Mental Toughness, Strategies for Nervous Players, & Misconceptions with Greg Kusnierz

Greg Kusnierz is a mental performance coach who works with junior and adult tennis players seeking to play better under pressure. Most tennis coaches' and mental gurus' advice about nerves turns me off, but Greg's approach is practical and has actually helped my players on the court.

We discuss why every tennis player gets nervous and how to turn that energy into better decisions instead of tighter swings. We also share practical tools you can use between points so your match level looks more like your practice level. 

• Why nerves show up for every human and how they look different across players
• What mental toughness means as a trainable skill, not a personality trait
• How to measure pressure
• The biggest misconceptions about nerves, pressure, and mental coaching
• Why “just play more matches” and “be positive” fail as advice
• How the Three R method helps you re-frame fast
• How changing your wording shifts your focus from outcomes to controllable actions
• The BFS between points reset: breathing, feel, statement
• Doubles specific advice: acknowledge your partner, ask questions, communicate under stress, be a cheerleader

Greg will be joining our US Open Rally Trip, where he'll present as a guest speaker. Early bird pricing is available through June 14!

Learn more about Greg & follow:

• Instagram
• YouTube

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Transcript

Why Mental Performance Matters

SPEAKER_00 0:00

You're about to hear my conversation with Greg Kuchnietz. Greg is a mental performance coach who works with both junior players and adult club level tennis players. He has over 15,000 followers on Instagram, tons of great content there. And I wanted to have him on because he spoke to our group at Indian Wells on the rally trip earlier this year. And he talked about mental performance. And if you have listened to the podcast a while, you know that this is an area of tennis that I've kind of avoided historically because it's so intangible, it's so not practical. A lot of the advice out there. And Greg's advice is very different. It is advice that you can literally go implement on the court. So we start out with the conversation talking about nerves. He defines mental performance for us. We talk about different ways to measure mental performance. He shares his story with us. And then I asked him what some common misconceptions are around mental performance and common mistakes that players make on the court that hinders their ability to perform. You're probably making some of these mistakes yourself. I know I was and certainly still do at times. After that, we discussed tiebreakers, how nerves affect different types of players, his BFS method. He also talked about another strategy to help with nerves. And then at the end, I asked him about his own services and how you can find out more information about Greg. So again, this is a very practical conversation around a topic that is often misunderstood and very intangible. So I think you're going to get a lot out of this if you are a person who gets nervous on the court, or even if you think you aren't, I feel like you can perform better mentally after having listened to this conversation. So without further delay, enjoy this chat with Greg Kushnetz. Hey everyone, welcome to the show. Today we have Greg Kushniez on. Greg, welcome.

SPEAKER_02 2:17

Thanks, Will. I'm uh looking forward to our conversation and thanks for having me on.

SPEAKER_00 2:22

Yeah, I appreciate you coming on. Um, this is a doubles podcast. I focus a lot on strategy, and the mental side of the game is something I've dove into more and more the last few years because I I think before I tried to kind of avoid it a little bit because it was so intangible. And uh having kind of a math background, I like things I can measure and things I can quantify. Uh and it's something that I had trouble with. So I think I avoided this topic a lot. But since then, I love having conversations like this and learning because I've realized even though it is hard to measure, it is still so important for your tennis game. Um, and I cannot run away from this area of tennis anymore. So I'm excited to talk to you about this concept of mental performance. And I wanted

Everyone Gets Nervous

SPEAKER_00 3:20

to start with a a simple question. So I'm gonna name a player, and then you tell me if they get nervous. Okay. Uh Yannick Center.

SPEAKER_01 3:33

Uh is he human? Yes. He gets nervous.

SPEAKER_00 3:38

Uh Carlos Alcaraz. Is he a human being? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:42

He gets nervous.

SPEAKER_00 3:44

Okay. What about Katarina Siniakova?

SPEAKER_02 3:48

Uh I imagine she gets nervous too.

SPEAKER_00 3:51

Okay. Neil Skupsky? I have no idea who that is. He's number one in the world in doubles right now. I should know this. This is a double spot.

