk on that court feeling confident. You want to walk on that court feeling warm and ready. Because once the first point starts, you've got to be ready to play.
If you're not ready to play and your opponent is, then they get that advantage.
They get both a physical advantage, a score advantage, and a mental advantage over you. So what you want to do is create that advantage over them. Prepare as well as you can. Believe in yourself. Build the resilience that's going to hold you in great stead for the whole match, because once you walk on that court, it's you versus the opponent. Whoever is prepared better will probably come out on top.