After 15+ years coaching competitive junior tennis players, I can tell you the #1 difference between kids who win tight matches and kids who don't — and it's not their forehand.

It's what happens between points.

The most talented kids I've worked with often lose to opponents with weaker strokes. Their parents are confused. Their coaches are frustrated. The kid starts doubting themselves.

Here's what's actually happening:

1. They're playing the last point, not the next one.

After a missed shot, most juniors carry that frustration into the next point. Their body language drops. Their feet stop moving. They're replaying the error in their head while the ball is already coming back.

2. They don't have a reset routine.

Pros have between-point routines — you've seen Djokovic bounce the ball exactly the same way every time. Junior players almost never have one. Without a routine, emotions from the last point bleed directly into the next one.

3. Confidence is treated like something you either have or you don't.

This is the biggest myth in junior tennis. Confidence isn't a personality trait. It's a skill. It's built through specific mental reps, just like a serve is built through physical reps. When parents say "just be more confident out there," it's like saying "just hit more aces."

What actually works:

The players I've seen make the biggest breakthroughs all learned three things:

• A physical reset they do between every point (something with their strings, a specific walk pattern, a breath)

• A pre-point focus word that pulls them into the present moment

• A post-match reflection habit that builds confidence over weeks, not just in-the-moment hype

None of this is complicated. But almost no one teaches it systematically to juniors.

That's exactly what I built Calm Court Coaching to fix.

If your child is talented but inconsistent under pressure — or if they're starting to lose the joy of competing — I'd love to help. Check out the free Parent Playbook to start, or dive into the full Calm Competitor Program.

Your kid doesn't need more lessons. They need a better relationship with competition.

— Coach Pete