SPEAKER_02 4:00

I imagine, well, uh no matter who you give me the name, if they're a human being, they get nervous. Because that is just a natural reaction for things that we are that that means something for us. Now, how it goes out into the world, how you experience nervousness may be different, right? Some person might get nervous and they might get a little tight. Some people get nervous and they withdraw. Some people get nervous and that nervous translates into anger, right? Frustration. Some people look like they're like a chicken with a head cut off, you know? Um, it's just, it's, it's, it's basically your body's reaction, natural reaction to what it senses as either something that could be danger or it could be exciting because it's constantly thinking about like boom, right? And um, yeah, and then it's the natural chemicals going through your body, just kicking in. And if you're not getting nervous, that probably means you don't care very much about it, or it's not something that that you that means anything for you. So even Sabalenka, even Carlos, even Sinner, they may have a better handle on it because they've experienced that spot more and more often, right? They may have been to the mat and played more matches, so it's more normal for them. But when they get to the final, it's something that they probably haven't experienced as much. And they certainly have that. And they've also probably at this point of their stage or their career, they've created tools and strategies to keep themselves from allowing that nervousness to become so big and encompassing and affecting their play.

SPEAKER_00 5:49

So one of the things that frustrates me with this topic, especially when I watch tennis on TV, I'll hear the announcers talk about uh, you know, the winner of the match like just handled the nerves better, or if they like lose a tiebreaker, they'll say like that came down to nerves and one player was mentally tougher, but it's so poorly defined. Um, so what in your mind is mental performance or mental toughness? How do we define that?

SPEAKER_02 6:21

Um, I think it's just that's a great question. I think, yeah, it it's difficult to define it because um it you can't put a number on it, right? But I I think it just kind of comes into think about when you were you when you play at practice, right? And then everything's just really easy and flowing, right? And then when you get out into the match, all of a sudden that adrenaline kicks in, that cortisol kicks in, and things kind of change the

What Mental Toughness Really Is

SPEAKER_02 6:55

speed of the ball, like things may seem quicker, your arms may feel heavier. So I think mental toughness and mental strength, mental fitness is another way of putting it, is training your mind and body to handle every situation the same. Like, match point is the same as your first point of the match or in the middle of the match, right? Now, also with that, mental fitness also allows you to give you strategies and tools when those thoughts come in, those negative thoughts, those nervous thoughts, those thoughts of the future. How do we get ourselves back in that present and that moment and playing? It's easy when things are going your way, it's easy when you're way up, it's easy when it's practice, but when it means something for you, when it means something for your brain, then that's different, right? And it's it's just about practicing because I believe that that that the mind is a muscle, right? And practicing the tools and strategies that help you stay calm, still be stay stay relaxed, and focus on the next point.

SPEAKER_00 8:11

Is there a way to measure this mental performance? You see on TV sometimes they'll talk about pressure points or pressure performance, which I think they measure it by like 30 all and beyond, like in those games, or like tiebreaker points or something like that. But how how do you think about measuring it if that's even possible?

SPEAKER_02 8:31

I I think there's something if you're starting to get into the science of it, um, I think one of the easiest ways is heart rate, right? Because think about adrenaline and think about when you get that big match point, what happens to your heart? It starts to like increase, right? It starts to go up. That's that's your flight or fight. Um there's in the actual science rooms, there's there's there's ways to measure it in brain waves, like alpha, beta, and things like that, where um, you know, um, I'm not, you know, I don't have a great deep knowledge of the scientific, like actual studies. I I mean I know I've read the research and things like that, but there's definitely ways to measure the brain waves and where your waves are going in. So that's that. If you really wanted to get it scientific like that, there's definitely a lot of studies that's showing that, hey, you know, that's that's what's happening. Like if you really want numbers now, now, and there's also studies where, like, you know, um if a player's has a you know a negative thought, um, it's more likely for them to lose the next point, right? Or a negative uh language, body language. So there's things like that where you could see it also in body language. So if you're really picking up on body language, picking up on breathing, you know, you could study that way. And I and I think there's been research done that way.

