Recently, I had the pleasure of reading a book called “Locker Room Power: Building an athlete’s mind”. Written by David Sammel, this book concentrates on  the importance of self-belief in succeeding in professional sport and in life too. David is an International tennis coach with  over 25 years in world tennis, coaching international players to career high rankings, many of whom have represented their countries in the Davis Cup and Olympics.  David currently coaches Samantha Murray, Richard Gabb, Marcus Daniel and Toby Martin, and draws on his wealth of experience in this fascinating, positive and insightful book.

The key message of the book is about building, developing and consolidating Locker Room Power (LRP). Sammel defines LRP as the culmination of practice, intent and commitment that creates a fear factor to sap an opponent’s desire and self-belief. With effective LRP many matches are won before a player steps on court.

As mentioned before on this blog, i’ve recently started playing tennis again on a regular basis. Although I play for fun, whenever I step onto the court against my brother, I want to win! I’ve been putting some of the tips in this book into practice and I can already see the benefits. I think this book will not only help professional tennis players but also amateurs and even just tennis fans to gain a greater understanding of the mental side of tennis. Some of the points covered in this book are pitfalls that I know I have fallen foul of!

Sammel discusses the issue of feeling sorry for yourself on the court when things don’t go your way (p7). I’m disappointed to say i’ve done this before! Sammel writes about how it is important to train it out of people at a young age. Furthermore, he expresses the importance of staying in the present in tennis matches, particularly if you are in the lead. I know that when I get close to beating my brother on a tennis court, I get nervous and start imagining victory. Sammel refers to this as the “mind stretch” and that once you are aware of this, you should try to bring yourself back as quickly as possible and focus on one point at a time.

If your mind is distracted so that it is not in the present, there is no one mentally there to play for you in your absence… When your mind returns to the scene, it is often a vastly different place (with a different score) to the one you left. Panic sets in. This can easily lead to another mental error, which is falling into a state of regret for failing to capitalise on a winning position.

I particularly enjoyed Sammel’s analogy of climbing a ladder (chapter 4) with resting platforms along the way in reference to a tennis player’s career. It’s not necessarily a case of going up and down but steadily progressing upwards over time and setting achievable and workable goals. Towards the end of the book, there is an interview with Samantha Murray (chapter 19), a player that David is coaching, which provides an interesting analysis of the self-belief in her own game. There is also a section by Louise Scott (chapter 26) which helps to underpin some of the strategies that Sammel has presented in the book.

The book is split into 26 chapters with summaries at the end of each chapter to reinforce the key messages. There are also quotes from tennis players including Tim Henman, which help to further consolidate some of the thoughts. I’d definitely recommend buying this book, even if you’re not playing tennis regularly. As a tennis fan, i’m fascinated by the mental side of the game and it was an eye opening read. I’ll be trying to take some of the key messages forward in my future ventures onto a tennis court!

For more information about the book, Locker Room Power: Building an athlete’s mind, check out the official website HERE.