The Professional and the Amateur

THE PROFESSIONAL AND THE AMATEUR

Are you a PROFESSIONAL or an AMATEUR when it comes to your tennis?

The PROFESSIONAL - sets goals and works with coaches and others to design a plan to achieve those goals

The AMATEUR  - doesn’t really know what they want, rarely sets goals and doesn’t really have a plan or direction

The PROFESSIONAL – pays attention to all the details that go into their tennis including their preparation, diet, equipment, planning, body etc, etc

The AMATEUR – is lazy, cuts corners and doesn’t realise the importance of all the off court things they could do that go into performing well

The PROFESSIONAL – is disciplined and driven to reach their full potential

The AMATEUR – lacks discipline and can’t stick at something for consistent periods of time

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The PROFESSIONAL – looks for solutions to improve their performance both within a match and post-match. 

The AMATEUR – looks for excuses and other people and things to blame when losing

The PROFESSIONAL – analyses their opponents tactical strengths and weaknesses and goes into each match with a game plan then adapts when necessary

The AMATEUR -  goes into each match without a game plan and thinks they can work it out on the run

The PROFESSIONAL – works very hard on their physical preparation and looks after their body on a daily basis – understanding the importance of staying injury free and physically fit

The AMATEUR -  does the bare minimum physically and usually suffers multiple injuries throughout their career and loses matches due to lack of physical conditioning

The PROFESSIONAL – works on their mental toughness strategies on and off the court and looks to make changes if they are consistently performing poorly under pressure

The AMATEUR – rarely works on any new mental strategies and often repeats the same mental mistakes under pressure

The PROFESSIONAL – is a positive thinker and believes anything is possible with hard work and attention to detail

The AMATEUR -  thinks negatively too often and usually sees the negative in most situations and deep down lacks belief in their own ability because they know they haven’t put in the hard work 

The PROFESSIONAL -  thanks and acknowledges the people who have helped them along their tennis journey but also takes responsibility for their own career

The AMATEUR -  looks to lay blame on everyone around them and doesn’t take control of their own destiny

The PROFESSIONAL – takes on board constructive criticism from others and looks to make improvements when presented with evidence

The AMATEUR – thinks advice is just criticism and becomes very defensive and unable to make change – despite the evidence in front of them

WHAT ELSE DIFFERENTIATES THE AMATEUR AND THE PROFESSIONAL IN TENNIS?