SPEAKER_00 9:57

Hmm. Interesting. Yeah, I I um when you were saying that, one of the things that came to mind for me was watching uh actually the Masters uh month ago. Um, Rory McElroy won the tournament. And the the PGA or like the um maybe it's CBS or something, the TV broadcast has some partnership with with Whoop, that heart rate measuring device and that wearable. And they're looking at Rory's heart rate throughout the round, and they said it spiked right before his t-shot on 18, which was he hit like off into the trees, like it was a terrible T shot. Um, and he was he had a two-shot lead closing out the masters for the second straight year, and that's the moment his heart rate spiked, and it resulted in a negative outcome for that particular shot. He still won the tournament, but um that would that's what you're talking about.

SPEAKER_02 10:52

Yeah, that's really cool. That's really interesting, right? So you see right there because the heart rate is an indication of what your body's experiencing, what your brain is experiencing, because your brain brain is sending some kind of signal into your body, and that sends it chemicals, right? And and that's that's a flight or fight response. You know, if your heart rate's going up, your heart rate's going up because you're sensing danger, you know. So in that danger zone. So that's cool. Thanks for sharing that.

SPEAKER_00 11:16

Yeah, yeah. Um, so I want to get in into some of the strategies to help the listeners handle their nerves better, or maybe there's a better way to phrase that. But before I do, tell us your story of how you got into tennis and then mental performance specifically.

SPEAKER_02 11:33

Sure, love to share that story. Um, I got into tennis because my dad. So my dad, uh, we immigrated here when I was seven and from Poland. And my dad tells me the story like when he was back in Poland, he would go to school and there was a tennis court. And he never saw anybody on it, and he always was like, I wish I could play tennis. So when we came here when I was seven, the first thing that he did was he took me to a tennis court. So that's how I got into tennis. I got, I got my dad, me and my dad playing tennis. Um, I still have like those memories where he would roll up his shorts super short because he didn't want to get that tan line. He would take off his shirt and we'd play. We'd play for hours and hours. And then eventually I got into lesson lessons, and then eventually I got really serious. And in the tournaments, juniors, I played Division I tennis. Uh but what I struggled with was the mental game. And I didn't realize

Measuring Pressure With Heart Rate

SPEAKER_02 12:35

this. I didn't realize that the mind is a tool, and that's what was really happening. I thought it was just like, you know, you're just, you know, if I'm winning, you know, I should still be able to overcome like thoughts of like winning and thoughts of losing, and like I should just win because that's just the way it is. I didn't understand that the line. So um it eventually, you know, I I lost a bunch of matches because of it. Eventually, I actually ended up quitting college because of it. College tennis, I should say. Um and now I just I didn't understand it. My parents didn't understand it. It was just like suck it up, get over it. And then when I got out of college, um, because tennis is just a reflection of life, I didn't really have strategies about dealing with with emotions. So my emotions got really wild when I got to college, and I had to go through some really deep soul searching things, and I got introduced to personal development, um, which changed my life. And it was the first time that I was introduced that the mind is a tool, and there are strategies and tools to help it and and direct it the way you want it, the way you want to, so that you can accomplish your in life, it's accomplishing your goals. In tennis, it's the same thing. When you're on a tennis court, your goal is to play your best and have win. So I got really deep into that. Uh, like the mind, I read books, books, and books about the mind, psychology. Um and went to a ton of seminars, went to uh I even hired my own life coach. I hired uh a sports psychologist, and that's where I was like, oh, I really love this. And I turned my life around by using my mind. And I was teaching tennis uh during this process of like turning my life around and using my mind. So I would take like little strategies and I was like, oh, wait, and then start to incorporate it into uh my lessons, which surprisingly, even when you're trying to learn the technique, the mind can either help you or get in the way. It could be your helper or it could get in the way, you know, like especially if you're going out there and you're trying to learn a forehand and you're overthinking things, you know, it can it can be detrimental. So I got really, really, really passionate about that, kept trying, kept trying, and then I was like had this dream. Like I wanted to uh become a mental performance coach, start a start a company. And um, I kept trying a little bit, you know, kept like digging my feet in it. And a couple of years ago, I said, I'm going all in, and I just went all in on it, and then uh I stopped teaching tennis full time and just, you know, uh first I just helped juniors for free just to kind of get experience. I came up with a system, and now you know we're growing. So I'm really excited and and it's something that I'm super passionate about. And I

Greg’s Story And Turning Point

SPEAKER_02 15:45

want to give kids and juniors, as well as adults, because I work with a lot of adults, the tools and strategies that I didn't have. You know, at that time it wasn't very much talked about that will help him one accomplish their goals on the court, but as well as enjoy the game more. Right? And stay with it. Because I see so many kids burn out because they allow their mental, the mind kind of take over. So um it's been it's been a it's been fun. And then um really enjoying it, and and yeah, that's that's how I got into it.

