The next psychological secret of the tennis champions from the book Maximum Tennis by Nick Saviano.

Emphasize Performance Goals to Achieve Outcome Goals

Setting goal is essential for anyone aspiring to reach a higher level of play. Equally important is that you understand the type of goals you are setting so that they positively affect your performance.

Nick Saviano and Genie Bouchard

Performance goals are goals that you have more control over. Outcome goals are based on results, which, as you’ve seen, are not something you have direct control over. Ideally, if you are setting and achieving the correct performance goals, they should be helping you to achieve your outcome goals.

It does not work the other way around. In other words, reaching your performance goals will give you the best chance to play up to your potential and win. Chris Carmichael, the 1999 US Olympic Committee Coach of the Year and coach of cyclist Lance Armstrong, says: “It is important to set goals beyond winning and losing (performance goals) because even the most talented racers will lose more than they win.”

Here are a few examples of typical performance goals. Players will have different performance goals, depending on their talent, their game, and what they need to work on to play up to their full potential. Once again, exactly what the specific performance goals are will differ for everyone, but they should be goals that help you to play your best tennis.

• I will stay in the “now” state, focusing on one point at a time.
• I will take my time between points.
• I will attack my opponents’ second serve.
• I will execute the inside-out patterns that I worked on in practice.
• I will engage only in positive self-talk.

Outcome goals are also truly personal. They depend on what you want to accomplish with your tennis. Here are a few examples of outcome goals.

• Win this match.
• Achieve a top-10 ranking at the club.
• Win this tournament.
• Beat John Doe in the league match.

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