MIND GAME

You can practice as many hours as you like and work on specific types of tactics, styles or game plans however nothing can prepare someone for the standard of opponent on the European Money Tournament Circuit. You need to train your mind more than anything else because it is your mind that is tested to the maximum. Anyone can hit a ball well but only the elite of the mind game can deliver the goods on a regular basis in tournament play and the Europeans have a way with their thought process like none I had ever seen before.
There were only two matches where I received a pasting, the others were all competitive which made me think that my shots were up to scratch however the mind was not, so how does a tennis player improve the mind ? Possibly one of the most sought after answers in the sport but I believe that it may just lay with one's ability to train the mind in tough practice sessions. After all what is the other option ?
If a budding tennis player can somehow find themselves a practice partner who is above their own standard then I believe this is possibly the best start to improving both the mind and the game. Quite possibly the greatest example of this is the Rafael Nadal story with Carlos Moya. By all reports Rafa was taking sets from Moya when he was just 15 years of age when Carlos was one of the World's best. How can you not improve by practicing against someone like that ?