SPEAKER_00 16:20

That's cool. That's a that's a really great story. Um what are some common misconceptions around mentor mental performance and then common mistakes players make as well?

SPEAKER_02 16:31

Sure. Um, yeah, this is a great question because uh I think there's two that the two main ones that I hear here and like from juniors and as well as adults, is that one, if you're looking to get mental performance, then there's something wrong with you. Right? That there's oh oh you're going to mental coach or you're going to sports psychologists and there's something wrong with you. But the reality of it is there's nothing wrong with you. It's just you're looking for when you go to a mental performance coach or a sports psychologist, you're looking for ways to process your emotions so you can get the most out of it, right? To get that edge. Now, certainly there's some stuff that goes deeper that you can kind of like resolve. And I think that's that's another misconception about just psychology is that if you're not the way you think you should be, then there's something wrong with you. No, you're just being a human being, you know, you're having a human experience and you're going to seek help for someone that studied it so you can kind of resolve some stuff and that grow from it, right? Because life is just growth. It's that's what this is an opportunity. Um, the second misconception that I hear is uh I hear this from junior coaches, just go play matches, just go play more tournaments, you'll figure it out. And that is true in a sense, but it might take you way longer, or you might actually make it worse because you could be practicing those bad habits. Think about it like a forehand. Like if you, if you, if your forehand's off and a coach tells you, yeah, go just go play more tournaments, you'll get better at your forehand, right? And you never have anybody telling you, hey, you need to follow through. You know, you might get a little bit better where you're getting the ball in, but then it'll cap you because you don't have any topspin. You just learn how to slap at it, you know. So that's those are the two things that I I find to be the the the biggest things that I hear that are um you know, people get wrong about mental performance. Um I think you're one of the yeah, go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 18:40

Go ahead. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 18:43

I think the second part of your question, what are people the mistakes that they make? Um I think they they one is like they tell themselves to be positive, right? That doesn't ever seem to work really because you're just trying to like shove your emotions down, right? And you're not processing those emotions. And I think also the other mistakes to think that you have to be perfect out there on the court, and that you like they look at Sinner and they look at uh you know Roger, and they're like, Oh, they never get emotions, they're totally like, but no, they get emotional, you just don't see it on TV, or their way they express their emotions are a lot subtler than most people. Like the other day, I was watching Sinner, and you know, he's his cool self, and I think who who was he playing? I can't remember who was playing, and he just it just he wasn't playing about and I just there was one time he missed a return and he turned around and he went like like he was about to kind of throw his rack racket and he's like caught himself. Now, if you're not paying attention to that, it's a very subtle move. Or it could be just like you know, just the look down or the shoulders down, right? So I think just understanding that we're human beings and it's okay for us to have emotions, it's about being able to process them and getting better at them. I think that's that's the biggest mistake.

SPEAKER_00 20:10

Well one of the things that I saw, I think it was one of your Instagram videos, you talked about that first misconception about um if you're seeing a mental performance coach, then there must be something wrong with you. You talked about you related it to the forehand, just like you did there. So, like if Coco Golf is having issues with her forehand, or last year she hired a serve coach, right? Then she's going to hire a coach for that thing, right? And in that case, her serve was having problems. She had lots of double faults, but they all have coaches that they're constantly focusing on technique and strategy and all these things. And then they also do have mental performance coaches, even though they perform quite well mentally. There's just always kind of room for improvement in those areas. Um, but with club players, with juniors, it seems to be, I guess, like you said, neglected, maybe a little more. Um and then the uh the second thing was to be positive. I want to dive into that a little bit more because that's something you'll hear from a lot of coaches, right? You'll hear tons of coaches tell their junior players or their club players, hey, you need you need to be more positive on the court. Stop being so negative. What should they be saying instead?

SPEAKER_02 21:33

Um, well, it's like that the reason why I say that is because when you son tell somebody to be positive, wow. How am I supposed to be positive, right? I'm really pissed off that I just missed that forehand. Sure, I'm gonna be really positive. Yeah, I missed the forehand, double faulted another break away. Yeah, let me see if I could be positive. So it's more about learning tools and strategies to become more positive. Right. So one of the things that I teach the kids is reframing the three R method. You know, number one, the first R is recognizing that you're having that negative thought. And I say recognize with grace. Again, I kind of go back with um like I think there's this negative connotation that if you're you're having bad negative emotions, that there's something wrong with you. No, you're just a human being. It's a part of you, it's a natural response. So recognize with grace. So like, oh, I had that, oh, I had that response where I was about to break a racket, right? It's okay. It's a part of me. I'm a normal human being. It's okay. That's another word I say. It's okay. Now that's when you get a chance to jump in and reframe it. Right? Okay, so I missed that forehand so that I can so that I can learn for the next shot to hit more spin. Or I needed to, or I missed that forehand because I needed to get more energy in it. So something so reframing it, or I lost that match because it gave me an opportunity to learn the thing. So you want to just reframe that negative thought. So that you now it goes from negative, you recognize it, you reframe it, you switch it to a to something that's positive or helpful, or maybe even doesn't have to be positive. It's just something that's gonna it doesn't pull you down. Something that's like, oh, I learned from it. Okay, that's why I needed to do that. That's a simple thing.

SPEAKER_00 23:45

It sounds like an opportunity, maybe. Like reframe it into an opportunity.

SPEAKER_02 23:49

Yeah, that's that's a great way of looking at it. Opportunity, just being able, because then your brain can process that negative emotion. You're not squashing it down. It's like, it's like if you if you like have this negative thought and you're like, be positive. Well, you're not acknowledging this fact. So it's just gonna build up. It's just gonna like build up until you get to the point where you explode, and that's where people break rackets, right? Or smash that because they never really acknowledge that negative thought and they never process that emotion. Right? I mean, Djokovic talks about this too. He talks about like he it's not that he doesn't have the negative thoughts, he just learned how to process them quickly. And then the third R is just release and just kind of breathe it out. Um, other things that that coaches can say, instead of being positive, it's like, what helps you be positive? Like, is there a physical act? Hey, smile, smile, because that's gonna create endorphins, right? You know, uh, take a breath that's gonna relax and calm you because these are actual that's that's actual things that your brain can wrap around. Oh, I can do that. I can take a breath, and those will actually calm you down and help you be more calm. Hey, I can smile, yeah. I can do that, especially you're in a moment where you're like really pissed off. Smile. Okay. Okay. All right. He's smiling. Okay, fine. I'll give in. I'm gonna keep smiling, right? So you're laughing you're finally, so you want to give actual tangible things that the the the players can can use instead of just being positive.

SPEAKER_00 25:17

Yeah, I like that a lot. Um what uh uh one thing I hear from people, sometimes they'll

Misconceptions That Hold Players Back

SPEAKER_00 25:25

email me or message me on Instagram or even at my camps sometimes is uh a lot of club doubles players tell themselves the story of you know, I always get nervous on the court or I always you know, I I double fault in 10-point tiebreakers, right? Thing things like that. I've always told them that that is a dangerous story to tell themselves. Uh do you agree? And if so, why? Or if you disagree, um just elaborate on that a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 25:54

I agree. It's a story. It's a story that they keep telling themselves and reinforcing. Our brains are designed to prove ourselves right. So, is that what you want? Or your brain to prove that you always uh double fault, or you always get nervous on big points, are you always in the midst of big points? Your brain's gonna find ways to prove you right, you know, and then you're gonna kind of reinforce that behavior over and over and over and over. We're just animals, right? So, um, you know, I think I think it's it's helpful to give yourself a new story, reframe it differently. Like, I'm working on getting uh more calm during big points or during match points, or remembering the things that you hey, because the reality of is you probably weren't always nervous, or you probably haven't lost all the tiebreakers. You know, like let me actually remember that. So it's yeah, it's it's the stories that we tell ourselves that is really easy for us to kind of get in that loop. You got to be cautious that because do you really want that? Do you really want that? I know a lot of times it's like, oh, you know, like like like that's like that joke when people say, like, oh, I'm just you know, I'm so slow on the court, you know. You're just reinforcing that. Are you slow? Or maybe uh you could be working on split stepping a little bit earlier or anticipating better, you know? Or I'd always double fault on a on uh uh on match point or something like that, you know, and then match point comes around. What are you gonna be thinking about?

SPEAKER_00 27:28

Yeah, double fault. I think that this is where I like this is where I think it ties in, like this this mental side and the strategies that you share tie in with maybe the the work you put in on the practice court, for example. So, like if you're telling yourself I tend to double fault when I get nervous, and then before your next match, you go out and really work on second serves a lot. You can change that story to um I've been putting in the work on second serves, and I'm going to start double faulting less when I get nervous, or I'm gonna start making second serves when I get nervous. I just I just changed it from a negative to a positive right there. That was a good example. Yeah, exactly. Right. I think that was something you mentioned. So talk about this a little bit. You mentioned this in Indian Wells when you spoke to our group um there. Uh what I just said was I'm going to double fault less, and then I flipped it and said, I'm going to make second serves. Why is that flip important from a negative to a positive?

SPEAKER_02 28:31

Well, because our brain's listening. And it doesn't always put words together or the sentences together. It just hears double fault. And then it gets fixes, it gets fixated on that word, double fault. Right? So another one is like, just get that serve in. Which is cool. You can get that serve in, but also like it gets a little confused. What do you mean to get the serve in? I've been trying to get the serve in. Instead, you can say spin, hit a kick serve down the middle. Then it's a clear message of what you want to do. Clarity. Our brains like clarity, clear, direct things that it can wrap itself. It's tangible, right? Instead of getting the the hitting double faults, I'm serving more down, more kickserved in the T, or I'm hitting more spin serve on the first serve. You can wrap your brain around that, and then you look at back as that's what I'm doing. And when you do that, you you you you create confidence loop, a loop where you're like, oh yeah, I'm confident I can spin a serve. I can hit a kick serve, right? Because that's what you can control. Again, it kind of now it starts to combing into like the where everyone talks about like focus on the things you can control. And a lot of times people kind of get a little bit off on this and they start talking about things they can control, but it's actually outcome focused. Like I was working with a kid the other day with a junior, and he's like, and I asked him, like, because I always talk about process goals. He's like, What's your process goal uh for? Oh, I'm just gonna hit the return serve at the feet. I'm like, okay, can you control that every time? No, not really. Right? You can't hit because if he hits a big first serve, you're you're barely gonna get your racket on. So now that not only your brain starts to question that, it creates Dow. Right? So how else can we how how else can we rephrase that? Well, I can take a split step, and that's gonna help me. I could take a short back swing, that's that's something I can control. That's gonna help me get what I want, which is the result is I want to hit the ball at his feet. But you gotta be really mindful of that. So it's it's it's about just really being clear for your brain so it understands and it's confident.

SPEAKER_00 30:56

Yeah, I like that a lot. The what it sounds like the language just matters so much in terms of what you're telling yourself. Um not to be just not negative, but also to be like very specific.

SPEAKER_02 31:08

Uh, if you're talking about performance if you're talking about performance, you know, and you know, and and I want to kind of reiterate that we're human beings and we're not gonna be perfect. And if you ever recognize yourself, hey,

Stop Forcing Positivity Use Three R’s

SPEAKER_02 31:20

you know, oh, I'm just I double faulting, I mean, then you can correct just like you did. Because then the brain also listens to the last kind of things that you told it, you know. I um I I don't believe in perfection, I believe in uh progress.

SPEAKER_00 31:36

Talk a little bit about the uh BFS method that you shared with us out out at Indian Wells. We don't have to go as deep as you did there, but um give us kind of a preview of what that looks like, and then of course people can um reach out to you and and check out your stuff to learn more as well.

SPEAKER_02 31:54

Absolutely. Um so the BFS is something that I I I created um because you know, everybody talks I mean, studies have shown that players that have a reset between each point uh perform like 20% nine. I've I I I I actually just saw this study. They're like 20% better on the next point because you're just resetting yourself. And so I created this reset based on three things, the principles that I based on science. Breathing, right? So B stands for breathing, right? What are you trying to do between points? You're trying to calm yourself down. So when you breathe, it brings oxygen into your your bloodstream so that relaxes and it brings your heart rate down. It triggers your and triggers your parasympathetic nervous system, which is the nervous system that allows you to start to calm down. So that's why I call it B. F is for feel, and feeling is basically brings you back into that moment, that presence, right? Because um, part of a lot of what's going on is if we have thoughts of the future and the past, what do we do? We just got to block those thoughts by feeling something. It could be as simple as your racket, it could be your feet in your shoes. Um, and then the third part of that is statement. And it's just up to three phrases, it could be just one word, it's just something right before you serve and you return so that you're focused and present with what you want to accomplish, and you don't allow the other thoughts to come in. It acts like a shield, right? It also acts like something that primes you for what you want to do, uh, and it also creates this habit and brains love habit. Then you start to performing at your ideal performance state. So, and the BFS is just something that I just I wanted something really, really easy to remember. BFS, you know, and it's all the you know, something fun, yeah, acronym.

SPEAKER_00 33:58

Like you can just think about like what the BFS? Come on. That's awesome. Um, yeah, I I love the methodology and the idea of creating habits rather than kind of relying on yourself to figure it out in the moment, right? These strategies. And this is I think for me, like when I was a junior player, and even you know, three, four, five years ago, uh when I didn't understand this mental side of the game, and you know, I'm still learning about it, not that I fully understand it now, but I understand it a lot more than I did then. Um I I just relied on like figuring it out in the moment, right? And I didn't have these tangible strategies that you've been able to share here today. Um, one last question for you, and then I want you to share where people can find out more about you, and if they want to um book a call with you, they can do that. Uh doubles is a little bit different, right? We've got a lot of tennis players grow up playing singles, and then a lot of play people who listen to this podcast, obviously, and as people get older, they play a bit more doubles uh at the country club and USTA and so on. So in doubles, we have a partner. How does that change our mental performance? Or is there any advice you have to rely on your partner or to to even help your partner uh perform their best mentally?

SPEAKER_02 35:25

Yeah, yeah, definitely. Doubles is is is for sure, there's some added differences, right? You have somebody else you're playing with. Now, for some people, that's actually very helpful. Interestingly enough, like a lot of players that have difficulty on playing singles because they're super tough on themselves, actually, and they're like like people people, they're actually perform better in doubles because they're big cheerleaders for somebody else, and and they're just super tough on themselves. So I I think number one, I think in doubles, communication is key. Having those conferen uh conversations is how so helpful and uh and in accomplishing what you guys are trying to do. Now I think what happens though, our nerves and our uh you know, uh adrenaline kind of we forget the way to communicate effectively, and that is to acknowledge, you know, um people's feelings, right? I think like say your partner is missing volleys, you know, uh on poaches, a lot of people are like, well, you should be doing this, you should be doing this, or do this, do this, without acknowledging the fact that, hey, this person's probably trying to do something helpful for the team. So acknowledging then, hey, you know, um, you know, what do you think we can do and asking questions versus telling? Like, what do you think we can do in order to, you know, or what can I do to help you get those poaches in better? Is there anything I can do on my serve? So now you're not like telling that person what to do, you're like trying to communicate. Number one, acknowledging people's feelings, right? Hey, I know that was a tough miss. That's a bummer. Like, is there anything I can do to help you? So kind of like changing that is where you're trying to help your partner. Um, also, another thing that is super helpful uh that I found too is like, you know, um, I don't know about you guys, but uh, you know, sometimes when my partner misses, I get angry, you know, I get frustrated with my partner. I'm like, why are they missing that? But that's just a normal, uh, that's a why is he going for that ball? That's a normal emotion, but that's not an emotion that's gonna help you become a better team. So again, reframing it, right? And then what I really like to do a lot is like I ask myself this question, how can I help my partner hold their serve, or how can I help my partner, you know, get that uh poach better? Well, I can serve down the tea. Now it's like it's taking away that anger and that frustration, and I'm like being helpful,

The BFS Reset Between Points

SPEAKER_02 38:05

right? So I I want to make sure I'm helpful to my partner. Um, that would be like the main things, it's literally like being able to communicate effectively and not not not blaming, not this uh, you know, uh putting the their emotions aside and just coming at it that way. How can I be a help? How can I be a help? You know, obviously, too, is like if you guys have conversations before the match, too, that's helpful too. Um yeah, but I think once you get to the point where you're like, a lot of things that I talk about, the BFS, you can do that. You can do the reset after you have your conversation and what you guys are gonna communicate, what you guys are gonna play, you can kind of slow down and feel and breathe and all that stuff. Oh, and just being very supportive. You know, come on, let's do this. You can do this, you know, being a cheerleader. There was a uh clip, I forget who this was. It was it was from a singles match, it was like a semifinal. And and she said, Oh gosh, that her boyfriend came over and she would like lost the second set, and she was like down. And her boyfriend was like, Come on, you can do this, you can do this, let's go, let's go. That's such a big thing. When you got somebody cheering for you, now you're playing for somebody else. Well, they think I can do it, they can, I guess I could do it. Come on. So, like this like being like, you know, being very supportive of each other and being in the yeah, yeah, I like that a lot.

SPEAKER_00 39:28

Yeah, one other thing that came to mind for me too was um uh this was on the podcast a few years ago. I had Rajivarim on and he had just won the US Open with Joe Salisbury, and he he said he he wasn't feeling his best that day. I think it might have been the semifinal match. Um and he told Joe that. And when I think about like my own doubles matches, before him telling me this on the podcast, um, I would have never done something like that to tell my partner that I'm not feeling 100%. Like, I feel like when I step on the court, I've got a job to do and I've got to figure this out, right? And that's me kind of being hard on myself. But Rajiv took the opposite approach and told Joe, hey, like, I'm not feeling 100%. And that let Joe know. And then Joe's able to come up with some strategies to help cover for Raj a little bit more and to to help support him and give him what he needs. So I think being a little bit kind of vulnerable with your partner as well can can help in those situations a lot.

SPEAKER_02 40:30

Yeah, I agree. That's awesome, right? Because you think about it like I think we we we you know, when we get into doubles, we have these expectations of ourselves that we have to be this this perfect or whatever, this whatever expectations that we have about being a partner. A great way to do it is just to flip it. What if my partner was to how would I respond to that? Right? I think most people are, you know, supportive and good. And if their partner's struggling, they would be like, hey, you know what? Actually, like, you know, I'd be yeah, I try to cheer them up. I'd be cool if they, you know, I try to find a way, a solution. So that's also another thing. Like when you start, when you get people that like are like, I don't want to uh I don't want to disappoint my partner. That's another great question. Like, would I be disappointed if my partner were struggling? You know, would I be able to like um be more supportive, you know?

SPEAKER_00 41:26

So yeah, it makes you want to kind of lift them up more so than you know. I I don't know many people who would say, well, well, we've got to win, you gotta figure this out, right? Like it's it's more like oh, what can I do for you, right? Like, how can I help you so that we can figure this out as a team? Um, anyways, Greg, this was a ton of fun. Uh, let people know where can they

Doubles Communication And Being Supportive

SPEAKER_00 41:50

find you online? How can they check out some of your content? Uh, how can they work with you personally if you're uh accepting clients?

SPEAKER_02 41:58

For sure. You know, I work with a lot of juniors, I do work with some adults. Uh and the best way really to find me is my Instagram. So it's at Greg G-R-E-G dot K-U-S. Usually I come up on the first one, but it's my last name, K-U-S-N-I-E-R-Z. Um, and that's that's usually just hit me up in the DMs. I'm always in the DMs. I do a lot of social media. Um, if you're the email type of person, if you don't do social media, you can just email me at info at between thepoints.com. So awesome.

SPEAKER_00 42:32

Awesome. And you will uh be with us in New York as well. So for people listening, if you're gonna join me in New York for the rally trip, Greg is going to be doing some guest speaking there. Yes, I'm excited as well.

SPEAKER_02 42:44

So if you want to if you want to come over your own BFS, this is the time to do it.

SPEAKER_00 42:48

Yeah, this is the time. Awesome, Greg. We'll do it again sometime. I appreciate you coming on. Awesome. I appreciate it. Thanks, Will.